The Athletics are continuing to pursue their potential relocation to Las Vegas and will likely be filing their funding bill with the Nevada Legislature in the coming week, per Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Twitter, who adds that there will be enough time to get the deal done during the current legislative session.
The timing is significant on a couple of fronts. The current Nevada legislative session adjourns on June 5 and there’s no even year session, meaning there won’t be another chance for the A’s to file until early 2025, after the 2024 election. Under the terms of the recent collective bargaining agreement between Major League Baseball and the MLBPA, the Athletics have until January 15 of 2024 to sign a contract for the construction of a new facility in order to retain their status as revenue sharing recipients.
It was reported last month that the club had agreed to purchase 49 acres of land west of the Las Vegas Strip, though a later report indicated the club had pivoted to the site of the Tropicana hotel on the Strip. That hotel is owned by Bally’s Corporation, on land leased from Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc. The former plan would have involved asking for $500MM in county-issue bonds but the latter plan involves a lesser ask of $395MM.
Akers’ report provides some details on the latter plan, indicating that Bally’s and Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc. will be giving nine acres of the land to the A’s. Akers speaks with Bally’s Corp. Chairman Soo Kim in the piece, who estimates that land on the Strip is worth about $20MM per acre, making the total value of that land around $180MM. Once the 30,000-seat stadium with retractable roof is completed, the A’s would contribute the land to the Las Vegas Stadium Authority, following a similar path to the Raiders and Allegiant Stadium. Bally’s has plans to build a new hotel-casino on the remaining portion of the land once the stadium is completed, though it’s still being determined if the Tropicana would shutter completely during construction or stay open as the work is done in phases.
The A’s currently have about three weeks to submit their proposal and get it approved before the legislative session is done. Whether they will succeed in that regard remains to be seen.
A’s fans….I’m so sorry guys. The league will never be the same without the Oakland A’s. We Seattle fans know exactly what you’re going through and it sucks ass. Hang in there guys
lmao as if this even happens…John Fischer is a talentless failure who expects everyone he encounters to bend the knee to him. I’m not believing this until the park is actually built.
Keep the faith dude I hope you’re right
We’ve been doing this since 2006, I’ll be okay!
I’m starting to understand why you’re so bitter on the NBA boards. Tough year for you in sports
I’m an A’s fan and it’s time for this to end. City of Oakland has had years to get this figured out. Time for a conclusion.
The “conclusion” is the A’s still play in Oakland no matter what this dumb convo is lol
conclusion is the A’s play in Oakland until an New Stadium is built
in Santa Clara County/Silicon Valley for the A’s’
The A’s stay in the SF Bay Area!
Oakland and Seattle city leaders are SMUG & out of touch; that’s why the A’s, Raiders, Warriors , BOEING and the Sonics left.
I don’t know about Oakland, but that’s not why Boeing nor the Sonics left. And not for nothing, Boeing corporate left, all the manufacturing stayed.
@Bob9988..You need to do your research again. Boeing corporate Headquarters moved to Chicago YEARS AGO, but now ALL MANUFACTURING has moved to South Carolina FOREVER.
The tech people moved into Oakland that would pay huge prices for homes in SF. You have proven many times you are out of touch with what is going on. If you stop watching political based fake news you would know what this is about. Its about a owner who doesn’t care about baseball but building a stadium with tax money so he can profit. No real conservative would back a owner stealing tax dollars to redistribute wealth to a billionaire.
Or maybe you need to. The 737, 767 and 777 are all still made in WA. Only the 787 was moved out and that was relatively recent. Rework is still being preformed on the 787 in WA and a new 737 line is replacing the 747 in Everett.
yeah rework has to be done in the Seattle area because we’re smart enough to pay taxes for good schools, unlike South Carolina. so we have to fix their mistakes
Its about a owner who doesn’t care about baseball but building a stadium with tax money so he can profit.
=========================
It’s a negotiation. Every form of government wants every nickel and dime they can reasonably squeeze from business owners. Every business owner was to squeeze every nickel and dime they can from the government. Two sides of the same coin.
No real conservative would back a owner stealing tax dollars to redistribute wealth to a billionaire.
==========================
That is seriously incorrect. I am generally a RW-C who was more than happy to see NYC put money on the table to keep the NYY in the South Bronx.
Just on a macro basis, there is no such thing as “never’ to serious thinkers, right or left. Every conversation should start with “what’s in it for me”. Keeping the Yankees on 161st adds a ton of jobs and stability to the area.
Seattle? Ok? Lol.
yes, Seattle. it’s one of the best cities in the United States. I’m sorry your experience of it is watching its problems on loop on cable news. i bet if we watched your worst problems on loop on cable news we’d have a low opinion of you too
SEATTLE IS A DUMP! Roads are unkempt, population density is out of control. Fentanyl everywhere. Human feces too. Love your idea of “best cities” bro. Grew up there, bailed 8 years ago for these reasons
Yeah but the bluest skies you’ve ever seen are in Seattle.
Just keep looking up I guess.
if it was such a terrible city, it would not be one of the most expensive cities to live in. Supply and Demand.
it’s like San Francisco v. Bakersfield. I’m sure Bakersfield is far worse than San Francisco. but nobody talks about the crime rate in Bakersfield because nobody expects Bakersfield to be perfect. nobody cares about Bakersfield. they know it stinks there
Boeing corporate headquarters is now in Northern Virginia near Washington DC. That keeps them close to their government clients.
Sure it is.
Check Uhaul prices from Bend Oregon to Seattle, Then check them from Bend to Seattle.
My wife’s brother got out of Seattle and hasn’t looked back. He lived in a dump that cost a fortune
it costs a fortune because people want to live in Seattle!! people are willing to pay to live there. if living costs were equal between Bend and Seattle, people would leave Bend.
obviously your not an economist.
@JoeBrady not to mention Yankees have a HUGE market that 98% of the league wish they had. Dodgers are closing in though. Their market has evolved over the last decade.
No they wouldn’t. Lol. I lived in Bend. A lot of people came from Seattle. The quality of life is better. It’s not even close.
Boeing increased manufacturing and engineering jobs in the Seattle area by 4400 in 2022 alone with 8000 more planned for 2023. Boeing has 85000 employees in that area. They just moved their HQ, not their company.
Maybe check your own research. Only the 787 is manufactured is in SC. The 737 and BBJ are still made in Renton (and they’re supposedly adding a 737 line in Everett), and the 767 and 777 are both produced in Everett. Nice try though.
Wrong. Manufacturing is still done in the Seattle area and Boeing jobs in Seattle are increasing.
Halo, that’s weird, because Seattle is a lot more expensive and still has 7x the population of Bend. so however nice Bend is, it ain’t holding a candle to Seattle.
Seattle population and housing prices are going up. People apparently want to be there.
Who is the idiot that thinks the best economic indicator is Uhaul prices? Lmfao.
Boeing’s HQ is in Arlington, VA and a quick look at Boeing’s website shows they are growing in Washington state, not downsizing.
It’s a bigger place. Have you ever been to Bend? I guarantee there are more jobs in Seattle.
For both you and Halo
numbeo.com/quality-of-life/region_rankings_current…
Top 10 for quality of life.
Don’t see Bend OR on that list.
Bend is not even #2 in its own state.
halo, are you suggesting that differences between cities are not all about some simplistic partisan political narrative? ooo, very interesting point!!!
You have lived everywhere. That is the 6th place you have mentioned in 2 months.
@ARC 2 100% if I could mega-like your comment I would!!
“jobs and stability” lol you really dont have any thoughts of your own, do you lil guy?
Literally the entire West Coast destroys the rest of America in terms of quality of life, state govts managing their budgets well and overall happiness of housed residents. The rest of you watch to much lying Fox fake “news” (just racist takes on the news, not actual analysis, started and run by Australia, gross)
I love the cherry-picked fraud-arguments based off nonsense opinions by right wing psychos that no one agrees with and then for “proof” its always minuscule sample scales–no wait I actually hate it so much
“No one wants to live there … there are too many people.”
That was because head of the company was from there and wanted to move some of the company operations closer to his home area and closer to the government in DC where they get most of their lucrative contracts..
WRONG. The Sonics were stolen. A lying plundering Okie thief purchased the team from a lying money-grubbing coffee mogul. But one day soon the new Seattle SuperSonics will rise again!
Oakland agreed to a deal to build the new stadium. Fisher changed the amount of money he was requesting at the last minute. That is on him.
Boeing didn’t leave Seattle. In fact, since the beginning if 2022 they have added more than 10k jobs in the Seattle area. They did move their corporate offices to Arlington VA to be closer to the halls of power in DC.
The Raiders left because Oakland, like LA, refused to pay 100% of the cost of a new stadium. The only politicians stupid enough to do it were in Las Vegas.
MLB earns most of its money from local and national TV deals, so the size of a TV market is everything. San Francisco is #6. Las Vegas is #40. Will be #41 when the new rankings come out. .
The Sonics left because Clay Bennett lied. He was sued by Howard Schultz and paid him millions and was sued by the City of Seattle and had to pay the city of Seattle $45 million, more than 10 times what the remaining years on the lease would have been. The presiding judge said the team failed to make a “good-faith effort” to resolve the dispute regarding building a new arena or expanding the existing one. Bennett’s business partner in the Sonics/OKC said in an interview that the team was purchased with the intention of moving it to OKC and they already had an agreement in place to build an arena there.
