Despite the Oakland Athletics’ plans to move to Las Vegas unlikely to change, the mayor of their future home seems to think the MLB franchise should maybe stay right where they are.
The Oakland A’s decision to depart from the place they have called home for more than 50 years is one of the rare times when fans of other franchises can empathize with the struggles of another. For the last couple of decades, A’s fans have had to root for a team that tried to create competitive teams on the cheap and invested nothing in making their home field anything more than building with an MLB diamond in it.
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In a true kicking fans while they were already down moment last year, owner John Fisher finally decided to put some money into his team. However, it was to uproot it, move the organization to Las Vegas, and put his team in a brand new stadium on the famed Las Vegas strip — after he could not come to terms on a new stadium with Oakland officials.
The decision to place another arena in the already busy Las Vegas strip has been met with some resistance in the city, including the Schools Over Stadiums political action committee. And now the PAC may have added support from one of the most powerful people in the city.
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Las Vegas mayor no fan of Oakland Athletics’ new stadium plans
During a conversation with Front Office Sports on Tuesday, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman came out strongly against the franchise’s plan to build a stadium in an already crowded part of the state, instead of doing it in Northern Nevada.
“They … want to get closer to the Strip with all the congestion and everything,” Goodman said. “And I thought, ‘This does not make sense.’ I personally think they’ve got to figure out a way to stay in Oakland to make their dream come true,” she says.
The plan as of now is for the facility to be built on the current site of the Tropicana Las Vegas resort. It is expected to be one of the smallest in the league when finished and is not far from both the T-Mobile Arena and Allegiant Stadium.
It must be noted that the Las Vegas strip is governed by a seven-member Clark County Commission. Goodman is not part of the power structure governing it. While she probably may not have the sway to sink a deal, she made it clear she doesn’t favor the current site plan and seemed open to the idea of a different franchise bringing their brand to the city.
“There are a lot of questions about whether that’s going to fit,” Goodman said of the Tropicana site. “I want to be clear that I am excited about the prospect of Major League Baseball in Las Vegas, and it very well may be that the Las Vegas A’s will become a reality.”
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