A Nevada judge has dismissed a legal challenge that was attempting to overturn a law that approved $380MM in public funding, per reporting from Tabitha Mueller and Howard Stutz of The Nevada Independent.
Back in February, it was reported that a political action committee backed by the Nevada State Education Association’s Strong Public Schools had filed suit against the state of Nevada and governor Joe Lombardo.
The suit was attempting to stop the stadium funding on the grounds that the law didn’t comply with the state constitution. One of their claims was that the proposal needed to be voted on by a two-thirds majority as opposed to a simple majority, as is the state’s constitutional requirement for bills creating or increasing public revenue.
Carson City District Court Judge Kristin Luis didn’t weigh in on those accusations. Rather, she dismissed the suit today on the grounds that the plaintiffs lacked standing and didn’t meet the standard of a “public importance exemption,” meaning that she therefore couldn’t make a “determination on the merit of the claims.”
The A’s are planning to build a new stadium on the Las Vegas strip, a project which has a price tag of roughly $1.5 billion, with the $380MM government funding being a notable chunk of that. Reporting from Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal in July indicating that the club is planning to make up the difference through various means. That includes $300MM in debt refinancing and $850MM in equity from the family of team owner John Fisher. Fisher’s parents Doris and Don Fisher founded The Gap, the clothing chain. In December of 2020, Forbes estimated the family’s net worth at $8.9 billion. Per today’s report from the Independent, the public funding won’t be released until the private financing conditions are met, among other requirements.
The Las Vegas stadium isn’t expected to be ready until the 2028 season but the club’s lease at the Coliseum in Oakland runs out after 2024. The A’s are planning to play in Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park for the next three years, sharing it with the Sacramento River Cats, the Triple-A affiliate of the Giants. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle published a story today wherein multiple people expressed their concerns about the Sacramento plan. The various fears include the artificial turf, the hitter-friendly nature of the park and the general logistics.
And the Athletics’s dilemma continues.
Actually this appears as though their one dilemma for the move to Vegas was just cleared up.
Delayed is probably more accurate than cleared up. Presumably this’ll be appealed to the Nevada state supreme court. That ruling would be the final one.
Just because something is appealed doesn’t mean the appeal will be accepted. The Supreme Court could well decide there isn’t enough merit to hear the appeal.
In any case, the team will move ahead with a ruling under their belt and a high degree of certainty.
Martes and Sadler – Because the judge dismissed the suit for lack of standing and it didn’t meet the standard of the “public importance exemption”, there’s no ruling to appeal. She didn’t make a ruling on the accusations themselves. The plaintiffs would have to file another suit. That’s my understanding anyway.
Thanks for the clarification.
So Fisher can keep his Go Fund Me page then?
Final result will be:
“Taking the field, your 2027 Wyoming Athletics”.
So public schools don’t qualify for a “Public Importance Exemption”?
I’m sure if a school department itself or the state’s education department was bringing suit it would be received differently than a political action committee representing the schools. A lot times there are multiple PACs claiming to support and represent the will and best interest of things with various different priorities and interests. Sometimes they’re politically aligned and at odds with local leanings,which could be the issue here. Disclaimer: I know absolutely nothing about the specifics of this particular set of issues, I just know a tiny bit about PACs, their function and how they’re perceived. I’m sure plenty of people know more than me.
public schools don’t qualify for a “Public Importance Exemption”?
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My guess is that this is just one more group receiving government money. If the public schools have standing, so then does the fire department, the police, the highway maintenance folks, etc.
Their PAC and/or their union is just saying that they want more money, same as the rest of the world.
In this case, no, because as the judge pointed out, the legislation has nothing to do with education. There’s no connection that would show that public schools would be affected by the legislation.
Clofreesz15 hours ago
And the Athletics’s dilemma continues.
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I’m not sure if you read the article, but this sounds like a victory for the As.
John Fisher eats carne asada with ketchup
Long past time for the Bay Area Chapter of Hell’s Angels to pay Mr. Fisher a visit and have a good “chat” with him
After that they can go to the Stones at Altamont Speedway with Melvin Belli lol
Poor A’s fans…
Thank you, it’s been rough 🙁
The stuck-up judge must have gone to a private school!
