The A's lease agreement with the Coliseum includes penalties and interest for late paymentGETTY IMAGES
The A's and their landlord, the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority, are "at odds over the team deferring" its $1.2M ballpark rent payment "that was due April 1 amid the coronavirus pandemic," according to Slusser, Matier & Kawahara of the S.F. CHRONICLE. A's General Counsel D'Lonra Ellis in a March 31 letter "cited the stadium authority being 'unable to make the Coliseum available for our use' in light of shelter-in-place orders and restrictions on large gatherings by Alameda County and the state." The A's also had learned that the Coliseum complex was "being evaluated as a potential 'surge site' for treating COVID-19 patients" and would "defer the payment 'until we have a better understanding of when the Coliseum will be available for our use.'" Coliseum Authority interim Exec Dir Henry Gardner yesterday said that the agency "had 'every expectation' the payment would be made on time and the sides are in talks." He added that the lease agreement "includes penalties and interest for late payment which could be negotiated but that 'no payment is not going to work.'" Coliseum Authority member Ignacio De La Fuente said the A's are "full of it" and "don't want to pay the $1.2 million." De La Fuente: "We are going to demand payment" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 5/20). In San Jose, David DeBolt notes Ellis in the March 31 letter "cited 'force majeure,' a clause in the contract that relieves both sides from obligation when there is an extraordinary event, such as the coronavirus outbreak" (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 5/20).