The Warriors stayed in the Bay area.
Anything else you care to get completely wrong.
Golden State Warriors deal was PRIVATELY FINANCED.
Fischer could privately finance an A’s stadium anytime,
but, he wants billions in taxpayer subsidies.
Las Vegas is not even offering what A’s Owner was asking
of Oakland and Alameda County Taxpayers.
So, clearly is was a ruse by A’s Ownership!
$1.4 billion paid 100% by the owners of the Warriors. They sold suites for as much as $1.5 million and rented office space to some tech giants and Marc Benioff sold them the land.
businessinsider.com/chase-center-golden-state-warr…
Such a weird post to make when you really just want to say “Oakland is full of Black people and that makes me mad”.
No! These are completely different situations with different dynamics.
A’s Ownership did not push hard enough for restoration of their territorial rights to Santa Clara County for new stadium.
A’s then sabotaged Oakland deal by pulling a “Major League”(the movie)
by fire sale of prior competitive, young roster and creating the worst team in MLB, tanking attendance and setting everything up for relocation.
A;s Ownership did not negotiate in “good faith” with Oakland officials.
There was a deal to be made there that could have been made
if A’s officials had negotiated in “good faith”..
SF Giants were instrumental in actively trying to block A’s stadium deals in the SF Bay Area including Silicon Valley and San Jose.
“Shared Territory” of Santa Clara County should have been restored
once the SF Giants built their new stadium in downtown SF
and NOT in San Jose 5o miles away.
The City of Oakland had agreed to a deal before Fisher changed the terms by asking for another $350 million just a few weeks before the deal was to be signed. You are correct that Fisher did not negotiate in good faith. His “binding agreement” to buy 49 acres in Las Vegas was a ploy to try to force Oakland to capitulate on the $350 million more he wanted and the mayor called his bluff. Now if he doesn’t get public financing, a signed agreement with Bally’s (no papers have been filed so far), and the votes of 24 other team owners to ok the move, he is totally and royally F’d.
So woke
Thats it, isnt it? Any chance to say “oooh its the politicians fault” no its not, its John Fishers fault, he could have at any point not been a bottom feeding slumlord owner and instead put up his own money and built a stadium anywhere. Also MLB could have told the Giants that the A’s and the SJ Giants were switching locations and this is all solved quickly. Its anything but “blue city bad because fox news told me to think this – I have never even been there before.”
Try to use your words. Most of us don’t talk in “code words”, or acronyms.
Are you a government contractor or lobbyist?!
The culinary union is backing the deal. That is all that matters. It’s a done deal
I thought it was funny, actually.
It’s definitely time to leave Oakland, going to Vegas at this point is definitely the best option for the Athletics it’s just over 20 years too late.
I’m not big on Vegas personally; the obvious ties to gambling will be a problem at some point, but the A’s seemingly never had much choice since Oakland city leaders never really worked with them. Personally, I’d rather see them in Montreal, but anywhere besides Oakland is an UPGRADE.
@mlb fan I agree I was thinking Memphis or Montreal were the two best options.
Oakland worked with the A’s for years. The A’s backed out of negotiations at the last moment to pull this stunt.
“Oakland worked with the A’s”..Yeah, right. That’s why the Raiders, Warriors and MANY other companies have left Oakland, because the city leaders “work with” them so well, right?
the obvious ties to gambling will be a problem at some point
==========================
I’ve actually never read a story about fixing games which required the parties to be in LV. I cannot imagine a fixer learning that a BB player is willing to throw a game, but not going thru with it because they didn’t live in LV. It would likely be exactly the opposite. The whole idea of a bookie and a player meeting at the Bellagio sports book to discuss throwing a game is kind of humorous.
Owners = bad
Politicians = good
Or that’s the way some folks think. I’m not actually blaming anyone either. If city B offers you a much better deal than city A, most folks would take the better deal.
@SODOMOJO, San Antonio needs a baseball and a football team!
@Joe Brady.”owners bad, politicians good”…And these are the same bird brains, that partner EVERYTHING with elitist, out of touch Hollywood celebrities.
Thanks for bringing up Memphis. An MLB team there, would be exciting and good for the game.
@Bearded Texas Hulk I have a lifelong friend from San Antonio 3 generations before they moved up here.
I know for a fact from visiting and watching college ball with he and his dad one day at University of Texas San Antonio game. Holy cow, what a crowd. Reminded me of the Key Arena in June ‘96 as far as literally every single person there being locked in and yelling and cheering the whole time.
San Antonio is definitely a market all to its own. Look at how successful the spurs have been. And they’ve thrived despite 2 other in state teams winning multiple titles.
WTF are you talking about? The City of Oakland approved the deal, spent tens of millions getting EIS approved and fighting lawsuits against the deal, then at the last minute FISHER asked for $350 million more in public financing.
When the mayor said she had to do what the law requires her to do, later the same day Fisher suddenly has a “binding agreement” to buy 49 acres in Las Vegas. Land he didn’t actually buy.
It seems pretty much a done deal that Memphis will be getting an expansion team. I just hope they don’t call them the Memphis Presley’s or the Memphis Graceland or anything else having to do with Elvis or country music. Keep it baseball, guys.
Raiders wanted a new stadium and wanted Oakland to pay for it. Raiders wanted a new stadium in LA and wanted LA to pay for that one as well. Al Davis threatened to build is own in Irvingdale. The Warriors jumped the Bay because that’s where all the money is at (Tech Industry) and for the waterfront property and profits. The City did in fact work with the A’s and the owner backed out for greener pastures.
i thought Nashville was the Tennessee city locked in on next expansion. what is this info on Memphis?
Its Nashville. 4 areas in the running. Nashville, Portland, Charlotte, and Montreal.
Memphis is not even on the list of possibilities. Nashville is though.
Not Memphis, Nashville.
I can’t see Houston or Dallas agreeing to allow a San Antonio team on the “turf” in either league anytime soon.
Raiders were offered a “shared Stadium” deal with the 49ers in Santa Clara County/Silicon Valley.
It works for the Jets/Giants
and more recently for the Rams/Chargers.
Al Davis probably takes that Santa Clara deal since
the SF Bay Area is loaded with rich tech companies
and corporate sponsorship opportunities
His son Mark Davis did not take that deal.
Only time will tell which deal was better.
.
Las Vegas is a bigger business gamble
with less people, less TV rights and more people
flushing their money down the toilets in casinos.
Eddie Debartolo Jr was forced by the NFL to give up Ownership
of the SF 49ers to his sister
because he was buying riverboat gambling and Casino deals.
Expect a major pro sports gambling scandal down the road
and Vegas will not look so good for Mark Davis and Raiders.
Fischer appears to have pulled an MLB(the movie).
Appears that he had no intention of signing for a New Stadium in Oakland.
Appears that he was “setting the wheels in motion” to leave for Las Vegas
and using Oakland to sweeten a potential deal in Vegas..
If not, the Oakland deal was reasonable and could have been completed.
Most of the tech money is in Silicon Valley/Santa Clara County
where the 49ers moved.
Warriors wanted to stay in SF City and had locked down
a very good location in downtown SF to do just that.
Private/self financing of the deal sealed the deal.
Taxpayers are not on the hook for it.
Las Vegas is OK for a visit. But, many don’t see it as a “family friendly environment that an MLB team needs to develop a long term fan base.
Vegas is literally the worst place to go. The best option is San Jose – double population of Oakland plus its further away from the Giants stadium.
Which won’t happen because the Giants control that area. They’ve gone down that road…Santa Clara too I think.
“Control that area” – what you call “control” we call “corruption”
MLB can override any of that nonsense, there’s no legal precedent and the Giants already have the flimsiest of reasonings to use it because they were supposed to move to SJ, which they didn’t. Theyre doing this for pure greed reasons, and it should and could easily be stopped by MLB. What are the Giants gunna do, sue MLB? No, shut up and play.
San Jose has a higher population than both San Francisco and Oakland, yet they are only allowed an A-Ball team? Dumb move by MLB to not expand their presence in the south bay. The Giants are about a 2 hour drive in traffic, that’s not good enough.
Yes, I think the Giants would sue MLB if the A’s tried to move to San Jose.
MLB and Ownership Committee can VOTE TO GIVE BACK the A’s TERRITORY
that the A’s “gifted to the SF Giants”
to keep the Giants from relocating to Tampa in the 90’s..
Giants were supposed to build their new stadium in San Jose.
They stayed in downtown SF.
The territory should go back to shared 50/50 status.
And, the Giants would LOSE.
Dodgers/Angels, Cubs/White Sox, Yankees/Mets
all share their territories 50/50.
Why not the Giants and A’s?!
Because there’s an agreement giving the Giants the rights to San Jose. It’s a bad agreement, but the Giants won’t give up their rights for nothing.
Why NOT?! The A’s gave up their 50% rights to Santa Clara County Silicon Valley with the understanding that the SF Giants would
build their New Stadium in San Jose.
Giants built their New Stadium in downtown SF 50 miles away.
There was no “consideration” for the deal to give up
the A’s shared Silcon Valley Territory.
(Consideration is a “bargained for exchange” in contracts).
(Each Party must give us something in value for a valid contract.
