Neukom also believes any talk of territorial rights changing is premature at best.MLB spokesperson Rich Levin told the Mercury News that territorial rights would be discussed by the commission, but Neukom said he did not believe Commissioner Bud Selig intends to challenge the Giants’ claim to the Silicon Valley.
“Read the statement,” Neukom said. “It says Major League Baseball wants to help them find a home in their territory. Alameda and Contra Costa county is their territory, full stop. And we support that and hope it’s successful.”
Asked if he felt he had the support of other owners, Neukom said, “You’re way ahead of the state of play. The question is, and I think it’s very sensible by the commissioner, that they have territorial rights and we have territorial rights. They need a better home. That’s fine, we agree with that, we support them in that, and the commissioner is saying, `Let’s find them a home in their territory.’ We hope they will do that.”I almost forgot how good at lawyer-speak this guy is.
17 comments:
Does Neukom say why the Giants should have the right to deprive a larger city of the economic and social benefits of major league baseball forever and ever? When did San Jose vote to give the Giants these so-called rights? Wasn't the US formed to the battle cry of "no taxation without representation?'
More and more people are going to become disgusted with the Giants over this and hopefully become A's fans. Sounds good to me.
Neukom sounds like a guy who is just towing the line until such time they tell him he can't anymore.
It's going to be the Giants in one corner and everybody else in the other. The territorial rights thing still pretends that San Francisco is the Big City and San Jose is nothing but pruneyards. Somebody tell Neukom the days of Mrs. Winchester isolating herself in her San Jose mansion away from the masses are kind of, um, over...
Why would the Giants be willing to give up their territorial rights when they have so much corporate sponsorship from Santa Clara County and Silicon Valley??
I see all the more reason why they are pretty firm on their t-rights, just as much as the A's are with Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. We wouldn't want any Giants marketing going on in our territory as well.
Paul, Santa Clara County is still made up of majority of Giants fans. You really think that just because there are some talks about trying to lure the A's down south that all of a sudden all the lifetime loyal Giants fans will become A's fans??
Dang it is heating up.
Neukom, I actually kind of like him. Macgowan always came off as whiny whenever he talked about TR's. Neukom seems to have the mind of a businessman.
This will be fun to watch play out and dang if there won't be plenty of stuff for ML to write up for us. What ahs it been, like 4 posts today?!?!?!
so...what about barbara boxer's letter? things are devolving quite interestingly.
re: Why would the Giants be willing to give up their territorial rights when they have so much corporate sponsorship from Santa Clara County and Silicon Valley??
Please explain why the Giants would lose any of that sponsorship if the A's move to San Jose. The A's already market in the South Bay.
Am I forbidden by the territorial rights nonsense from keeping that A's bumper sticker on my car in San Jose? I better get it off before the territorial rights police show up, I guess.
And it really doesn't much matter who has more fans in San Jose. There's no accounting for bad taste, is there? LA has more Dodgers fans than Angels fans. New York probably has more Yankees fans than Mets fans. Chicago has more Cubs fans than White Sox fans. So should the Angels, Cubs and Mets move?
"Santa Clara County is still made up of majority of Giants fans."
This seems to be a common belief among the tinfoil hats at OAFC.
At the San Jose downtown Christmas Parade in San Jose this past December, two or three A's players participated. The Giants did nothing but send that silly mascot that looks like a rat. Where are the Territorial Rights Police when we need them?
It did give me the opportunity to yell "A's Rule!! A's Rule!!" when the mascot approached my spot along the parade route. I had my A's warmup jacket on, too.
The conclusion I draw from this letter from Mr. Neukom: a "napkin deal" between the A's, Giants, and MLB must already exist. Why else would such a smart fella completely misinterpret the reasons for the committee's formation.
The committee wasn't formed, as Mr. Neukom states, to find the A's a new home in Alameda/Contra Costa County: it is to thoroughly analyze the proposals to date and the prospects (key word being "prospects") of a ballpark in the A's current territory. The committee will also discuss the territorial rights issue, and they won't do this just for the hell of it.
Mr. Neukom also realizes that the territorial landscape of the Bay Area is the most unique in all of baseball: not shared (like other two team markets) and unevenly distributed. This is about a team trying to relocate within the same market/metro area, not a team coming in from over 1,000 miles out. As Mr. Levin stated, territorial rights WILL BE DISCUSSED.
Again, a smart fella who's just jockeying for the best possible compensation. Ditto what Jeffrey stated; I like Mr. Neukom, a true businessman who will do what's best for his business...kind of like what Selig and Wolff are doing.
Anon 3:27,
LOTS of Giants will become A's fans if the A's move to San Jose. Not all, but lots. Civic pride is a powerful thing. If the Giants weren't worried about this, they wouldn't cling to the T-rights so hard.
But it's not really about converting loyalties. Lots of Giants fans will retain the Giants as their primary allegiance, but still go to A's games because it's convenient. Perhaps they'll adopt the A's as their "AL team."
More importantly, the move will draw in lots of casual fans who currently go to few games because it's so inconvenient to get to SF or Oakland. Casual and corporate fans are what drives the business these days. Look at AT&T Park: When you go to games up there nowadays, do you get the feeling you're surrounded by hardcore fans?
Ultimately, the move is about expanding the market for MLB in the Bay Area overall. It is for this reason I believe the T-rights will ultimately be removed.
Agree with Dan, Neukom is probably towing the company (league) line until the league (Selig) says otherwise.
Anyways:
- A successful A's franchise benefits the uppercrust teams by lowering the percentage of Revenue Sharing each team has to pay out to the Royals and the Pirates.
- Further, the return on Giant's advertising for "new" South Bay fans in this economy will be nill to none.
Solution for San Jose - Boycott the Giants unless/until they relinquish those territorial rights. If it's one thing they will listen to, it's this:
$$$$$$
If I'm a life -long Giants fan living in San Jose , why would I boycott my team ? I would look forward to an A's stadium in SJ, though, so I can see the Yankees, Angels, Red Sox ( and route against the A's !) in a clean,new stadium nearby w/o venturing up to Gunland.
Those teams are more exciting than most of the NL teams that come to AT&T.
Anon 3:04 wrote "If I'm a life -long Giants fan living in San Jose , why would I boycott my team ? I would look forward to an A's stadium in SJ, though, so I can see the Yankees, Angels, Red Sox ( and route against the A's !) in a clean,new stadium nearby w/o venturing up to Gunland."
If you don't care about baseball in San Jose then don't boycott your team. If you do, then the only thing that will bring a team to SJ is if the Giant feel more pain financially by continuing to block a team from moving to SJ.
But then again your post sounds a little troll-ish so you probably know this already.
Troll ? I've been posting here for three years .
And I have financially beneftted significantly from these stadium site goings -on and continue to have insider insight from the real estate stand-point.
I like Anon 3:04 post---he is like many of the Giant fans I talk to who definetely want a downtown park in SJ--not because they will become A's fans but because they like baseball!! As an A's fan I can totally understand this-
Relative to boycotting--the average fan would not be nearly as powerful as some of the Silicon Valley/San Jose hi-tech companies who advertise or who have luxury boxes, season tix etc pulling out unless the Giants level the playing field--now that would talk--but regardless--playing field is about to be leveled my MLB---
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