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Oakland A's Miss $1.2 Million Coliseum Rent Payment

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The Oakland Athletics missed their $1.2 million annual rent payment due April 1, in a public spat first reported by the Mercury News.

Henry Gardner, interim head of the Coliseum Authority, told the outlet that the baseball team told him they "have no ability to pay" rent since the team could not use the stadium to generate revenue.

In a statement to KQED, Catherine Aker, vice president of communications for the A's, said the Coliseum has been kept available by the city of Oakland and Alameda County as a potential surge location for coronavirus patients.

While the team supports those public health directives, "the A's sent notice to the JPA [Joint Powers Authority] in March stating the Club ... would defer annual rent payment, given the building was not available for use, per provisions in the contract," Aker said.

But a board member of the Coliseum Authority, Ignacio De La Fuente, told the Mercury News: "I'm going to make sure we do whatever we can to make them pay."

Major League Baseball has been on hold due to the pandemic, with tentative plans for games to start in July, according to ESPN.

— Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez (@FitztheReporter)

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