The A’s GAVE UP NOTHING IN VALUE=NO CONTRACT OR BARGAINED FOR EXCHANGE =NO VALID CONTRACT).
And the event is was based upon(Giants moving to San Jose)
THAT NEVER HAPPENDED.
MLB AND OWNERS could EASILY RESTORE A’S Territory in Silicon Valley Santa Clara County by a Vote of Ownership.
That’s ridiculous. You know that, right?
Exactly, “Bad agreements” can be re-thought if there’s a higher power (MLB) available to fix it.
I agree San Jose is the best place to go probably. Despite what Ive said.
CORRECTION: THE A’S GAVE UP THEIR VALUABLE 50% SILICON VALLEY SANTA CLARA COUNTY SHARE OF 50/50 SF BAY AREA TERRITORY.
WHAT DID THE GIANTS EVER GIVE IN VALUABLE CONSIDERATION BACK TO THE A’S AS PART OF THAT DEAL?! NOTHING, NADA, ZILCH!!!
BUD SELIG SAYS MLB UNDERSTOOD AS DIID A’S OWNERSHIP THAT THE SILICON VALLEY SANTA CLARA COUNTY TERRITORY WOULD REVERT BACK TO THE A’S SOMEDAY.
SportsFan,
There’s no need to YELL.
@gbs42 A’s fans are losing their team because a soulless, evil, sentient pile of money decided to buy the team and refuse to spend anything on it, in effect becoming a MLB slumlord – please forgive us, we arent in a good way right now. How would you act if your fave team you supported your whole life ended up like this?
Steph,
Understood. A’s fan have gotten screwed by team ownership and MLB for a long while. I don’t know exactly how the transfer of territorial rights for the entire Bay Area (except Oakland) to the Giants happened, but if the A’s gave it up willingly with no compensation, that was a major mistake.
The all-caps post just seemed a bit much. The way things continue to play out, I have no idea where the A’s will be playing in 2025. Could be Oakland, could be Vegas, could be they play a 162-game road schedule. Okay, probably not the last one, but it’s happened in the minors, and the A’s are enough of a mess that nothing would surprise me.
I wonder if the Philadelphia A’s and Kansas City A’s said the same thing?
This team doesn’t crack 2 mil in attendance often. Since 1972 – 2019 (and 6 WS appearances) they averaged .1.5 mil people.
Even my lowly Brewers (only 1 WS appearance) averaged almost 2 mil in that same time.
In 1979, they drew around 300,000 for the entire season. Just pathetic.
If they do become the Las Vegas A’s only the Dodgers, Guardians and Braves will have more iterations than them. They would be tied with the Angels as the only teams who have kept the same name for four iterations.
In 2019 they drew 1.8 million. Which of those do you think is relevant.
Bruh, you’re trying to compare the city of Oakland, which is in California and next to the SF Bay. To the Brewers who are located in Wisconsin which is next to what?
There are 1000 things to do in Oakland or the surrounding areas. What is there exactly to do in Wisconsin besides buying cheese and cow tipping?
Slowly develop a crippling case of alcoholism and/or obesity?
lamars,
Nice elitist, ignorant comment.
GBs42,
Funny how I am an ELITIST and IGNORANT because I pointed out the obvious. Ok, so tell me what is there to do in Mil?
lamars, you’ve obviously done your research into what the 6 million residents of Wisconsin do, and buying cheese and tipping cows are the only activities in the entire state.
GBS42, Obviously that part was sarcasm and was used to illustrate why there is a difference in attendance. No, I don’t know what 6 million people do in Wisconsin nor do I know exactly what 7.5 million do in the Bay area.
It’s funny how ppl are blaming the A’s when it’s the commie Oakland gov’t that was given over 20 yrs to get it done. Liberals destroy everything they touch.
Wait a government is “commie” when it refuses to subsidize a business, a highly profitable, privately owned business? What ever happened to free market economics and free enterprise or is that just meaningless rhetoric? I am sorry but MLB teams make enough money, as witnessed by the salaries they pay “superstars” and the profits the owners take in, that the teams and the league should finance their own stadiums and not hoist it on the back of taxpayers. I am a baseball fan, but I have to face the fact that most of my fellow taxpayers are not and therefore should not subsidize my entertainment. Time for MLB and other sports to get off welfare.
yeah that guy just conflated commies and liberals, so don’t pretend he thinks
Look at him go though, it’s like when you give a little kid one of those toy lawnmowers so they feel like they’re participating.
The real surprise is that the liberal government there wouldn’t misuse taxpayer money to build a stadium. That said I don’t think it’s always a bad idea. It depends. The Braves snuck it through at the 11th hour and Schurholtz admitted it. But in some ways it is not a bad investment by the county (especially considering what tax money is often wasted on, although lots of parks surely went unbuilt,etc), especially considering it isn’t a huge city itself (Marietta) and it is a big thing to have in a place that usually wouldn’t have a big ticket sports stadium. I was against it at the time and still am on principle but I can’t complain too much because I like having it in the county I live in and not having to pay a guy who is pretending to take money for parking, then walk miles to get to my seat (after driving in slow interstate traffic for an hour and a half) in 90° heat across a couple busy roads with people begging me for money every block (I once gave it to an old lady who insisted she was starving and saw her come out of the store with beer and smokes) only to see a very plain stadium that wasn’t even built for baseball really (like the A’s but not as bad a stadium obviously). First world problems anyone? Back to the A’s.
Rishi, sounds like you’re fine with your county spending several hundred million dollars to make Liberty Media stockholders better off. Corporate welfare is alive and well in the Atlanta suburbs.
No. I’m not. I just know they generally waste my tax dollars and at least they spent it on a sport I like. I wish they never did it. But I don’t blame the players or fans obviously. I’m still a fan. It’s down the road. I’m gonna go occasionally. I hated that stadium in Atlanta. Obviously they should’ve paid for it themselves. I agree, they are opportunistic scoundrels. I’m just saying it’s commonplace and I’m sure the A’s can similarly get a deal somewhere. And I’m a bit surprised it doesn’t seem to be Oakland that’s gonna do it.
I meant it’s “not always a bad idea” from an investment perspective (for the county business wise). It’s a bad idea on principle alone though
No it is not!
Liberal governments and voters tend to vote against subsidizing owners of sports teams. The San Francisco 49ers lost 4-5 ballot initiatives in San Francisco to build a new stadium with taxpayers required to foot some of the bill.
They ended up moving to Santa Clara County/Silicon Valley.
Ditto with the Rams—privately financed So Fi for Rams and Chargers in LA
Ditto with the Warriors privately financed stadium in downtown SF.
Ditto with the Giants with privately financed baseball stadium in downtown SF.
Yeah its all about the politicians, not about John Fisher being a slumlord – you people are a disgrace.
Boxscore,
Liberal commies are to blame? Skeptical nailed it, you are incredibly off.
The A’s have already been in three different cities. Not like there’s some epically long tradition in Oakland.
You realize they’ve been there for like 55 years!! This post is a joke. With that said Oakland no longer deserves any sports. THREE, let me say it again THREE franchises have left.
The only team that had a legit reason for leaving was the Warriors. They were a winning franchise and the move across the Bay was clearly a financial decision in the Bay area and Tech industry.
The Raiders wanted a new stadium while they were in LA and then again in Oakland. In both cities Al Davis wanted them to pay for a new stadium. The A’s owner was all about profits and had annual fire sales to dump his best players to keep the price down,. Then he wanted the city of Oakland to build a stadium for him. He finally got his wish and demanded more money from them. Knowing full well the city would balk at that and then he could use it as an excuse to move the team.
It’s the same BS the Spanos pulled with the Chargers. He wanted a new stadium but wanted the city to fully fit the bill. Along comes the Rams owner and he decides to move the Rams to LA and build his own stadium. And guess who moved in? These owners are rich enough they could build their own stadium or build it with limited funding from the cities.
The Warriors didn’t leave the Bay area, they moved into SF. 100% of the cost of their new $1.4 billion arena was privately financed.
And the 49ers offered to share their new stadium in Santa Clara County
Silicon Valley with the Raiders
like the Rams and Chargers now share new SoFi Stadium in LA.
Raiders owner Mark Davis did not negotiate in good faith
and did not take the deal.
Warriors built privately financed stadium 15-20 minutes from
their old stadium in Oakland…staying in SF Bay Area.
Spanos lied to fans and supporters in San Diego.
He hired one of those “outside consultants”
whose job was to put in place the steps to move to LA
and also create a smokescreen and blame San Diego officials for his move?!
The fans there supported that team for over 50 years with sold out games etc.
Alex Spanos was loyal to San Diego fans, but he passed.
His son, Dean Spanos, was loyal only to the benjamins
and stabbed San Diego fans in their backs moving to LA.
San Diego is a different city and market and long time Chargers
fans will not support them in LA.
They even run commercials from former Charger La Damion Thomlinson
begging Chargers fans in San Diego to come back to the team.
San Diego fans feel betrayed and the vast majority of them
do not support the Chargers in LA.
I never said they did, I said they moved across the Bay.
55 years is a short period of time? Maybe you should actually check on those things before you post.
Oakland is the 3rd oldest ballpark watch your tone child
Not the third oldest. Fenway and Wrigley are 1 and 2, Dodger Stadium is 3rd oldest.
