‘We tried’: A’s owner John Fisher writes letter to fans as team leaves Oakland for Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher said in a letter to fans that he is “genuinely sorry” that the team will be leaving Oakland and relocating to Las Vegas.

On Monday, Fisher released a letter to Athletics fans on the team’s relocation before the franchise heads to Sacramento for three seasons before continuing on to Las Vegas.

“Staying in Oakland was our goal, it was our mission, and we failed to achieve it. And for that I am genuinely sorry,” Fisher wrote.

The A’s had previously played in Philadelphia and Kansas City but Oakland had been home “for the greatest era in the franchise’s more than 123-year history.” In the letter, Fisher mentioned some of the team’s greatest achievements and memories made throughout the years.

Fisher first bought the team with Lew Wolff in 2005 with a dream to win world championships and build a new ballpark in Oakland.

“Over the next 18 years, we did our very best to make that happen. We proposed and pursued five different locations in the Bay Area. And despite mutual and ongoing efforts to get a deal done for the Howard Terminal project, we came up short,” Fisher wrote.

Fisher explained that after 16 years of efforts to establish a permanent home for the team in Oakland, they were confronted “with a binding MLB agreement to find a new home by 2024,” prompting them to explore Las Vegas as their next destination.

“I know there is great disappointment, even bitterness. Though I wish I could speak to each one of you individually, I can tell you this from the heart: we tried,” Fisher wrote.

Fisher said he hopes that fans will continue to support the A’s as they leave Oakland for a new home.

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