Last March, just as it was becoming clear that the Raiders were moving to Las Vegas and two months after the Warriors broke ground on their new San Francisco arena, the Oakland A’s unveiled a new advertising campaign.
Plastered on billboards and on the sides of buildings, the A’s wanted to make it clear that they were “Rooted in Oakland.”
It was a not-too-subtle pot shot at the other two Oakland franchises that have opted to leave the booming but cash-strapped hub of the East Bay; the A’s planted a flag in the city and declared themselves “Oakland’s team.