This may explain it all. Lower the team's expenses and create a larger market
value. From today's San Francisco Chronicle. This column is NOT in the sports
section.

Chief of A's stadium plans may buy in

by Phillip Matier & Andrew Ross
San Francisco Chronicle

There's hot talk that the Oakland A's are close to being sold to a group headed
by Lewis Wolff, the megabucks Los Angeles developer whose possible emergence as
a new owner was signaled last year when the team hired him to explore plans for
a new stadium.

Wolff -- formerly a part owner of both the Golden State Warriors and St. Louis
Blues hockey franchise -- isn't discounting the idea of taking over the A's, but
says it's a bit early to tell how discussions will turn out.
"Hopefully, within 90 days we will be able to figure out what my role will be,''
he told us by phone Friday.
"All I can tell you is, I have an option, which has been in the papers for some
time, to purchase all or part of the team," Wolff said. "And I'm exploring it in
detail because I'm very interested in the A's and think it's one of the best-run
teams in baseball.''
Of course, the option he's talking about -- at least as it was announced last
year -- hinged on the A's coming up with a new stadium plan, something that's
still a long, long way from happening.
But then, Wolff said that wasn't an issue anymore.
Since 1995, the A's have been owned 50-50 by home developers Steve Schott and
Ken Hofmann. They bought the franchise at a discounted price far below the
reported $85 million from Walter Haas -- the now-deceased patriarch of the San
Francisco family that owns Levi Strauss -- with a pledge to keep the team in
Oakland.
But the Schott-Hofmann pairing -- in which Schott served as the managing partner
-- hasn't always gone smoothly, with the two often at odds over the team's
direction.
The team is said to be worth $150 million to $170 million. It regularly turns a
profit, largely because of the $12 million to $14 million it receives annually
from baseball's revenue-sharing program, plus its next-to-nothing rent at the
Coliseum.
Wolff confirmed he was negotiating to buy Hofmann's stake, but was less specific
on where he stood in acquiring Schott's share.
However, one source following the moves predicted that Schott would be bowing
out soon, or at least taking a back seat.
"Lew Wolff is going to be calling most of the shots now,'' said our source.
At the same time, Wolff confirmed that he is looking to bring on a number of
partners, including John Fisher -- as in the son of Gap founder Donald Fisher.
The younger Fisher is already a business partner with Wolff in a number of hotel
and other real estate deals, including ownership of the San Francisco Fairmont.
The Fishers were among the local investors who stepped forward in 1992 to buy
the San Francisco Giants when the team was on the verge of being sold to a Tampa
Bay group and moved to Florida.
But the Fishers -- who remain prominent philanthropists in the Bay Area -- have
since sold all but about 1 percent of their interest, according to baseball
insiders.
As for what a possible change in ownership would mean for Oakland's chances of
landing that long-shot stadium?
"I don't think it's going to make that much difference,'' Oakland City Council
President Ignacio De La Fuente said when we asked about the rumored sale.
"We are working very closely with Lew Wolff and Steve Schott," De La Fuente
said, "and we continue to be ready to try to look at the viability of building a
new home for the A's.''
Wolff and the city have narrowed their search to the parking lot north of the
Coliseum, a stadium the A's share with the Oakland Raiders. The A's have said
they would contribute $100 million toward construction of a baseball-only
stadium, which could cost $400 million or more.
But there is speculation that the team might still have its eye on part of a
65-acre site near the Oakland estuary, between Oak Street and 10th Avenue. The
land, which the Port of Oakland sold last year, is slated to be developed as
housing.
And, just last week, the City Council of baseball-hungry San Jose agreed to try
to buy the former Del Monte cannery west of downtown -- 11 acres said to be
worth about $26 million -- with the idea that it could be a ballpark site.
It was Wolff, after all, who back in 1998 suggested the A's build a stadium in
San Jose, quipping: "I wouldn't spend five minutes on any other city besides San
Jose.''
But then, as one government insider who has been watching all of the stadium
moves, predicted, "We will be talking about this for years.''




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