Low attendance is the reason heard most often.
A total of 677,944 fans turned up to watch the Pilots play in Sick's Stadium, an enlarged minor league field. That's a small number by today's standards, but it was more than the White Sox, Indians, Phillies or Padres brought out to the ballpark that season. In truth, the reason for the Pilots' short history is a good deal more complicated than either of the above reasons. In 1968, after a round of public appearances by American League president Joe Cronin and A.L. stars Mickey Mantle, Jimmy Piersall and Carl Yastrzemski, voters approved the construction. You don't sleep very much, I'll tell you that, because you want to get going and you want to get players that can really help your club.