The Oakland Athletics are coming off an ugly 102-loss season after a payroll purge from the team’s cheap ownership group. They are playing in one of the most run-down venues in professional sports and averaged less than 10,000 fans per game this past season.
The backdrop here is these Athletics being unable to come to terms on a new stadium project with Oakland officials ahead of the soft September deadline. In reality, said failure could doom the A’s in Northern Californa moving forward.
An obvious backdrop here is the Athletics’ brass flirting with the possibility of relocating to Las Vegas. They have met with officials in Sin City with said officials also showing interest in the A’s joining the NFL’s Raiders in relocating from Oakland to Las Vegas.
In speaking at the CAA World Congress of Sports in New York on Tuesday, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred put even more pressure on the city of Oakland to hash things out with the A’s. The embattled commish indicated that pushing “stadium negotiations into next year would add increased uncertainty in the Bay Area.”
The A’s and city of Oakland failed to come to terms on an agreement for a new $12 billion Howard Terminal Project back in September, $1 billion of which would be used for a new stadium. That was a soft deadline to get things done. However, A’s President Dave Kaval also noted that negotiations stretching into 2023 would “all but doom our efforts” in Oakland.
Related: Oakland Athletics payroll purge could lead to relocation
Oakland Athletics relocation to Las Vegas now more likely
Based on comments from Manfred and Kaval, it seems that the A’s could very well be headed to Las Vegas. The A’s have been exploring relocation to Southern Nevada since the spring of 2021 and have met with local officials and business people multiple times since then.
As for MLB’s role in a potential move, Manfred and Co. had previously indicated it would cancel any relocation fee to Las Vegas. On Tuesday, he made it clear that there’s demand for baseball in Vegas without saying as much. That also came as a backdrop as he pitched potential expansion.
“There are cities that want baseball and we should try to meet that demand. There are advantages for the sport. Getting to 32 gets you out of five team divisions, probably into four team divisions. Really helps you in terms of scheduling flexibility.”
Rob Manfred on potential expansion
With that said, MLB’s first order of business is to handle the situation between the Athletics and Oakland. He’s made it clear in the past that the A’s current venue is not viable.
“Rob Manfred says the city of Oakland needs to get an agreement done quickly for a new ballpark for the Athletics. ‘The condition of the Coliseum is a really serious problem for us. It is not a major-league quality facility at this point.’”
Report on Rob Manfred’s stance on the Oakland Athletics’ stadium situation
The A’s current Triple-A team is playing in the Vegas suburb of Summerlin at a venue that many consider to be the best in the minors.
Meanwhile, there’s multiple options for a potential A’s stadium in Las Vegas. Manfred touched on that back in July of 2021, making it clear that this is something MLB has been considering.
“Las Vegas is a viable alternative for a major league club, and there are other viable alternatives that I haven’t turned the A’s loose to even explore at this point,” Manfred on potential Oakland Athletics relocation to Vegas.
Among the possible locations, the Tropicana site just off the Vegas strip has been bandied about as an option. But the A’s are leaving other doors open as they talk with officials in Southern Nevada.