“The league will never be the same without the Philadelphia A’s.”
“The league will never be the same without the Kansas City A’s.”
I think it’s a shame that the parties involved weren’t able to work things out – the stadium designs for the Oakland Terminal site looked interesting. However, it’s awkward to bemoan the A’s leaving when they’ve been wanderers before …
They’d better make it a 25,000 seat stadium and prepare 15,000 seats worth of tarps.
Why? The A’s make the playoffs all the time and are rebuilding and have plenty of good looking long term chips right now. The A’s were a top 5 drawing team from 1988-1993. The fans have always shown up when the games are interesting. The fact is Rangers/Mariners/Astros have no Bay Area fans, always irrelevant teams, and then the games are scheduled on 1230 on a Wednesday or a miserable cold night game – even A’s fans don’t deserve that. You say people dont show up but never explain why.
They didn’t show up before that and the farm system is not good. There are no good chips.
Chips appear to be emerging,
The A’s will rise again.
It may take 3-5 years, but it will happen,
Honestly I despise Fisher and hope the A’s stay but so long as MLB lets him run the team he will constantly pursue leveraging them against a municipality in order to secure a huge real estate deal and he will NEVER invest the kind of payroll necessary to make them a consistent competitor. They aren’t the Rays. This small pockets nonsense isn’t going to work and frankly I don’t think Fisher cares if it does, regardless of location.
He legitimately just wants to move from the #3 market to the #40 market in the USA to collect more revenue sharing and continue to do the exact same thing. He is a scourge
lol A’s farm is garbage
Top 5 drawing team 35 years ago is not the best argument. And the Rangers/Mariners/Astros have all been very relevant throughout that time period albeit it at separate times. But the minors are pretty barren and the majors are too.
Would be a top drawing team if it wasn’t for having the cheapest owners in sports running the team and talking about moving for the last 25 years. Name the last A’s contract over $50 million they gave out. Go ahead post the year.
Zach Eflin is signed for 3yrs/$40 million. That’s the Rays top salary. What’s their record? How’s their farm system? Your $50 mill comment is not relevant.
Would be a top drawing team if it wasn’t for having the cheapest owners
===========================
No. The As have been in the playoffs in 6 of the last 8 years, and 11 of the past 23 years. They’ve been a good team, but no one buys tickets.
The A’s have drawn big crowds as recently as 2019. Multiple games over 40k in attendance that year. 2020 was a lost season. Then before 2021 Fisher came out with statements that they would not spend to field a competitive team and if the fans didn’t like it, they should not buy tickets. Oh, and he doubled the price of tickets.
23rd in attendance in 2019.with a 97-win team.
The Rangers and Mariners have not been relevant until recently.
They had a few relevant periods followed by long stretches of bad baseball.
Astros current run was preceded by at least 10+ years of terrible baseball , a bankruptcy and an MLB forced sale.
Wander Franco has entered the chat.
I’m not the best at math but I’m pretty sure $182 million is more than $50 million.
In 2020 no one bought tickets.
Before the 2021 season the A’s owner told fans they would not be spending money to try to compete and that fans should not buy tickets. To make sure less fans bought tickets, he raised ticket prices nearly 100%.
Prior to Fisher pulling that stunt the A’s consistently drew as many or more fans in most seasons as the Guardians, White Sox, Tigers, Pirates, Royals, Rays, and Marlins. All while playing in the consensus worst stadium in baseball.
1.67 million in attendance in 2019. That is about the same as they will max out at in a 30k seat stadium in Las Vegas.
Same team that said they were moving that year., hard to keep fans if you just claim to be moving every year.
The fans have always shown up when the games are interesting.
===============================
Nope.
They made the playoffs in 2018-2019, and finished 26th and 23rd in attendance.
They made the playoffs in 2012-2014, and finished 27th, 23rd, and 24th in attendance.
They might’ve shown up once upon a time, but do not show up any more.
i feel terrible for Oakland fans. but if your argument is games are either at 12:30 or on cold nights… well, I dunno, when do you want em to start?
Glad you asked: 430pm.
Sure, lots of people can go to a bunch of 4:30 games.
The Astros, who have won two World Series in the last six years, are irrelevant? I’m not a fan, and they have their issues, but being irrelevant isn’t one of them.
Why would Nevada want an owner like Fischer? I’d be pissed if my government agreed to help pay for a facility for an owner like that.
Don’t worry, as there is a divided government in Nevada.
They already wooed Elon Musk and absolutely wrecked the Reno housing/rent market. What’s one more subsidy for the ultra rich in Nevada?
Las Vegas is flirting with a huge debt problem
if it gives away 2 multi billion dollar stadiums to billionaire owners)/
Spread the teams out. We shouldn’t have 2 teams right beside each other. Get them out of Oakland while they only have a few fans to be upset about it. There are always local governments willing to make their taxpayers pay for it. Just sneak it through at the 11th hour before a holiday.lol. I’m half serious and half joking in this comment obviously. But I do feel bad for Oakland fans but they already must be miserable as their team is run horribly.
i agree. get the Mets out of NY and the white sox out of chicago while we’re at it. hell, might as well move the angels to Cabo while we’re at it
Angels, Dodgers and Padres should draw straws. Also Milwaukee is too close to Chicago. Kansas City is too close to St Louis. Pittsburgh too close to Cleveland. Nationals and Orioles should fight.
Meanwhile the entire southeast except lots of Florida (?) are all watching Atlanta but have to travel states to go to a game. Give NC a team or New Orleans or something. I can deal with teams being in the same state but only if they are relatively far apart like SF and LAD (I don’t mind San Diego either) but LAA and OAK??? Is it not good for a city to all come together for one team? Splitting the bigger cities up means baseball doesn’t unify the people but lead to rivalry. But I guess there are always rivalries in baseball anyway but a city should have one team imo.
Move every team precise equal distances apart. Every team in the Midwest needs to be from a town called Lebanon.
If you don’t have a team you should automatically become a Rays fan. They can be the new default “your team” team. Isn’t that kind of how the Braves were in the Superstation era. I feel like I need to raise fans (like a fundraiser) for Tampa. Who doesn’t low-key like Tampa?
A good argument if the league was being run according to the “national pastime” principles that qualify it for anti-trust exemptions. Unfortunately they decided to run things purely like a business while keeping the government anti-competition favoritism. LA is a massive market that entire states can’t compete with.
lmfao!
WHY?! zacharydmanprin
Dodgers, Angels and Padres all have large fan bases that support their teams. And, they all have well funded ownership groups who put competitive teams on the field.
Their fans all turn out.
That is why Bob Melvin was attracted to the Padres from the A’s.
He marveled at the Petco Park crowds of 30K-35K on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday rocking the house when his A’s played the Padres in San Diego.
Force the sale of the A’s to well funded ownership committed to keeping the A’s in SF Bay Area and give the A’s back their Santa Clara County Territory and the A’s would draw big crowds again in the Bay Area at a new stadium in Santa Clara County
(like the 49ers),
The Bay Area is still the 3rd biggest market in the USA, your post in completely insane and makes no sense on any level. The A’s moving to San Jose is the move that makes all the sense in the world.
It makes sense on many levels just not financially.lol. but even though it is such a huge market it is split because there are multiple teams and I think once you factor in that some place is probably willing to pay for a stadium and that there are multiple fairly well populated cities out there without team, it’s not insane. As a Cobb GA resident I can say there is a huge market for the braves there. Much better than Atlanta itself. There are places that are huge baseball cities that aren’t densely populated like a major city. Though obviously fans are still coming from Atlanta itself to attend games in Cobb (and obviously this is a poor example as it’s the metro area of ATL itself and not just the actually city that is so densely populated). I’m an idealist. I know it’s all impractical financially probably.
If it’s so great a place for a team why are they trying to leave so badly? It’s about getting that stadium for cheap it seems to me. Also I think we have to factor in changes in future population. The population in Cali has been in sharp decline for 5 years. Not sure about the Bay area itself
Many falsehoods there.
CA population is 40M
It was 17M not so long ago.
Most residents are OK with some retirees moving
to cheaper states. And, some folks lacking high tech skills & education and skills in high demand leaving for other locales.
It saves California from having 80M+ people and preserves its great, unique quality of life
CA Dept of Commerce reports over 60,000 newly minted college graduates and those with advanced degrees move to California every year while some of the less skilled people leave.
That is capitalism and the circle of life,
It is not a recent trend.
It has been gong on for decades and dedaces.
And, the California economy has just passed Germany
for the 4th largest and 4th richest economy in the entire
World when compared to countries.
So the Obits written and spoken by some fake propaganda media outlets have been vastly over stated and over blown.
Exactly!
“California’s mass exodus” = left us a population thats still like 5x the size of what it was 10 years ago. Just more fraudulent lies told about California by people who don’t even live here.
Actually the population is getting older per year in places like LA. It cannot be all thrown out as “retiree exodus”. And once again, despite your long term numbers, the population is now in decline yearly and as far as I know the only major city without decline is Sacramento. Housing prices and policy are likely the key players. Even the movie making industry is shifting to other places slowly (I live in GA and it is becoming a large film making area)
Funny how the quote you give isn’t mine
I admit “sharp decline” wasn’t the correct word. I will also say that California is so huge with so many big cities that we should almost look more at the cities themselves than the state economically and population wise
“why are they trying to leave so badly?” – bro, its been since 2006, that’s no hurry. They were never in a hurry to leave. Why you lying? You literally wrote “so badly” – that is a lie. Why did you lie there, @Rishi ?
