Future of Bay Sports

The Bay Area has a very rich history when it comes to sports. The San Francisco 49ers won five superbowl championships, The Oakland A's won three World Series titles, the last coming in 1989. The Giants have won five of their own championships and last made the World Series in 2002. The Golden State Warriors won a NBA championship in 1957, and last made the playoffs in 2007 after a 14th year absent from the postseason. Countless great athletes have made their names here in the bay area, guys like Rickey Henderson, Barry Bonds, Vida Blue in baseball. Jerry Rice, O.J. Simpson, Steve Young and Joe Montana in the NFL. Wilt Chamberlain, Robert Parrish and Nate Thurmond in the NBA. All are hall of famers in their respective sports and have the bay area's sport history one that is truly golden.








Fast forward to 2010 and things look drastically different, at least three teams (49ers, A's and Raiders) have contemplated their possible exodus from the bay area. The 49ers are exploring the idea of building a new stadium in Santa Clara, The A's are bouncing around the idea of moving to San Jose or Fremont. The Oakland Raiders who have renewed their lease until 2013, were one of many NFL mentioned to be headed to Los Angeles. (Something they did in 1982)



If you want to include the Sacramento Kings and rumors of them leaving for Las Vegas, then thats four teams looking to abandon their loyal fans for "greener" pastures. Almost all these teams are talking about leaving due to the lack of money to build new stadiums. The A's have proposed several different sites in Oakland for a new home, for example Jack London Square and the old army base. If money is really at the root of the all potential evil of these teams leaving then there's gotta be a reasonable solution to keep these teams in the region.



Its been proposed that the Raiders and Niners share a new stadium, a cost effective alternative that I think would only add to great rivalry the two teams have. The same solution could keep done with the A's and Giants, which would keep fans of the two teams very happy. Along with keeping jobs in the bay area, which seems to be an issue not really addressed in the matter.



Oracle owner Larry Ellison, who this week celebrated his team's America's Cup victory at city hall in San Francisco. Now has the power to bring the sporting event to the bay area, something that Gavin Newsom seems to support with comments he made at the ceremony this weekend. The pay-off could be tremendous for San Francisco if Ellison can bring the event to the bay area. Previous cities that have held the sailing competition have seen $1 million in revenue. San Francisco could somewhere in the range of $4-6 million, which would be a needed boost of income to city.







Ellison has also been had at work trying to purchase the Golden State Warriors, in which Oracle owns the naming right to Oakland Arena in where the team calls home. Ellison has been a bidding battle with the Warriors current owners and has said that if he fails in his attempt to aquire the team, that he would focus his effort on bring another NBA team to bay area.







The sport of soccer is also trying to make the bay area home, The Oakland Coliseum could be home the FIFA world cup in 2018 or 2020. Huge crowds gathered at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto to watch several games in the 1994 FIFA World Cup, as well as the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup.



The future could be very bright for the next generation of bay area sports fans. To borrow the motto used by the Warriors back in 2007,"WE BELIEVE".