Oakland businesses weighing options for MLB season after A's departure
The Major League Baseball season is underway and for the first time in more than 50 years, the A's won't be playing at the Oakland Coliseum.
They'll play their first game at their temporary home in Sacramento on Monday.
Some businesses in Oakland are trying to figure out what to do about the Athletics season.
Co-owner of The Athletic Club Oakland, Miles Palliser, says his ownership group has been discussing that.
"Once the dust settles, we may find that there are still thousands of A's fans in the area who are trying to watch the games," Palliser said.
Palliser moved to the Bay Area about 20 years ago from England.
He became a bartender and was amazed by all the sports in America and how they brought people together, but in the case of the A's recently, it's created animosity.
"Obviously there's a lot of anger and disappointment and that's been the main story, the frustration," Pallsier said. "But at the same time, there are lifelong A's fans in and around Oakland who aren't necessarily going to stop being A's fans even if they are angry and disappointed."
Palliser said they don't see a big turnout for any baseball games during the regular season.
Still, they are trying to create a welcoming space for A's fans looking for somewhere to go, and maybe bring in some new customers.
"I hope that we will get more fans out than we used to and be able to kind of make it a thing," Palliser said. "But I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Leave it up to the fans."
Irving McKnight and Cofi Yiadom are two longtime A's fans. They say they aren't interested in following the team this season.
"I'm going to go watch the Ballers," McKnight said. "I'm not going to Sac, I'm not going to Vegas to watch the A's."
"As it stands, to watch what they're doing over there, it's like your ex-girlfriend leaving you, do you want to watch her on TV?," questioned Yiadom, who confirmed he doesn't plan to watch the A's games.
But for those that do want to watch the games, they'll be on at the Athletic Club.
"We're here, we're open, we have 40 TVs and we can always get the game on with sounds so we'd love to have you and maybe this can be something cool that happens out of something that wasn't the best news," Palliser said.
The owner of Kingfish Pub and Cafe says it's too soon to tell what kind of impact that the A's leaving will have on his business.