A's fans - do you know the way to San Jose?

Earlier this month, consulting firm Conventions Sports & Leisure International released an economic impact report for a possible new A’s stadium in San Jose. On Tuesday, the San Jose City Council unanimously approved the report – but what the hell does that mean?

It means we’re one step closer to seeing the San JosA’s, but there’s still a long way to go.

The approval of the economic impact report seemed like a no-brainer: the report found that almost 1,000 jobs would be created by a new ballpark, and it would generate $130 million in benefits (such as tax revenue). The report would make you believe that the city of San Jose would be foolish not to allow the A’s to set up operations there, and apparently the council agrees.

Unlike the A’s previous attempt to build a stadium in Fremont, so far it has been smooth sailing for the San Jose proposal. Mayor Chuck Reed even appeared at a news conference before the meeting, voicing his support of the project.

The biggest hurdle that remains is the territorial rights issue with the San Francisco Giants. The Giants have always considered San Jose to be part of their territory, and MLB would need to approve of the A’s infringing on it. Why the Giants would be opposed to the A’s going from a city that is 10 miles away (Oakland) to one that is 40 miles away (San Jose) is beyond me.

One of the most curious things about the proposed new stadium is its capacity. The proposal calls for a stadium with about 32,000 seats, which would be by far the lowest capacity in the majors (the Florida Marlins’ new stadium, which opens in 2012, is the second-lowest at 37,000). The impact report puts average major league attendance at 31,700 per game, which would make the A’s new stadium a guaranteed sellout every night if that number holds. Combine that with increased revenue for Billy Beane to work his magic with, and I think A’s tickets will actually be hard to come by in 2014 (imagine that!).

Another interesting fact that came out of the report was the average ticket price data for all 30 major league teams. The A’s rank eighth in average per-game ticket price at $29.20, which is $7 higher than the cross-bay Giants, who play in a fancy new stadium. I would assume that this average is probably inflated by the removal of about 10,000 cheap seats (A’s fans might refer to it as the third deck) for baseball games.

So now we wait on Bud Selig and MLB to issue a ruling on the territorial rights. And guess what? Good ole’ Bud hasn’t set a date for when MLB will issue that ruling. I wonder if the Yankees would have gotten a date…