“Athletic’s delimma?”..What dilemma exactly?…By my reading this recent legal decision smooths and clears the road for the A’s move to Vegas. Apparently they’ll just have to upgrade(and play in)the Sacramento River Cat’s stadium for a few years before eventually moving onto Las Vegas.
Move to what, exactly in Las Vegas? There’s never going to be a park there for the A’s to call home.
zach – “There’s never going to be a park there for the A’s to call home.”
What are you basing that statement on?
@prov356 – Rage and desperation.
He’s basing it on what we all base things on in life: past performance. In this case it’s Fisher & his lying lapdog Kaval who are being judged. They’re f***ups of the highest order & have absolutely no idea how to do what they supposedly want to do. That will not change once they’ve ditched Oakland in a few weeks. And, come in guys, Vegas is a bridge to nowhere for the A’s. They’ll drop into hot as fire & dead as a doornail Sacramento & not emerge again until an Oakland-based buying group takes over when John-John has spent through his allowance.
BlueMoon – You didn’t answer my question either. I understand you don’t like the move. But nowhere did you answer how Zach or anyone knows a stadium will never be built in Vegas. By all reporting, a stadium will be built in Vegas for the A’s. The success or failure of the team in Vegas wasn’t the topic.
More silliness by the haters. One can hate on Fisher all they want, but LV and MLB are very well run. I’d bet serious money that there will be baseball in LV.
Jesus. Out comes the ‘haters’ BS. You spend a lot of your empty hours on same-ole-same-ole political crap comment sections to impress the ladies, no doubt. Just because someone disagrees with you, doesn’t mean they’re a hater. It an opinion. We’re allowed opinions. Whether you agree or not is absolutely meaningless. So go bet your serious money. Like you have any.
Blue – Who are you responding to?
Just to be clear, you do not hate Fisher? Because your post sounded pretty hostile.
The only guy who lumped me in with ‘haters.’
Oh my god Joe. Now you trot out the dreaded ‘hostile’ buzzword? Oy. It’s the playbook, isn’t it? Tell me next about my ‘tone.’ And please feel free to psychoanalyze me & order meds while you’re at it.
Again, for the record, you have no right to be right. Neither do I by the way. What I think we both… and everyone else who comes here… have a decent expectation of is to have a basic and, sometimes, opinionated exchange on… oh, I don’t know… MLB. Instead you, not me, brought out the boring, pre-set language of the passive-aggressive social media take-down. Yes, my friend, I’m obviously a hater. I had a passing thought on a topic of discussion, and you start labeling.
So just for fun, I’ll make it very easy on you here. Yes, I can’t stand John Fisher and the egregious way he’s treat Oakland fans. The guy needs to have the team taken away from him like the NBA has forced sells when an owner brings disgrace on the sport. The fact he’s allowed to do what he’s doing by MLB is ugly, embarrassing and a stain on the sport. We should expect better than to have them coddle & reward an abyssmal owner… let him destroy a team on purpose… break the spirit of a fanbase… and then give him a platinum parachute (waiving the $300 million relocation fee) as he gouges what fans are left on the way out of town. That said, I believe he will not take the team to LV. I think the lack of success in selling this move & the half-assed A’s organization to the public has triggered a plan B shell game where the true winner will most likely be Vivek Ranadive. He’ll do what he wants to do with his new toy. And Fisher wins, too. I think he’ll sell the team to Ranadive for more than it’s worth, quietly walk away, and head back to the luxury suites at Oracle Park where he’ll be subtly celebrated as the life-long Giants fan who finally got the A’s out of the Bay Area. That’s an opinion. And that’s all it is.
As a Las Vegas local, I don’t know that I’d agree that Las Vegas is very well run. However, Unincorporated Clark County (which is much larger and more populous than the City), where the ballpark will actually be located, is quite well run.
“There’s never going to be a park”…If you have a crystal ball, can we at least go over a couple of stock recommendations?
