SF Giants have huge choice to make after helping force the A’s to move

And now, the Giants stand alone.

There are plenty of intriguing storylines to the A’s moving out — John Fisher, Oakland, Rob Manfred, etc. — but something that seems to have been overlooked is: What will the Giants do with their newfound autonomy in the region? Will they take advantage of the situation and try to attract new consumers, or will they stay in the business of trying to somewhat break even first and foremost?

The benefits of that approach would be astronomical. The Giants would enjoy an immediate return to relevancy, with higher ticket and merchandise sales sure to follow. And there’s an excellent chance that a portion of those sales would be coming from an entirely new, untapped consumer base the Giants suddenly have unfettered access to.

There will be lingering resentment toward the Giants from a portion of the A’s fan base for the role the team played in the Vegas move, of course. But there are a lot of baseball fans in the East Bay, with money to spend, who’ll want to continue to watch baseball. If the Giants offer them a compelling on-field product, they’ll buy tickets and they may even become fans.

Plus, there’s a huge number of kids in the Bay Area who just had their hearts ripped out by their favorite team. It would be insane to not try and win them over with an exciting product they’d want to go watch. Signing someone like Ohtani would almost guarantee that happening, as he’s the kind of lodestar that can attract an entire generation of fans to a team, just like Will Clark, Barry Bonds and Tim Lincecum did for generations prior.

It all makes sense for the Giants. Massively invest in the team, start winning, reap the benefits for years to come. They can win back their increasingly apathetic fan base while also showcasing themselves to an entirely new clientele. And there’s already a blueprint for this in the annals of Bay Area sports history. Ever notice how there’s a surprisingly large number of 49ers fans in the East Bay? That’s a direct result of the Raiders packing up shop for LA in 1982, leaving what would soon become the dynasty-era Niners as the only game in town. Football fans needed someone to cheer for, and the Niners delivered, with the end result being an entirely new generation of fans that still support the team to this day.

It almost makes too much sense, which makes me think the complete opposite is going to happen.

After all, this is the team whose owner listed winning as a secondary goal just a few weeks ago. Is it that far out of the realm of possibilities to think they may see this situation as an opportunity to go about business as usual while collecting more money by default? The Giants don’t really have to do anything differently — they’re the only game in town now, and a revenue increase is bound to happen no matter what. Why risk a year in the red if you don’t have to?

The next few weeks will tell the tale. They’ll never admit it publicly, but the Giants have to be ecstatic their cross-Bay competitors are leaving town. They’ve played lip service to the Bay Area rivalry for years, but have kept a stranglehold on the territorial rights that would’ve made it mush easier for the A’s to stick around. It’s clear they’ve wanted this market all to themselves for decades, and now they have it.

What are they going to do with it?

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 3:10 p.m., Nov. 17, to correct incorrect information in a photo caption.