(left) Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day | Photo by Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons | (right) Oakland Coliseum | Photo by Quintin Soloviev, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong Slams Oakland A’s Move to Vegas
The Oakland Athletics’ move to Las Vegas has upset a majority of the team’s fanbase — particularly one punk-rock musician.
Billie Joe Armstrong, frontman of Green Day and longtime Bay Area resident, has vocally supported the A’s throughout his career. Following this MLB season, the A’s are saying goodbye to their Oakland home of 50 years and heading to the Sin City to begin a new start at a planned $1.5 billion ballpark, opening in 2028. John Fisher, A’s owner, has received harsh backlash since he inked the new deal, leading to a fan-led revolt earlier this year.
Armstrong echoed similar sentiments, speaking to a crowd during a show at San Francisco’s Oracle Park last week.
“We don’t take shit from people like f**king John Fisher,” Armstrong told the audience, according to KRON 4. “I hate Las Vegas. It’s the worst shithole in America.”
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His comments were met with some criticism — and two Las Vegas radio stations even pulled his music. Vegas’ KOMP 92.3 wrote on Instagram that they have “pulled any and all Green Day” from its playlist, writing, “It’s not us, Billie…it’s you.”
Additionally, X107.5 revealed on its website that the Sin City heard his comments “loud and clear.”
“In response to Armstrong’s inflammatory comments, the station is banning all Green Day music, effective immediately,” the station wrote.
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Carlota, midday host for the station, commented on the news, telling on-air listeners that “the entire station was sanitized from Green Day songs and “maybe he should take a look at the city and the people involved in that transaction rather than talking smack about the city of Las Vegas.”
“And hey, I hate to say it and as much as the Raiders suck but when they were in Oakland, they were worth a billion or two,” Carlota said. “Now they’re worth six. It was a good business decision and the A’s want some of that and I don’t blame that.”
Armstrong took to Instagram to share an old photograph of him playing in the sand in an A’s hat when he was around 6-years-old, writing that “the athletics leaving Oakland is devastating” and “I feel for all the fans and the people that will lose their jobs because of greed.”
“3 sports teams have left Oakland in the past 5 years Leaving a cultural hole in the east bay hearts and sport,” Armstrong wrote. “I DO believe that Oakland will come back from this.. I’ll always remember driving to del Norte bart station taking the train to the games. Some of my favorite memories. My 4th grade teacher used to have the radio on in class so we can hear if Ricky Henderson was going to break the stolen base record. He did. Family friends crazy george Billy Ball..This one hurts.”
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The A’s just wrapped-up the season with their final sold-out home game on September 26. The attendance numbers are a stark difference from the amount of fans the team has been pulling-in this season; the A’s highest single-game record at the venue totaled 56,310 fans in 2018, but this season, they’re averaging less than 9,000 fans per game. The team also hit a season-low, drawing 3,296 fans during a match against the Cardinals earlier this year.
Next year, the team will head to Sacramento for a three-year stay at Sutter Health Park. The venue, which has a capacity of 14,000, is home to the Triple-A affiliate of the Giants, the River Cats.