You probably should stop talking about places where you don’t live, huh? @Rishi ? Seems like a good plan moving forward…
You probably should stop being buthurt with patriotism (is that the right word?). All I said was the population declined. Living in California is like living in a country. It’s too big for you to speak for as a totality. Just because they haven’t been able to leave doesn’t mean they don’t want to. The real amazing thing is they have been wanting to leave there for so long. And your economy is so big and they are playing in what should be a demolition zone.
By definition one cannot be objective from inside the walls
“decline” what does that even mean? Its still massively on the upswing if you look at 20 years ago. This blip is nothing and you are saying its a big thing.
Not to mention all these clowns who left CA are coming back after finding out what ACTUAL hellholes the south, Florida, Texas and Arizona are to live in.
I’m mad because you are aggressively lying about things you cant confirm are true. You are merely repeating right wing talking points that factually dont exist in the real world.
California is the best state in the USA and it balances its budget every year and pays out the handout red states who run their economies into the ground. No one who isnt brainwashed by FOX news wants to leave CA for any reason, youre so up your own butt at this point its hilarious.
That’s completely insane. You are saying right wingers who talk about my backyard know more about my own backyard than me and my own two eyes do. That’s a classic fox news propaganda technique and you fell for it, hook line and sinker.
All Americans who watch Fox and hate on California will literally never be right about it. Its 1+1=2, hateful, spiteful right winger + fox news = spreading lies on the most arrogant level.
I do not expect attendance to be that much better in Las Vegas!!
I do. I expect them to sell out almost every game. It’s right on the strip. Casinos will comp seats like crazy. People will come from out of town to see their team.
This is a win-win.
Although I live quite a distance from Oakland, they are my local team. I would not go to Oakland to see a game. I will see games in Vegas. I’m already thinking about my trip.
@Halo11Fan: The Raiders have been near the bottom of the league in attendance the last couple of years. I would not expect the As to fair much better.
That’s a good point. I love it when people make good rebuttals.
If what you say is true, and I have no reason to believe it’s not, that’s strong evidence against my position.
@Halo11Fan: It could very well be that the Raiders are not a good team, but they finished 30th of 32 last year in attendance. They do, weirdly (imo, considering its cost), have one of the smallest stadiums in the league, but they still had like 10,000 empty seats per game.
That’s because you need to develop a fan base. That takes time. Just like Miami and TB, a lot folks there came from somewhere else, and took their allegiances with them.
But you are trying in another post to say the A’s will draw sell outs every night plus an extra couple hundred thousand. Now you are trying to say it will take a while to build a fan base. So which is it?
So, from 2025 to 2027 they will have a max 10k attendance and after that a 30k attendance. That is if they sell out EVERY game. They won’t.
Have you ever been outside in Las Vegas in July and August. Locals don’t leave their homes unless they have to. You can walk up to an Aviators game and get a seat behind home plate in August because its 100+ at game time.
The Raiders can’t sell out their games and they only have 8-9 games per season. 90% of the tickets sold for Raiders games are utilized by someone that lives in Nevada. Tourism isn’t helping them.
Every dollar a tourist spends at a ballgame, is dollars they don’t spend in the casinos. Have you ever noticed that casinos ONLY comp things that are inside their casino? There is a reason for that. They are not sending one dollar out the door. Get a freaking clue.
Having coddled, immature, but obscenely wealthy pro athletes in a hellscape built for being shady…what could go wrong???
It won’t increase in Las Vegas for quite some time because the A’s will have to play in a 10k seat minor league ballpark for at least 4 seasons. Even after the owner and president of the team told the fans not to buy tickets and almost doubled the price of season tickets, they drew that many last season. They drew 20.6 K per game in 2019.
It won’t happen, but it would be genuinely hilarious if they can’t get a deal finalized before January and they lose their revenue sharing. I’m sure Manfred would just push back the deadline in that case, but it’s a nice thought. I have nothing against the A’s themselves but I’d love nothing more than for the entire situation to blow up in Fisher’s face.
it’s already blowing up in his face lol
Miami and TB should both just get the hell out of florida too
Why? People are getting out of Blue states to move to Florida.
I’m assuming that comment was about the attendance those teams get. I doubt it was meant to be political
Sorry. If it’s about attendance, Sorry to make it political.
“People are getting out of Blue states to move to Florida.”
But are they going to Marlins and Rays games?
I thought his comment was political. I apologized for the mistake.
@Halo11Fan: no worries, man. I was mostly joking anyway.
Not sure why MLB is in Florida. Nobody shows up. Even TB, off to a great start, averages only 17,800 a game. Miami dead last at 12,800.
The TB stadium is one of the worst two in baseball. There isn’t a close third worse.
No idea why Miami doesn’t draw better.
Oakland Alameda County Coliseum is far worse and in 2019 they had 20k per game show up.
@Michael Chaney the ultimate goal is to get Fisher to sell the team to someone who wants to spend. I dont care what your opinions are towards my fave team, but that goal is a fine one for us all to unify on, haha
So this is off subject the legislature doesn’t meet for another 2 years? Talk about ripping off the taxpayers WOW
If only actually doing their job is what got them re elected instead of kissing babies and shaking hands, hands full of money, is what it took to be a rep in this country
This is fairly common in smaller states – the legislature only meets every other year for a month or two, then only returns for Special Sessions based on emergencies.
I have seen better strategy drawn up by Wyle E Coyote. A’s don’t have a deal in place. They are trying to force the legislature to pass something that is not even planned out. At this point MLB needs to step in a take over the A’s.
They spent how many years trying to get a deal worked out in Oakland and couldn’t. Now they have three weeks to meet Las Vegas” deadline, and we are expected to believe they can make this work? It would be nice to see them miss the deadliine and then see Oakland refuse to extend the current lease.
No, they didn’t. Lew Wolf demanded a ballpark village and hotels in San Jose and Fremont. That’s not Oakland. When proposed the new ballpark be built at the site of the Coliseum the Raiders and Warriors made a stink. Then Dave Kaval bungled the Laney College plan and all the while the A’s refused to consider Jack London Square. When Howard Terminal came to pass the A’s kept upping the ante of their demands rather than just getting shovels in the ground. The A’s sandbagged the process then sabotage led negotiations at the 11th hour.
Oakland can make it’s own choices. They clearly do not need the A’s.
Obviously the A’s owner sucks. But so does that ballpark. And it’s sucked for decades. There are no good guys here.
Well, the owner deserves a lot of blame, scorn and scrutiny. He has not acted in good faith.
The vote is already scheduled. It’s a done deal.
No, its not. The Governor came out at when the A’s had said they purchased a 49 acre lot and said that the state would not be spending any money to help them build a ballpark. He later said that he would not be willing to call a special session of the legislature. Its far from a done deal.
“Nevada lawmakers balk at A’s $395M price tag” Headline of Nevada Independent article today.
The A’s have not presented a plan yet, so the Nevada Legislature has not even brought the measure up yet and is now saying they will provide only $150 to $195 million and as a tax credit, not money issued to the A’s.
Even that is contingent on Clark county issuing a $200 million bond, which county officials said they have not even been approached by the team regarding a bond.
The deadline is June 5th since Governor Lombardo has said he will not call a special session.
Guess it’s NOT the done deal you claimed.
Today is May 18th and no vote has been scheduled yet. The Nevada Independent reported today that the A’s have not even made a formal request. They have not a submitted a plan the legislature can even consider, much less schedule a vote.
To make it worse for Fisher, the legislature said they would not approve more than $195 million and Fisher said he needed $395 million.
The company that actually owns the land said that they would help pay for shared infrastructure in exchange for what amounts to an extra $10 million in rent per season from the A’s over the next 20 years. I don’t think any team pays $10 million total and that is in addition to the lease.
Fisher shot himself in the foot.
those poor billionaires. what would they do without working people’s tax dollars?
I know. Jeff Bezos should give Amazon Prime away for free.
AOC was right. To hell with those Jobs. Jeff Bezos can afford it.
You can always spot a leftist, they are always asking for other people’s money to be spent how they want it spent.
Why are you talking about AOC and Jeff Bezos and “leftists”? Who cares about any of that? And why spring to the defense of billionaires? They don’t need it and they’re not on your side.
All Halofan knows is politics. He certainly doesn’t know baseball.
@rct @Halofan11yearsold is trying to hate the A’s, be racist towards the city of Oakland and California in general, and now on top of it he’s trying to do agitation propaganda on behalf of FOX News. He’s got a lot on his plate!
You can always spot a right winger, they are always stealing our taxes and then pointing and lying about others doing it.
On the strip, huh? Just imagine the traffic jams.
There are trams on the strip that shuttle you from casino to casino.
The tram will work great for people staying in a casino hotel, but will tourists really be the primary audience for the A’s or will they be trying to build a fan base from people who live in the Las Vegas area?
They can extend it for a comparably small amount. Not to mention, locals know how to get around.
Some very smart people I know suggest Vegas will not support a team because a large portion of the workforce works at night.