Oh, they will get a ball park….they may not get a crowd except the first season, but they will have a ballpark.
You need a local fan base and most residents of Vegas avoid the Strip like the plague.
Sure, when I lived there for 9 hellish years, I went to the strip when family/friends visited or when work required me to but that was it. No one in my family, none of my friends, ever visited the Nevada equivalent of Mordor.
There is a reason Casinos like the various Station Casinos, the Orleans AZ Charlies, etc exist….for the locals. Most locals would rather take a flight in a helicopter with ejector seats than go to the Strip.
Why is it so bad? I get that tourism isn’t for locals, but you’re suggesting something more than that.
Should be interesting. The owner’s stipulation that Fisher can’t immediately sell the club and has to actually prove he can establish the organization in Vegas and turn a profit will be amusing to watch.
Cat Mando
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They’ll get a lot of tourists. They’ll be people like me that will time their LV visit to coincide when their favorite team is playing there.
Same thing was said about Miami and Tampa, as well a Phoenix to a point.
Do you believe there are 20,000 + people who will spend the money. Figure in airfare, average room in Vegas in 2023 was $191 a night plus meals and gambling money. You will need those 20,000+ for 82 games a years.
8/9 games per season for an NFL team is one thing…82 games is a different critter altogether.
Having lived there for sometime I just don’t see good attendance numbers.
Why is it so bad? Traffic, tourists who believe roads are just big sidewalks etc. For most locals the Strip is as much fun as a week in the Sahara without water.
Also have to consider that most games are night games. LV life blood is gambling not only in Casinos but bars (and even grocery and convenience stores). The largest “floor staff” in casinos/bars work nights and that eliminates a good chunk of potential local fan base from attending.
The majority of residents are transplants. I can’t speak for all of them but when I moved west my loyalty to the Phillies went with me. If I was still in LV I could see going to a game if my Phillies were playing but it would still be rare.
I don’t see attendance being much higher than it is in Oakland after the novelty wears off.
Do you believe there are 20,000 + people who will spend the money.
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Yup. There were 41M visitors in 2023. I don’t think that having 5% catch a game is unreasonable. I watched some minor league games there, so watching the RS is by no means a stretch.
in LV I could see going to a game if my Phillies were playing but it would still be rare.
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I think that’s what the plan is. How many folks from SD, LA, SF will decide to do a week-end in LV and catch a game there? And how many people that already visit LV 1-2 times a year will will try to link that up with a game.
I guess we will see but I seriously doubt they will be much higher than the bottom 5 in attendance.
The 2 FL teams put a lot of faith in tourist attending games…. didn’t work that way.
Exactly. It’s strange but true that Fisher’s target audience is people who will be rooting against his team. Las Vegas gets more visitors annually than any other city in the world, and Fisher is banking on the ones who will go to games to root for their favorite team. I’m a season ticket holder for the minor league Las Vegas Aviators. You should see the sea of Dodger blue in the seats when Oklahoma City, the Dodgers’ Triple A team, comes to town.
Corporations over kids every single time. FJF and F Rob Manfraud
Corporations are how you have the ability to log into this forum and complain.
They’re also responsible for the clothes you wear, the phone in your pocket, and the food in your stomach.
Kids just dribble and make things sticky.
They are also the reason we have corrupt politicians
I agree. Kids are 100% to blame for corrupt politicians. In addition to blowouts and screaming on airplanes.
I think they may also be responsible for all of the wind that has caused me to not be able to buy bacon.
Sadler11 hours ago
Corporations are how you have the ability to log into this forum and complain.
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I always get a kick out of the people that support corporations and then complain about them. Most Americans would starve without corporations.
Yeah corporations are the answer. That’s why everyone is financially stable
How many things do you provide for yourself? Would you have the PC, the software, or the internet you are currently using?
Society is collapsing but hey I can talks sht on the internet. Cool
Perhaps your society is collapsing, but mine is fine.
But that said, what is wrong with ‘your’ society?
