I’ve heard the Athletics had been looking at other stadium sites in the Bay Area for over 10 years.
I think they wanted to get a mixed use development such as the Atlanta Braves built with their new stadium. And apparently the Oakland waterfront was ripe for redevelopment. I don’t recall what happened, but the Oakland waterfront deal fell apart. And based on that, this supposedly led to today’s vote to move the team.
Good luck with that.