I think tourism will more than make up for that. The bottom line is the city and the owner should be able to make those choices.
If that’s the plan, and extend it to where? No doubt the city and ownership will make those choices, They may very well choose to add to the already horrendous traffic on the Strip.
I haven’t been there in awhile, but the strip is not that long.
There is all that traffic? Well, I bet the casinos would love to get you on a tram that dumps you in one of their casinos.
But anyway, it’s their choice. If they think they can make it work for both sides, they should have that opportunity.
Among my many powers, preventing them from having that opportunity is not one.
True. But a lot of people believe they shouldn’t.
The same thing will happen to the Angels this decade. And honestly, as long as they keep the name Angels, I wont care.
But I also don’t live in Southern California anymore. If I did, I might care.
Angels might be sold, but they are not moving.
I don’t give a flying you know what through a rolling doughnut what they do, and if I never go to Las Vegas again I will be a happy camper.
But dropping a stadium onto the Strip is still going to be a mess, because that’s just what it’s going to be.
Sad, really. The A’s have a rich baseball history. Especially in Oakland. They have some real die hard fans that show up even for the tough years. You guys deserve better.
4 championships in 16 years, along with a 1-0 record undisputed champs in the World Series Battle of the Bay, along with the best uniforms in the game….man, the A’s gotta stay in the Bay….
RIP Oakland sports.
That owner absolutely should not get a penny of public funding from anyone anywhere.
I mean, seriously, if you think that guy is ever going to invest what it takes to consistently field a team that draws fans you need to seek immediate psychiatric help.
For the 800 millionth time since this fact seems to have a hard time penetrating: John Fisher and the A’s are two different entities. The fact that John Fisher is rich is irrelevant. You and I could own the A’s and it would have the exact same revenue, expenses, and bottom line. Owner wealth and team profit and loss do not intersect, and owners do not subsidize their teams (except the Padres owner, who is finding out now it wasn’t such a hot idea). The A’s in Vegas will have double or triple the revenue of the A’s in Oakland. Fisher could of course choose to not spend it, but he will likely spend some of it. They’ll have a much bigger payroll.
Let’s see.
A 56k stadium that they filled as recently as 2019
A 10k stadium for 3 years and then a 30k stadium.
Nope. Not more revenue there.
6th largest TV market with a $60 million TV deal through 2032
40th largest TV market with 2 million fewer TV households.
Nope. Not more revenue there.
So where EXACTLY is this double or triple the revenue coming from?
Fisher is doing this so he can continue to receive revenue sharing from other owners. He is not going to increase payroll. He is going to continue to pocket $60 million in profit a season until the other owners take away his revenue sharing, then he will sell. Until then you can expect the A’s to stink.
Sometimes your lack of logic is astounding.
“The A’s in Vegas will have double or triple the revenue of the A’s in Oakland.”
lmao who says? Fisher doesnt know how to run a baseball team like you think he does.
As long as it’s free, I’m sure the A’s owners will be there with open arms. If there’s a free buffet at the strip club that’s where they’ll go next.
As a New Orleanian I can say it truly sucks to not have any baseball ties in your city. Vegas should be an expansion if anything
“Alot of holes in that desert”
Until the first game is played in Vegas, Im not going to believe it. This ownership group isn’t just bad, they’re incompetent.
A toxic mix to be sure.
Although the Athletics franchise has spent the most seasons in Oakland, a move to Las Vegas would land them in their fourth city. It’s not like they’re a franchise that hasn’t moved before. It doesn’t change John Fisher being a d!ck, but this franchise does have a history of moving when the going gets tough or there’s more money to be made elsewhere. Why should this edition of the team be any different?
“moving when the going gets tough or there’s more money to be made elsewhere.”
weird position to land on when its 100% false
“moving when the scumbag talentless loser team owner decides to throw a hissy fit”
there, fixed for you….
Government officials in Nevada seemed pretty clear last year when they said they would not publicly finance the stadium for the Oakland A’s. The A’s claimed they are going to pay for the stadium themselves but they’re asking Nevada to loan them half the money to build it. I suspect that once the A’s officially say they wish to move to Nevada, the lawsuits between Oakland Alameda county and various other entities will tie this up in court for years. Not to mention lawsuits on the Nevada side by citizens who do not wish to finance another stadium. I promise you this whole thing will be a dumpster fire before the end of the year and the A’s will not be going anywhere, anytime soon.
If the A’s get a loan, the A’s will be paying for it. if the State of Nevada decides to provide the loan, it will be one of low to no risk for the taxpayers. I sincerely doubt that even the Yankees or Dodgers could build a stadium without financing, especially a domed one. Who carries that level of cash?.
If the A’s get a loan, a bond issued, the taxpayers would pay for it.
they’re asking Nevada to loan them half the money to build it.
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That’s standard operating procedure. They Yankees did the same thing, and both the city and the team would be stupid to not do.
Municipal bonds are free from federal tax. So the team gets the city to issue the bonds on their behalf, and the interest rates are considerably lower. It’s sketchy as all heck, but the IRS hasn’t won any cases denying it.
What grounds can Oakland/Alameda County sue? The A’s lease expires after 2024. Seattle sued the SuperSonics, but the Supes were breaking their lease 2 years early. As long as Oakland leaves after the lease expires, they should be legally free to go wherever they want to go. what am i missing?
The city and county has invested a lot of money in trying to put a stadium deal together for the A’s. They feel that the A’s have negotiated in bad faith. That’s one lawsuit. Another lawsuit is that Nevada interfered in Oakland negotiations for a new stadium. That’s just a start. I wouldn’t be surprised if the city and county of Oakland and Alameda attempted an eminent domain lawsuit as well.
It’s already on the legislature’s agenda and all the major unions AND the governor support it (which is actually unusual, since the governor is a Republican). It’s gonna barely generate a debate.
The Governor said he was opposed to spending any money on a stadium for the A’s. He also said he would not call a special session. So where did you see that he was supporting it?
Before the comment start flying about the product on the field; since the A’s moved to Oakland they have the the 6th best winning percentage in baseball. Since the start of the Billy Beane Era in 1999 – 6th best winning percentage. I’d call that a pretty consistent winning franchise.
Thank you for this. We have so many people blaming the owner, even though the owner puts out a good product. It is so ridiculous, it is hardly worth commenting on it. It’s like me asking the local pub owner to put up 10 55-inch TV sets, because I want to come in once a year for the opening day of FB.
Since 2016 when Fisher became the managing partner the A’s have a .492 win percentage, the 17th best record in MLB, and the 4 worst win percentages for an A’s team since the turn of the century. You have to go back to 1979 to find a worse season than last year for the A’s and this season is going much, much worse.
Its all about the owner.
Pads Fans
Since 2016 when Fisher became the managing partner the A’s have a .492 win percentage, the 17th best record in MLB,
===================================
.492 is a good winning percentage for a small market team. In a world where 14 teams are spending > $200M, and 6 teams spending > $250M, small market teams, collectively, will never be .500 over the long haul.
Its the 17th best record in MLB after being 6th best since 1999.
Oakland is not a small market. Its in the 6th largest market in the US and their TV deal that runs through 2032 is in top half of MLB, higher than what the Padres are making from theirs this season.
As was posted earlier, the A’s were top 6 in win percentage for a very long time. You cannot have your cake and eat it too. They CAN compete consistently in that market if the owner spends at least a little money. They proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt. Fisher was very vocal about NOT doing that.
The reasons for that are many, most of all because the A’s are Fisher’s cash cow. They are his major revenue stream. He is not making any money on the GAP stock he owns because it has lost a billion dollars in value over the last 3 years to just $340 million today and because its dropping in value so fast he cannot borrow against it. To keep up his lifestyle and fund his potential investments he needs the $60 million in net profit he made from the A’s last year.
They are. Just not since Fisher took over the team in 2016.
He’s asking for $385 million in taxpayer money. I hope he gets none of it. Fischer can foot the big himself to show he’s deserving of owning an MLB franchise.
You can hope, but the city should be allowed to make their own decisions.
The city of Oakland made their own decision. Move, build your own Stadium with no help from the City, or play in a cesspool.
So they are finding a City that values them and will turn this into a win-win situation.
He’s a billionaire who inherited most of his worth. Las Vegas can make their own decision, but to say that Oakland doesn’t ‘value’ the A’s simply because they won’t build a stadium for one of the richest people on earth is wrong.
Oakland is making the right decision. No city owes any sports team anything. Fisher is the one destroying the team and moving them. He is 100% at fault for the A’s moving.
Oakland may be making the right decision for Oakland. They have every right to make those decisions. And A”s ownership also has every right to make those decisions.
The Angels will soon.be in a similar place. The City of Anaheim isn’t exactly going out of their way to support the Angels. They don’t need them. Within the decade, something is going to give.
And he’s making the right decision for himself and his team. They will be swimming in gate money in Vegas, and will have a better local TV deal too.
In Las Vegas they will be playing in a ballpark that seats 10,000 max capacity at least through 2027. In Oakland they averaged 20,000 as recently as 2019. Averaged. In by far the worst stadium in America. Then Kaval told the fans not to come to games and increased ticket prices prior to the 2021 season and fans stopped coming. So, its really stupid to say they will be swimming in gate money.
