A’s fans again made their voices heard, and with force, on Opening Day, signaling what a long and difficult year it will likely be for the MLB club.

The A’s drew an announced attendance of 13,522 for their season opener Thursday against the Guardians, easily the smallest crowd of any opener across the league and roughly half of Oakland’s total for its 2023 opener. But while the turnout was sparse inside the Coliseum, thousands of fans gathered in the stadium’s parking lot to voice their displeasure with the planned move of the A’s to Las Vegas. Instead of going inside for the game, many of those fans chose to stay in the lot for a block party, where they watched the game on a projection screen and waved “Sell” flags (above), calling on team owner John Fisher to part with the franchise.

Oakland fans had already established a tradition of activism, staging prior events such as last year’s “reverse boycott.” But the latest demonstration again showed the deep passion that still exists for the team in the Bay Area, regardless of Fisher’s relocation plans.