Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher is on the verge of ripping the A's out of Oakland, a place they have called home for 55 years. Oakland fans are some of the most passionate in all of sports, and Oakland is one of the most diverse cities in the US. The city of Oakland secured over 400 million for the A's ballpark project at Howard Terminal. The A's were insistent on a 55 acre project that included ancillary development. Oakland did all the steps necessary to make this happen. When they were nearly done with the negotiations in Oakland, the A's, led by John Fisher and Dave Kaval, ghosted the city of Oakland and entered a "binding" agreement to purchase land on the Wild Wild West site in Las Vegas. The agreement was not-so binding, as they soon pivoted to the Tropicana site on The Strip. A site in which they want to build a retractable roof stadium on just 9 acres (which many experts have said is not possible), 9 acres that they would not even own. John Fisher, who is worth at least 2.2 billion, inherited his fortune from his parents and has never had to work a day in his life. He still refuses to use his own money for the project, and asked for 500 million from the state of Nevada to fund his ballpark. Despite extreme opposition by Nevada residents, the Nevada Legislature caved into Fisher, awarding him with 380 million in tax dollars for his stadium. Clark County would also be on the hook for any upgrades to the stadium. The stadium plan has been ripped by economists, lawmakers, reporters, former baseball executives, Nevada residents, and baseball fans throughout the country. The owners, despite giving away part of their own revenue to John Fisher in revenue sharing for many years (revenue sharing that he will still get in Las Vegas), will likely vote yes to the relocation. Rob Manfred has shamelessly backed John Fisher during the whole process, and has placed all of the blame on Oakland, including saying there is "no offer in Oakland", which could not be farther from the truth. Throughout the process, A's president Dave Kaval has completely ignored fans and reporters. John Fisher has never even given an interview in his 18 years owning the team. What makes this even worse, is that for years, there have been potential ownership groups that have offered to buy the A's (groups that want to keep them in Oakland), but they have been told NO by either John Fisher (2005 to present) or MLB (going back as far as the 1990s). Lots of people like to say that the A's have been "trying for decades" to get a new ballpark and then blame the city of Oakland. The fact is, is that the A's spent years entertaining the possibility of places like San Jose and Fremont, or Laney College or the existing Coliseum site before finally settling on Howard Terminal. They lacked urgency throughout the entire process, and then, even though progress was being made, announced that they were exploring "parallel paths", and spent more time in Las Vegas than at the table in Oakland. At the end of the day, it comes to John Fisher wanting the easiest possible stadium with the biggest public handout. In Las Vegas, not only does John Fisher have 380 million, but also Bally's and Goldman Sachs willing to give him hundreds of millions. John Fisher has never cared about the fans, and he and Kaval's silence during this process is unacceptable. Rob Manfred needs to get together with the owners and force John Fisher to sell the A's to a local group to keep the A's in Oakland. John Fisher has intentionally destroyed the A's and neglected the fanbase to force this relocation. Whether it was trading away the core after an 86 win year and doubling ticket prices, consistently being in the bottom 5 in payroll, never speaking to a reporter, pointing fingers at everyone but himself, or attempting to not pay his employees or minor leaguers during the pandemic, John Fisher has been completely destroyed the A's, and it has been intentional. The A's relocating to Las Vegas, the 40th largest media market in the US, will ultimately do the game of baseball much more harm than good. If Manfred does not step up, he needs to be forced out as commissioner. We also call on the federal government to remove MLB's ridiculous anti-trust exemption, something that representatives Barbara Lee and Mark DeSaulnier have already got the wheels turning on. Oakland fans don't deserve to have their team taken away, and they definitely don't deserve to have them or their city gaslighted in the process. I know that ultimately this petition won't force John Fisher to sell or for Rob Manfred to resign, but my goal is to keep spreading the word and drawing attention to the great injustice that is unfolding before us. Thank you for reading, and please sign and share.