Even AFTER a new ballpark is built, fans will not come if the team is not spending money and its a certainty that Fisher will not spend money. He is using the A’s as a cash cow paid for by the other owners giving him revenue sharing because his personal net worth has taken a billion dollar plus hit in the last 2 years alone. Other than the A’s, his net worth consists of $340 million in Gap stock, a minority ownership stake in the San Jose Earthquakes soccer team, and a couple of hotels he bought with Lew Wolff.
The Raiders don’t sell out games averaging just 62,000 in a stadium that has a capacity of 65,000 and 90% of ticket sales for the Raiders are from Nevada. Prior to their move, the Raiders pitched that southern California Raiders fans would come out in droves. That hasn’t happened. Tourism is a non-factor
Las Vegas is the 40th largest TV market in the US. Oakland was in the 6th largest with 2 MILLION more TV homes than Las Vegas. The local TV deal in Las Vegas will be the smallest in MLB and will not approach the $60 million the A’s are getting in Oakland right now. Their current TV contract that will be voided if they move. In fact, the A’s may have to pay NBCUniversal a significant sum for the 8 years remaining on the 20 year deal they signed in 2012 if they move to Las Vegas following the 2024 season.
Pay attention to the situation and maybe you won’t get everything wrong next time.
If the Nevada legislature gives Fisher the money, it will disappear faster than you can say. Jimmy Hoffa.
Ah, Capitalism, as it’s been practiced since the Gilded Age.
The Athletics have traditionally had somewhat tight owners, even going back to Connie Mack. It is what it is.
I hope they don’t get a dime from the taxpayers. John Fisher is a billionaire who got his money from his mommy and daddy. Let him pull himself up by his bootstraps and build his own stadium.
rtc, it’s irrelevant if he’s a billionaire or not.
How? How on earth is his wealth irrelevant? He can afford to pay for everything he’s asking for out of his own pocket! His billionaire status is like the ONLY thing relevant here.
Fisher isn’t gonna own the stadium. The fact that John Fisher and the A’s are two separate entities seems to escape a lot of people. They have different revenue streams, different expenses, different bottom lines. This deal is being made by the A’s.
Seamhead, pay attention. Fisher will own the stadium, but for tax purposes will transfer the LAND to a stadium authority. For Fisher, his revenue stream IS the A’s. He makes practically nothing from the GAP. A $102,000 salary and a stipend for being a director on the board. The GAP stock he owns has tanked so its worth a billion less today than it was a couple years ago. His only income stream is the A’s.
So you would object to LV putting up say $50M, adding another 3,000 jobs, raking in some parking taxes, etc.?
Fisher is not asking for the Nevada taxpayers to loan him $50 million. He is asking for $500 million, that’s 1/2 of $1 billion with no guarantee that he can ever pay it back. And he is not willing to put the team up for collateral.
I am using $50M as an example. There is always a number that will work to the benefit of both parties.
They won’t ADD any jobs. They will take jobs from other entertainment and hospitality business and transfer them to the ballpark.
rct5 hours ago
I hope they don’t get a dime from the taxpayers.
==========================
Just for fun, read about the Fremont Street Experience. It’s a good example of how government and private industry should partner on projects that help both parties. If municipalities want tax revenue, they have to provide to business owners to provide those tax revenues.
A new stadium doesn’t help the people or government of Nevada. It will not create NEW jobs or NEW tax revenue. It will simply relocate both. Look at the studies regarding the last 20 new stadiums.
Let’s go! Put some pen to paper and go play in the Aviators stadium next year. Its a launchpad so Rooker and Langeliers will probably hit 50HR each.
Sad day for A’s fans. People can blame whoever they want, but unfortunately the Bay Area is borderline for two teams. throw in the Giants/San Jose business, and it was always going to be tough.
As long as there’s been both the San Francisco Giants and Oakland A’s, one has been looking for a way out. This day was almost inevitable once the Giants built a fine stadium.
But if the Bay Area wasn’t really big enough for 2 baseball teams, the new questions are… Is Vegas big enough for 3 pro sports teams? How long can Vegas keep growing given the dwindling Colorado River?
Vegas uses almost no water, relatively speaking. Most of the Colorado River is used in agriculture, which Vegas has almost none of. It’s even illegal to have a yard there.
Las Vegas uses more water per capita than any of the other cities or counties that draw water from the Colorado river other than Phoenix.
Nevada uses nearly 10 times the water that California does per capita.
Check the US geological survey. usgs.gov/mission-areas/water-resources
California uses more water TOTAL because they have more than 10 times the population of Nevada.
More socialism for the rich. Free taxpayer cash to some rich guys. Instead of fans/regions owning what they pay for, a few guys will own it with taxpayer cash and then in a few years blackmail and bribe some corrupt politicians for more free money. End socialism for the rich! If taxpayers pay, they own. Nothing new; Packers, countless soccer clubs, and even the O’s once upon a time all owned by the fans/cities.
Another leftist speaks. They don’t have a basic understanding of economics.
Instead of lobbing childish and whiny remarks about “leftists”, how about you grow up and rebut what he is saying? It is mind-boggling to me that anyone could defend socialism for the rich.
I blame FDR for allowing the ultra wealthy to pay estate taxes in charitable donations. Unfortunately many of the “charities” have been spreading economic propaganda since the 50’s refuting basic academic knowledge and historical fact in favor of talking points that favor the interests of the wealthy. 70 years and the sheep have rapidly multiplied 🙁
Do you think that the city gets nothing out of this? Check the taxes on your ticket purchase, or parking, or taxes on salaries. You treat this as if companies have a moral obligation to send their money to the government.
This is the free market in action. If I am going to build a chip factory, I am going to look for a location with the best benefits, and those benefits will include tax breaks.
And if you build a chip factory that pays mostly minimum wage, requires taxpayers to cover social services for employees living under the poverty line, and ships most of the profits back out of the city to another state then it’s probably not ideal for the city to take a bunch of money from hard working taxpayers and redirect it to your company. It’s not as simple as economic growth = good
There is a finite amount of money. The amount of money people have available to spend is not going to increase just because the A’s came to town and built a ballpark. If they spent money on tickets, and parking, and overpriced food and alcohol at the ballpark, they didn’t spend it at local restaurants and the casinos. The tax revenue is the same. It was just generated at a different location. The A’s being in Las Vegas or in Oakland won’t ADD tax revenue to the state’s coffers.
Nevada has no state income tax. Nothing is coming out of your check for the state there.
If you were going to build a chip factory, you would be likely be bringing in qualified employees from outside the region, thus adding to the tax base.
The people that work at a stadium are by and large people from the local community already. Other than a handful of FO personnel, they all lived in that area before the team came there.
Then, you would be wrong and not knowledgeable about how that happened.
It was a “pro business” conservative US Supreme Court that allowed the Oligarchs and wealthy to not pay their fair share of taxes
and categorized their investment income differently from employee wage W-2 income creating a vast inequality in the Federal Tax system.
Read “John Marshall Harlan The Great Dissenter” for more info.
Also “Dark Money” by Jane Mayer
It’s a fantastic deal for taxpayers if you’d just slow down a second with the freshman political philosophy and think. Some stadium deals aren’t. But this one definitely is. Nevada is a high sales tax state, which means the tax money from additional economic activity will absolutely dwarf the $450m the taxpayers are putting up, which is very little these days. Especially since the land is being donated and is right on the Strip. Place will be packed. This is the no-brainer of all no-brainers, and in no way is it “socialism,” as the taxpayers will profit.
A new stadium will create no new sales tax for the state. It will just transfer that sales tax revenue from money spent elsewhere in the state to money spent on tickets and items at the stadium. There will be no new economic activity. Just economic activity moved from other areas of Clark County to the stadium. The people of Clark County won’t get raises in salary just because a stadium is built. Just like they haven’t in any other area where a stadium was built.
If you sell 2.5M tickets, and the all-in cost including tickets, refreshments and parking in $100m, and sales tax of 8.375%, then ticket revenue alone is $21M/year, against a one-time investment of $450M (if that’s the true number).
That’s in addition to the payroll taxes.
That’s in addition to attracting some tourists that might be RS fans living in SF that might visit LV to catch a couple of games.
This whole “socialism for the rich” is something being taught in sociology classes. It’s always possible for a city to make a bad deal, but these deals are often long-term investments.
They won’t sell 2.5 million tickets. They can’t.. Simple math makes that impossible.
30,000 seat capacity stadium. 81 games per season.
They won’t AVERAGE a sellout either. Maybe a 20,000 average. Too much to do in Las Vegas to draw more. Also WAY too hot during the summer to venture out much if you don’t have to. Look at Phoenix for a great example of that.
So 1.6 million is realistic attendance once a ballpark is built. That won’t be finished until after the 2027 season according to reports today. So, until 2028, they would max out at 810,000 if they sell out every game. They won’t.
So all of your predictions are way off.
Now, here is the most important thing you are missing. The people that live or visit Las Vegas will not suddenly start earning more money just because the stadium is built. EVERY penny spent on baseball will be taken away from other businesses. Another business in Nevada that is not selling some product or service because the people that chose to go to the game are not spending that money with them. No stadium creates new revenue for the state. It is money that would have been spent on something else and revenue that would have come from another business. That is the reality. NO. NEW. SALES. TAX.REVENUE.
