For the first time in what may be forever, the hottest ticket in baseball was to a game at the Oakland Coliseum.
Much to the dismay of their fans, the A's play their final game in Oakland Thursday afternoon after a storied 57-year history in the Bay. The team will begin playing in Las Vegas, its new home, in 2028 and will play the 2025-27 seasons in Sacramento, CA.
The A's will play their final game in Oakland tonight.
— cllct (@cllctMedia) September 26, 2024
At last night's penultimate home game, a team grounds crew member gave fans dirt from the Coliseum to take home.
pic.twitter.com/gAZWUPBhgX
The get-in price, via Vivid Seats, for Thursday's sellout showdown against the Rangers was $88. A sellout is something that has rarely happened in Oakland in recent years while the A's have ranked last in average attendance for the last three seasons and in the bottom 10 every season since 2005.
The finale in Oakland, however, has been sold out since early August. The team gave out final series commemorative tickets on both Tuesday and Wednesday, and will hand out a final game commemorative ticket on Thursday. The first 25,000 fans in attendance will also receive a replica Coliseum giveaway.
The box office was closed when cllct attempted to contact the A’s Thursday afternoon.
Video circulated on Wednesday night of an A's grounds crew member packing dirt from the field into water bottles for fans to take home.
A's owner John Fisher released a statement to fans during the team's final homestand and it was not received well by the public, nor by former A's players. Fisher and the city of Oakland have long been at odds over new stadium deals, which is why Fisher is moving the team to Las Vegas, though no stadium plans have been finalized there either.
While it may be of little consolation to A's fans losing their franchise, the team did manage to go out on a high note, defeating the Rangers 3-2.
Matt Liberman is a reporter and video producer for cllct.