Goodbye, Oakland: When the Teams Leave, What Remains?

Oakland didn’t just host teams, it raised them. Loved them. Lost them. In Goodbye, Oakland: Winning, Wanderlust, and a Sports Town’s Fight for Survival, the authors, longtime sports executive Andy Dolich and veteran journalist Dave Newhouse, explore the rise and fall of a beloved sports town. At a recent Cal alumni event, they shared what happens when teams leave, and fans stay.

For decades, Oakland stood shoulder to shoulder with sports giants. It wasn’t just home to champions, it was a community that made fandom feel like family. But in the span of a generation, Oakland did the unimaginable: it became the only city in America to lose teams in the NBA, NFL, and MLB.

The heartbreak and hope of that story took center stage in a fireside chat at Alumni House.

This wasn’t just a sports talk, it was a reckoning.

“Publishers Didn’t Care… Until They Had To”

When Dolich and Newhouse first shopped their book idea around, they were met with silence. “Publishers didn’t care a lot about Oakland,” Dolich admitted to the audience, his voice both matter-of-fact and quietly frustrated.

It wasn’t until national headlines in 2023 covered the Oakland A’s proposed move to Las Vegas that things changed. Suddenly, a publisher in Chicago saw the urgency, and the commercial potential. “They told us to finish it as soon as possible,” Dolich said. And Newhouse, writing 97% of the book, got to work.

But that delay in attention spoke volumes. Oakland, long treated like a “second citizen” in the big leagues, wasn’t just losing teams, it was losing the narrative.

The City That Showed Up, In Costume

You didn’t need a ticket to know Oakland fans were different. You could hear it in the chants, see it in the face paint, feel it in the joy that pulsed through the stands, even in losing seasons.

“Oakland had the most colorful fans in the league,” Dolich shared. “People came in costumes. They turned games into theater.”

From the days of the Pacific Coast League, known to insiders as baseball’s “third major league”, to the glory years of the Raiders, Warriors, and A’s, Oakland fans showed up, dressed up, and stood up. They were a part of the show. Part of the soul.

And yet, that wasn’t enough to keep the spotlight.

What Went Wrong?

This was the question that threaded through the night. How does a city go from hosting three major league teams to none?

“There’s no one villain,” Dolich said. “But there’s a term I use, corporate carpetbagging.”

He explained how franchises, once rooted in community values, became tools for capital gain. Gone were the days of sports as civic identity. In their place? Complex lease agreements, investor incentives, and billion-dollar relocation deals.

“Back in the day,” one attendee said during the Q&A, “sports were about fun. Now, it’s all about money.” The loss wasn’t just felt in empty stadium seats. It was a civic wound.

And yet, Dolich reminded us that at one point, Oakland was a total sports package—boasting team loyalty, talent pipelines, and generous local sponsors. Companies like Chevron, Dryer’s Ice Cream, and George Zimmer’s Men’s Wearhouse once stood proudly behind Oakland teams. But as city leadership, team ownership, and league governance fractured, and regional identities blurred, the unifying force of sports in Oakland began to fray.

“This isn’t just about sports. It’s about being seen. About growing up in a place where your identity is woven into your teams, and then watching that get erased.”

The Revival That Almost Was

Newhouse and Dolich traced the cycles of departure and return, most notably the Raiders, who left, came back, and left again. It wasn’t just a logistics game. It was a metaphor.

“We had the Coliseum revival. We had De La Fuente move here at 17 and go on to run for city council,” Dolich recalled. “We had everything in place, but it just didn’t hold.”

Oakland tried. The community tried. But the deals were never quite enough.

And Still, Oakland Endures

If Goodbye, Oakland sounds like a eulogy, it’s not. It’s a love letter. A documentation. A challenge.

Throughout the evening, Newhouse and Dolich circled back to a vital truth: even when the franchises leave, the stories don’t. Oakland’s fans are still here. So is the pride. The culture. The defiance.

That’s why the authors believe this book, and this conversation, isn’t just about Oakland. It’s a case study for every city that anchors its identity to stadium lights. A warning to any town that believes loyalty guarantees permanence.

“You have to lead with trust. With teamwork,” Dolich said. “Especially here, in Silicon Valley, we have the innovation, the capital, the vision. But without unity, the teams leave. The soul leaks out.”

From the Audience: “This Is More Than Nostalgia”

One of the most resonant moments came not from the stage, but from the audience.

An attendee stood up and said, “This isn’t just about sports. It’s about being seen. About growing up in a place where your identity is woven into your teams, and then watching that get erased.”

It was a moment that hung in the air. And it made clear what Goodbye, Oakland is ultimately about: belonging.

Sports, in the right hands, are community glue. When teams leave, that fabric frays. The rituals disappear. The landmarks fade. And fans are left to grieve something others tell them was “just a game.”

But we know better.

A Final Note: What Happens Now?

As the event drew to a close, a question lingered: How do we stop this from happening again?

The answer wasn’t prescriptive. It wasn’t wrapped in policy points. Instead, it was grounded in values, leadership, collaboration, civic pride. Because this isn’t just about saving stadiums. It’s about protecting identity. About making sure the next generation doesn’t have to read about their hometown’s greatness in past tense.

Goodbye, Oakland is more than a sports book. It’s a story about what makes a city, and what breaks it.

And perhaps, what can still be rebuilt.