Let me repeat that. There is no NEW sales tax revenue created. There is only sales tax revenue that would have come from another sale.
DO your homework. Look at reports from every metro area where a new stadium was built. There were no new jobs and sales tax revenue did not increase. The people that live in the area did not start earning more money just because a new stadium was built.
There ARE no payroll taxes in Nevada. ZERO state income tax.
This is obvious socialism for the rich because ONLY an already rich person will benefit. There will be no benefit financially for the people of Las Vegas, Clark County, or the state of Nevada.
Preach it. People seem to believe that stadiums magically increase how much the people that are coming to the games are making at their jobs. So f’ing stupid.
Unless that new baseball stadium has some awesome titty bars, and a big magic show, that stadium is going to be empty on a Tuesday night against the Kansas City Royals.
Well, it is Las Vegas so you never know.
Move on to sophmore political philosophy and realize that if you want the government to extract money from its citizens that isn’t used for an absolute necessity (defensive military, police to enforce laws, etc…) and you redistribute it for a cause determined to be beneficial to the common good, then that is by definition socialism.
And who defines what’s an “absolute necessity” — you?
You seem to have flunked Freshman political philosophy. High school civics, too.
John Locke and Thomas Hobbes. You seem to have flunked the internet.
Hogwash.
Players are making $40+ million at this point which would suggest owners are making an absurd amount more than that each year. Pay for your own stadium and stop this political theft. I wonder if people believe that old stupid argument that it “brings jobs to the area” still. There are very few jobs available from these projects that can support a family in the local community and they are almost never attached to healthcare or benefits. They usually get by with some back door legislation to what constitutes “part-time” a year or two before the stadiums open all while getting massive tax breaks based on the exact premise of bringing jobs to the area. The left will blame the right, the right will blame the left and the majority of people who for some reason believe any of that garbage will be screaming at each other about which side is wrong while billionaires laugh their way to the bank.
So,
The A’s have not submitted a plan yet.
The Nevada Governor said they won’t hold a special session.
The A’s have until the 5th to get a plan together and have it voted on for $395 million.
If the NV legislature approves the bond measure, then the EIS has to be approved.
If the EIS is approved and there are no lawsuits, then the other 31 owners get to vote on the move.
They will be considering a multimillion drop in revenue from national TV deals because the A’s would be moving from the 6th largest media market to the 40th and losing 2 million TV households.
Then they would consider the place the A’s would be playing the next 3-5 years. A minor league park that has a capacity of 10k. The A’s put 48% of local revenue, think ticket sales and other game day revenue, into a pot that all teams split. That would substantially cut potential revenue.
Not sure what would happen with the 20 year TV deal the A’S signed in the fall of 2012. The A’s would certainly take a huge hit moving to such a small TV market. Not getting $60+ million per year in Las Vegas.
The A’s would also have to play in a minor league ballpark for several years because the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum Authority has said they are losing money in having the A’s play there and will not renew the lease for even one year. Considering Fisher purposely tanked attendance, that is understandable.
After all that is done Fisher, who only has one asset he could borrow against today, the A’s, would have to come up with $1 billion to build the stadium. Funding he said he does not currently have lined up. Would he have to sell his stake in the SJ Earthquakes? Probably. His GAP stock has cratered in value since 2021. From $35 to $7. Fisher lost $1 billion in net worth from his mismanagement of GAP Brands. His 43 million shares of GAP are worth just $340 million today. Over a 2 year period when corporate profits are at an all time high, Fisher’s actions led GAP to a -6.43% YOY net profit margin.
So those are the hurdles still to come.
Oh, and the A’s exclusive negotiating rights to Howard Terminal ended 5/12 and Norwegian Cruise Line has entered the conversation today proposing that they will lease the land from the city and turn it into a cruise port. Today all cruise ships are at Pier 27 and Pier 35 in San Francisco. Guess Norwegian liked what they saw when they tied up there during COVID cruise stoppages. Howard Terminal is not big enough for container shipping, but it is apparently big enough for cruise ships.
Fisher has backed himself into a corner. Oakland is moving on and if Las Vegas falls through he is thoroughly screwed.
It’s not gonna fall through. The legislature is gonna vote for it this week (there are no Nevada-based opponents, nor should they be as it’s a massively good deal for Nevada taxpayers given that the land is being donated right on the Strip). The rest is just paperwork. It’s done.
Since you said it, its almost certain to fall through. You never get anything right.
As of 5/18 no vote has been scheduled. The A’s have not even presented a plan to the legislature yet. Worse yet, they are not going to even consider any amount over $195 million. Its definitely not done.
No vote happening this week. The A’s have still not made a proposal to the state legislature and no vote has been scheduled.
The leaders of the state legislature said that they would max public funding at $195 million Fisher said he needs $395 million.
While no MLB owners have expressed that they would vote against the deal, Samson of the Marlins said that he believed that the other owners would prefer that the A’s stay in Oakland.
There are a lot of hurdles in front of Fisher and he has not shown he is competent enough to jump over them. This is far from done.
Although if he fails to get this done, Fisher is probably done as the owner of the A’s.
A minor league park that has a capacity of 10k.
==================================
How would that make a difference? Don’t the A’s average less than 10,000?
Not until Fisher told fans not to come to games before the 2021 season. In 2019 they drew 20,600 average per game.
I love how MLB never even tried to help the A’s in any way – like for instance, this big lie that “the A’s have no fans” could easily be disproved if they played a full season at the Giants park on their off days. Where was that test? Do it next year?
The Giants killed the idea of the A’s playing in their stadium about 10 years ago.
MLB can 100% force them to.
SF Giants Ownership Group put out a DISHONEST, MISLEADING, LYING PRESS RELEASE saying they are SORRY?! about the A’s situation and about the A’s having to leave the SF Bay Area?!
IF SF Giants Ownership is so sorry and wants to HELP SAVE AND KEEP THE A’S IN the SF Bay Area than it CAN TAKE POSITIVE, CONCRETE STEPS TO SAVE THE A’s for the SF Bay Area. IT IS PAYBACK TIME SINCE FORMER A’S OWNERSHIP HELPED BLOCK THE SF Giants from MOVING TO TAMPA IN THE 1990’s(following a failed SF Giants move to Toronto years prior to that).
WHAT SF GIANTS OWNERSHIP CAN DO TO HELP A’s STAY IN SF BAY AREA:
1) Work with MLB Ownership Committee to BLOCK A’s move/get votes
l;ike A’s and Dodgers did for the SF Giants in the 1990’s)
2) Vote to Block the Move in Ownership meetings
3) Force Current A’s Ownership to sell to local SF Bay Area well funded Owners
(Larry Ellison Oracle?! Mark Z Facebook, Cheryl Sandburg former FB, Reggie Jackson was with an investor Group bidding on A’s last time). Plenty of high tech cash in Bay Area)
4) Full Ownership Committee and MLB should vote to RESTORE 50/50 SF Bay Area Territory Rights including Silicon Valley Santa Clara County (A’s and Giants share)which is most logical place for a financially viable New A’s Stadium in SF Bay Area. Silicon Valley has combined corporate headquarters of companies in Tech Sector in the TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS. Much more cash and fans there than in Las Vegas.
Recall that former generous A’s Ownership not only organized Dodgers and others to vote together to block SF Giants move to Tampa, but A’s also helped line up well funded local ownership and gifted their share of the Santa Clara County/Silicon Valley Territory to the SF Giants ONLY with the UNDERSTANDING that if the Giants did not relocate to Santa Clara County/Silicon Valley that THOSE TERRITORY RIGHTS WOULD REVERT BACK TO THE A’S…
In researching last night, I found quotes from then Commissioner Bud Selig who outlined that these facts were the understanding with Ownership Committee and Commissioner’s Office at the time that former A’s Ownership “GIFTED” their share of the Santa Clara County/Silicon Valley Territory to the SF Giants.
The understanding was that the A;’s could RECLAIM THAT TERRITORY IN THE FUTURE.
Commissioner Bud Selig’s take on Territory Dispute A’s and Giants
Selig, in his discussion with Sports writer Tracy Ringolsby, appeared to have some sympathy for the A’s arguments, saying, “It is different because in 1990 when Bob Lurie wanted to move the Giants to San Jose, Walter Haas, the wonderful owner of the Oakland club, who did things in the best interest of baseball, granted permission. What got lost there is they didn’t feel it was permission in perpetuity. He gave Bob permission to go down there. Unfortunately or fortunately, it never got changed. We are dealing with a lot of history here.”
SF Bay Area Territory should be shared 50/50
like the Cubs/White Sox, Yankees/Mets, Dodgers/Angels etc.
SF Bay Area has about 8 million people.
It can surely support 2 thriving MLB franchises one in each league.
Southern Cal has 3 Thriving MLB teams: Dodgers, Angels and Padres.
It is the current SF Giants and Oakland A’s Ownership Groups that
are the problem and not the SF Bay Area fans.
Put competitive teams on those fields and the SF Bay Area fans will support both those teams.
MLB is “waiving” the relocation fee if the A’s move to Las Vegas?!
Restore the 50/50 territory and compensate the Giants with a portion of that
relocation fee that is being waived?!
C’ mon! This is not brain surgery people!.
It can be done when reasonable minds come together and compromise.