The Oakland A's have a well-documented ownership problem. They've slashed payroll to something close to nothing and in the process jettisoned every young, exciting player the team has had for more than 20 years now. The long-term goal was driving attendance down to justify an exit from the Oakland Coliseum, and eventually the city of Oakland.
A good way to illustrate just how dire things are with the Major League Baseball team owned by John Fisher is by looking at this year's attendance.
Last season Oakland drew just 832,352 fans in 81 home dates according to Baseball Reference. That's a putrid number and by far the lowest total in baseball. Low enough, in fact, to push MLB into subsidizing the A's move to a new market in Las Vegas.
But just how few is 832,000 fans?
There are eight teams, including the Dodgers, who have already out-drawn the 2023 A's. LA leads MLB in attendance so far this season, drawing a whopping 1,394,088 fans in 30 home games. Oakland was at 144,516 heading into their Thursday afternoon bout with the Rockies.
Here are all eight teams that have already outdrawn the 2023 A's entering May 23:
Dodgers: 1,394,088
Phillies: 1,129,486
Padres: 1,015,436
Yankees: 966,863
Astros: 949,685
Braves: 906,180
Cubs: 875,479
Cardinals: 845,904
LA is a good example of what happens to a fan base when an ownership group invests in the club. Winning certainly helps. The Dodgers have posted 13 consecutive winning seasons with a 14th on the way. However, they win a lot because ownership invests in the team and its fans.
Perhaps the A's could've avoided a move had their ownership group done the same.