Sales tax is regressive, let’s stage a walk out on vegas. F Manfred, amen. Baseball with no clocks, no pets, no cigarettes.
Praise be . Bless it is the fruit . No one will stand in the way of getting rid of the Oakland mess not their so called lame Bay Area “ fans “ Not Brody Brazil , and his rallying fans to throw any kind of lame opposition . Not that Susan Slusser . Nobody cares what you think . A’s forward on to a new identity . Forget those dorks clapping in unison chanting Let Go Oakland . You go down by the RV park and clap .
Spoken like a true “Watches ONE in his mama’s basement type patriot.”
The lesson for the day, kids, is: Never file suit against a guy named Lombardo.
Gotta love modern day politics. Against state constitution? No problem. Stealing money from kids? No problem. Paying off judges? No problem. $1.5 billion for a stadium in which a large sum will wind up in said politicians hands? No problem.
What a joke.
I have never seen the “standing” question come up in legal cases in a way I thought was not asinine. Just seems like a way to say the people can’t get accountability from their leaders. Most legal reasoning I can at least follow, even if I disagree with it. I have no idea why “standing” is a thing.
Courts don’t like taxpayer lawsuits about the budget because they aren’t in a position to rewrite the budget. I read the decision in this case though, and I thought the teachers had standing and the court was wrong. Nevada has a “public importance exemption” to standing, and I think this case definitely should have qualified.
Poor Nevada. I know states like Wisconsin and Texas have had their legal system captured by elites, didn’t know it had reached this far West.
Yep Judges can most definitely be bought. If you think otherwise you are part of the problem.
Chances that any Nevada judge who hopes to be reelected is going even think about slowing down this financial windfall for the state = less than zero
“Gotta love modern day politics”…. Where have you been? That ship sailed a long, long time ago.
Shocking, a teacher’s union doesn’t want competition in grifting taxpayer money.
Yeah, give the money to a billionaire instead of the people educating future generations.
Yeah, give the money to a billionaire instead of the people educating future generations.
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If you want more money for teachers, then you should run for office on the platform of raising property taxes to pay for it. I’m sure you’ll get lot of votes.
Joe,
My point is, if the state government is going to spend $380M, I’d much rather it go towards benefiting thousands of teachers and all their students than a single billionaire.
But they aren’t ‘spending’ $380M. It is an investment.
With2M fans spending $100 each, what is the sales tax? How many jobs? How many more visitors?
Spending/investment/whatever, they’ve applying those public funds towards something that numerous independent studies have found do not provide a positive ROI for the public, just for the team owners.
That’s where defunding the schools comes in play, citizens wont have the skills to research and understand issues like stadium funding.
So we need to pay teachers more so they can teach the children that teachers need to get paid more. From the NCES:
” Current expenditures per pupil increased by 13 percent from 2010–11 to 2020–21, after adjusting for inflation.”
From Statista, in constant dollars, spending per pupil increased from $12,206 in 1990 to $18,614 in 2021.
Rest assured, our schools are getting funded.
Well, in that case, by all means, give John Fisher the $380M. There’s no better use for that money.
And those new gymnasiums are really gonna help us compete with Slovakia in math skills.
Irrelevant overly generalized arguments aside, rural counties in Nevada were upset when the governor told them there was no more money to help them deal with overcrowded public schools and the fentanyl crisis, then suddenly found the funds for building an expensive stadium. The “investment” would have been difficult to defend in court, unless they packed the jury with people that trust youtube influencers over professional economists.
And just how, exactly, does a teacher union grift taxpayer money? Grifting is what occurs at Mar-a-Largo. Teachers earn their money.
And the average teacher salary in Las Vegas is $56k, average rent is $1300 a month, If anybody thinks they should be paid less, they’re saying a teacher shouldn’t even be able to afford an apartment.
Taking sides with the billionaire owners over teachers? Sounds like someone still isn’t over their bad marks in 5th grade social studies.
Why does Aaron’s opinion matter in the A’s stadium funding? I’m telling ya, even the legal system favours the Yankees.
