With the A’s relocation to Las Vegas all but assured, fans in Oakland have become increasingly vocal about their disgust with owner John Fisher and the rest of the team’s management. On Tuesday, their frustrations culminated in a creative show of protest with what the fan base dubbed a “reverse boycott.”
The idea for the demonstration was to pack the Oakland Coliseum—the A’s cavernous home for the past 55 years that routinely gets sparse visitors—with as many fans as possible as a way to show ownership that fan support was not the issue with the team. The A’s have averaged just 8,555 fans this year, easily the lowest in baseball.
Facing the Rays on Tuesday night, though, fans showed up in droves, with the official attendance coming in at a season-high 27,759. In the five other Tuesday night home games this season, official attendance was a combined 19,563—or, an average of 3,913 per game.
