If a new San Jose Earthquakes stadium is never built, the MLS team could end up sharing a new Oakland A's ballpark — if it is ever built.
Heaping speculation upon layers of speculation, Oakland A's owner Lew Wolff admitted Saturday night his San Jose Earthquakes could end up sharing a new ballpark with the Athletics.
That's not the idea situation for anyone, of course. Wolff is facing a tough situation, pushing for a new Oakland A's ballpark at the same time he's working on a new stadium for the MLS Quakes near the San Jose International Airport, with both designs from Kansas City's 360 Architecture. Both projects are stalled. Wolff has an option on the land near the airport and once envisioned a large mixed-use development anchored by the stadium, but with the economy that plan is on hold, and Wolff is working now solely on the stadium there. But there's no financing in place and no real site design. In a public event to show off the soccer-stadium renderings — which you can see at our sister site, Soccer Stadium Digest — Wolff admitted as such.
At the same time, he also admitted the Quakes could end up sharing a new A's ballpark, if it comes to be. That's certainly not an ideal situation, by any stretch: it probably means some potential changes to the A's ballpark design to allow for placement of a soccer pitch, and it means a lot of wear and tear on the turf. In the end, multiuse facilities end up pleasing no one — but financially Wolff may not have a whole lot of choices.
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