S.J. Quakes turn to Oakland for corporate support

John Fisher and Lew Wolff like to say Oakland doesn't have the corporate support the A's need, and so, they must move to the more corporate-rich South Bay. Well, let's just chalk that up as yet one more Fisher/Wolff statement that is not backed up by fact. Want proof? Look no further than their MLS team, the San Jose Earthquakes. If there are so many South Bay companies clamoring to give away money for sports sponsorships, then why is one of the Earthquakes main sponsors an Oakland-based corporation? That's right, as the Quakes headed into the MLS playoffs in October, they inked a deal for Oakland-based Kaiser Permanente to be the Quakes' "presenting sponsor for the MLS Cup Playoffs." It's not the first time the San Jose Quakes and Oakland's Kaiser have hooked up. In April, Kaiser Permanente agreed to sponsor the Quakes' Get EQ Fit program, which promotes youth fitness. Kaiser then officially sponsored the team's Health and Wellness Night on May 19 at Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara.

To review, Fisher and Wolff say they "need" to move the Oakland A's to San Jose so the A's can benefit from South Bay companies. But as soon as Fisher and Wolff have a team in the South Bay, their best and most public corporate partnership comes from Oakland and the East Bay. ... Wait, what?

Here's another head-scratcher: If Kaiser is willing to partner with a San Jose sports team, why isn't the Oakland-based company partnering with the Oakland A's? We know that Kaiser has a strong partnership with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, so the Oakland company has no aversion to baseball. In fact, we all know that Kaiser really wants to be an A's corporate sponsor and is working to keep the A's in Oakland. We know that because Kaiser was one of several Oakland companies that joined Clorox CEO Don Knauss to say so publicly last May, when they reached out to Wolff and Fisher.

Hmmm, so you have an Oakland-based corporation offering to be a sponsor for the A's, but the A's owners apparently aren't interested. Yet, when those same owners are running a San Jose team, suddenly that Oakland company's money becomes perfectly fine to partner with. Is there any doubt now why A's fans don't trust Fisher and Wolff? Nothing they say is ever backed up by fact.

You get the point. There is plenty of corporate support in Oakland and the East Bay to support the A's. All the A's owners need to do is pick up the phone and contact them. It'd be easy ... just ask the San Jose Earthquakes.