So the name of the team from the next few years is Sacramento Athletics and then Las Vegas Gamblers?
I think you mean anyone left, they already fired most of the Oakland people that didn’t agree to relocate.
No surprise. here. They’re counting on people vacationing from out of state, and people from LA fulling there seats once the stadium is built. Which is why they’re building it on the strip.. We’ll see if that plan works.
The Fishers are worth 9B, but can’t fund a decent payroll? Sorry, but what’s the point of having so much money if you can’t enjoy it? I get that the 9B may not be liquid, but they could easily put a whole lot more money in the payroll.
Even if they had a bigger payroll than the Dodgers and Yankees, Oakland fans would still be mad because their team is moving away. So John Fisher is probably like “why bother?”
But what is the Oakland franchise bringing in? That’s the number you need to worry about.
Guy didn’t make that kind of money operating businesses at a loss.
they could easily put a whole lot more money in the payroll.
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Owners don’t reach into their own pockets to meet payroll. They depend on customer revenue. The folks that own the local diner don’t reach into their own pocket to feed you steak instead of hamburger.
The Fishers as a family may be worth 9 billion, but the A’s aren’t owned by the whole family. John Fisher is the majority owner of the A’s. I don’t think his mother or brothers are interested in putting their money into the A’s.
Is there any baseball fan that actually wants this move to happen? Maybe a couple in Las Vegas? It’s just stupid that Fischer and Manfraud don’t pay attention to fans boycotting games and the general outcry of baseball fans as a whole who don’t want the move to happen. Referring to an earlier reply, Hells Angels really needs to pay Manfraud a visit. And $tu $ternberg as well.
Is there any baseball fan that actually wants this move to happen?
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I do. It is correct on every level.
Having teams in cities with less than 10k attendance per game is bad for the sport.
100 year old stadiums are bad for the sport.
Having a team in a huge tourist destination is good for LV and the people visiting there.
So 100 year old stadiums such as Fenway and Wrigley are “bad” for baseball???
No, but that’s not the point. Is the A’s stadium worth saving? Do you prefer the old Shea Stadium, Yankee Stadium, or the Vet? Those places needed to be bulldozed and Alameda is worse than them.
I would venture to say that if the owner spent money on halfway decent free agents and locked up guys like Chapman and Olson that the fans would show up for a team that would have a shot at the playoffs.
Before you go saying ‘where are the Rays fans’, the issue is the stadium location. If it were in Orlando or any city that didn’t have half of the 100 mile radius from the stadium in an ocean, they would draw. Owners need to be forced to spend money to be competitive or sell the franchise. Invest in the stock market, not a baseball team.
Owners need to be forced to spend money
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They should be forced to spend a percentage of revenue maybe.. But how would that help the A’s?
There is no “general outcry.” There are a handful of Oakland residents who were also baseball fans. Athletics fans didn’t support the team, even when the team was winning and spending. Clear back 20 years now attendance has been lousy. The team hasn’t been viable for 30 years at that location. Keeping MLB in Oakland hasn’t been a priority for the residents of the Bay Area. Just how it is.
Many baseball fans like the idea of being able to make a trip out of Vegas (I couldn’t care less) while watching their team play there, especially in a new stadium with new experiences.
For the few real A’s fans, the ones that have actually attended games, this should come as a blessing. They keep claiming that there is a huge fan base, and that the Oakland government is a willing partner.
If that’s all true, someone will build a stadium and start a team. That’s almost guaranteed.
How embarrassing for MLB. What a debacle. At least three years in Sacramento? Can’t wait for the Yankees to play there in a Fox game of the week with New York media.
Meanwhile in Texas there is a stadium right next to the Rangers new stadium that should be available.
Who knew Aaron Judge had a say.
The A’s should change their name to “The Happy Wanderers”. Philadelphia, Kansas City, Oakland, Sacramento, Las Vegas, and then……?
Magically, no one will have “standing” if you get the right judge.
“Uh, your honor, the state constitution clearly says…”
“Who cares, you aren’t important enough to point out the obvious to me. Dismissed.”