Athletics raise parking prices for Giants fans, but there's a catch

Aside from battling in the 1989 World Series, the Oakland Athletics rivalry with the San Francisco Giants hasn’t received a lot of national attention over the years. Rest assured though, it’s a big deal in the Bay Area, and thanks to the A’s it has added another unique layer just this weekend.

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Ahead of their exhibition game against San Francisco at the Coliseum in Oakland on Sunday, the A’s have announced their parking prices for the upcoming season. It’s not great news for A’s fans, as parking prices have increased from $20 to $30. It’s even worse for Giants fans, as anyone who arrives wearing Giants gear will be charged $50 for parking.

We’re not even joking about that. It’s a real thing. There is one catch though that would allow Giants fans to pay the same prices, but it would require them to swallow their pride.

The key stipulation from A’s president Dave Kaval being: “Any Giants fan who yells ‘Go A’s’ at the parking gates will be charged only $30 to enter the Oakland Coliseum.”

We’re guessing that’s of little consolation to Giants fans. Most would certainly rather pay the extra $20 than sell themselves out to the A’s. It’s definitely more expensive than last season’s free cap trade-in that the A’s offered to Giants fans. Not that they were fans of that either, but Giants fans were quick to let the A’s know how they felt about the parking situation, firing back with some of their own suggestions and quips.

What’s a rivalry without a little pettiness? It’s good for business.

Speaking of business, this is just the lastest unique marketing plan implemented by the A’s. In January, the team announced tickets to their April 17 game against the Chicago White Sox would be entirely free.

This past week, they added a new promotion as a part of Community Impact Wednesdays that will allow fans to decide what they want to pay (minimum $1) for a ticket in Section 322 at the Coliseum. The plan will run all season and will obviously cover Wednesday home games, regardless of time or opponent.

For better or worse, the A’s are definitely thinking outside the box. It will be interesting to see how these marketing plans pan out.

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Yahoo Sports Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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