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June 15, 2023

Screen Printer’s ‘SELL’ Shirts Fuel Viral Fan Protest Against Oakland Athletics Ownership

Fans accuse Owner John Fisher of running the team into the ground and are irate that he’s working to relocate the franchise to Las Vegas. They voiced their displeasure in a raucous “reverse boycott” at a Tuesday night game.

By  Christopher Ruvo

Angela Tsay and her team at Oaklandish (asi/169128) may have cemented a place in Major League Baseball fan lore by printing merch to fuel a widely supported grassroots protest that garnered national sports media attention and went viral on social.  

Tsay and company created a T-shirt decorated with one simple word: SELL. It’s a message to the Oakland Athletics’ billionaire Owner John Fisher, whom fans accuse of running the team into the ground for years while trying to relocate the franchise to Las Vegas.

green t-shirt with word Sell on front

Oaklandish, a B Corp screen printer/apparel company based in Oakland, CA, created the SELL shirts worn by thousands of Oakland Athletics fans at the game protesting ownership.

The shirts were an eye-catching centerpiece of a fan “reverse boycott” against the much-disliked ownership that was held during the A’s Tuesday, June 13, home game. Prior to this season, A’s fans had shown their ire with Fisher by not attending games, leading the A’s to have the lowest attendance level of any Major League Baseball club (8,555).

But on Tuesday, it was the good old days returned to the Coliseum. To show ownership – and the world – that the A’s would enjoy copious support if steered rightly by a so-called honest ownership that cared about the city, nearly 28,000 fans packed the stadium.

Throughout the game, which had a loud and raucous playoff atmosphere, chants of “Sell the Team!” and “Stay in Oakland!” – along with expletive-peppered commands leveled at Fisher – shook the stadium.

Angel Tsay“T-shirts are a powerful way for people to send a message, and to be a part of something bigger than themselves. Every project is an opportunity to help shape the world we live in, to have some impact on the community and do your part to make that community a place that you’re proud to call home. No matter what happens with the A’s, the memories of the sea of Kelly green SELL tees will live on in Oakland history.” Angela Tsay, Oaklandish

The audibility of the protests was enhanced by an unmissable visual element: Namely, thousands of A’s fans wearing the Kelly green SELL shirts that Oaklandish had made.

From CBS: “Fans organized a giveaway as part of the reverse boycott, and thanks to $27,000 in donations, they distributed Kelly green shirts that said ‘SELL’ across the chest. They were visible in every crowd shot during the NBC Sports California broadcast, including the traditional center-field angle. Every single pitch, there were the ‘SELL’ shirts for the world to see.”

Tsay, who is CEO of Oaklandish, told ASI Media that her team first printed SELL shirts for the Oakland 68s, a fan group, back in 2015. When the reverse boycott – called so because it involved flooding the stadium with fans rather than not attending in protest – was set to occur, the group again turned to Oaklandish for the message tees.

“A’s fans are truly committed sports fans and worked hard to promote the campaign,” Tsay said. “It’s more than baseball; it’s about giving people a sense of belonging, a chance to be a part of shared experiences in a time when so much is online and virtual.”

The protest was personal for Tsay and her crew at Oaklandish, a B Corp screen printer/apparel company that creates civic-pride apparel and accessories with an emphasis on local sourcing and sales. Indeed, Oaklandish are A’s fans that have had company outings at games and been part of the A’s Fan Fest and Opening Day tailgates. Oaklandish was there for the reverse boycott, too.

“Being at the tailgate and the game on Tuesday was bittersweet, but it was a celebration and a reunion,” Tsay told ASI Media. “So many fans have stopped going to games because of the way that ownership has tarnished their fan experience. Last night was a chance to see old friends and to feel some joy in spite of everything.”

The protest even drew international attention and support as A’s fans in the United Kingdom got behind it.

Ultimately, the fan revolt may not be enough to prevent Fisher, whose parents founded retailer The Gap, from relocating the A’s to Las Vegas. In what some might see as a cruel twist for Oakland-based fans, a day after the big protest, legislators in Nevada gave final approval for public money to fund a portion of a proposed $1.5 billion stadium with a retractable roof for the A’s franchise.

Still, fans in Oakland – where the club has been for 55 years – aren’t going down without making their voices heard. The SELL shirts they donned by the thousands made that clear.

“T-shirts are a powerful way for people to send a message, and to be a part of something bigger than themselves,” said Tsay. “Every project is an opportunity to help shape the world we live in, to have some impact on the community and do your part to make that community a place that you’re proud to call home. No matter what happens with the A’s, the memories of the sea of Kelly green SELL tees will live on in Oakland history.”

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