When I first thought about doing a sports post, the easy choice was the #TakeAKnee movement but I wanted to go with something closer to home and a little different. Oakland California has seen its share of sports ups and downs and despite the recent successes of the Golden State Warriors I contend are in the midst of their biggest down of all time. Two out of their current three professional sports franchises have called the moving trucks and are moving out of town.

Sure the Warriors are headed just across the bay to San Francisco to play in the shiny new $1 billion Chase Center but ask any local and they can tell you it won’t be the same. Look at the fierce rivalry and occasional bad blood that exist between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A’s. Not to be outdone the Oakland Raiders inked a deal to move to Las Vegas and play in a $2 billion stadium.  Now Oakland is left with one of MLB’s perennial underdogs the Oakland A’s.

I am a huge A’s fan, I went to three away games this year going to Citi Field, Yankee Stadium, and Citizens Bank Park. Next year I want to go for four and add in Fenway Park. I am undoubtedly rooting for the A’s to stay in Oakland but realize they can not continue to play in the dilapidated Oakland Collisium. The easy choice was probably to chase down a new location; one that the city was willing to put up hundreds of millions of dollars for a stadium. But to my amazement, the A’s went a different path. Out of this decision was born the marketing campaign of #RootedInOakland.

#RootedInOakland is a series of commercials and print ads meant to tie the Oakland A’s to the Oakland community. One ad was even filmed at city hall and included the current Oakland Mayor. The message resonated with the community and was quickly embraced by Oaklanders. Born out of corporate marketing idea, it has now been transformed into a rallying cry and provided that much-needed assurance the A’s were staying in Oakland.

Similarly to the transformation #SmallBusinessSaturday has taken so too has #RootedInOakland. It is no longer just a corporate campaign, it has become part of a greater social meaning. It represents the last tie that Oakland will have to professional sports. Thankfully in conjunction with the hard work of the current general manager Dave Kaval, the A’s have announced their intentions to remain in Oakland and privately finance a new stadium. For the foreseeable future, the Oakland A’s will remain in Oakland, the small market baseball team that put a city on its back and gave it something to cheer for.

Mural Picture by Akos Kokai on Flickr under CC license 2.0