A’s could join Raiders in Vegas after MLB gives go-ahead to look at relocating from Oakland
Oakland #Oakland
Could the Oakland Athletics join the Raiders in moving to Las Vegas? That possibility gained a measure of momentum Tuesday when MLB gave the A’s the green light to consider relocation.
At the heart of the issue is the A’s long-standing inability to come to an agreement with Oakland municipal officials on a new stadium that would replace RingCentral Coliseum, the 55-year-old facility in which the team has played since moving from Kansas City in 1968.
After repeatedly reaching similar impasses, the Raiders received authorization from the NFL to move to Las Vegas in 2017. The team continued to play in what was long called Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum until 2020, when the Raiders moved into the newly built, $2 billion Allegiant Stadium, which was financed in part by $750 million in revenue from a hotel-room tax.
Other potential destinations for the A’s could include Portland, which tried to lure the Montreal Expos in 2003 before that team relocated to Washington and was renamed the Nationals. In the past, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has cited Charlotte, Nashville, Vancouver and Montreal as possible sites for expansion teams, so those cities may get into the running for the A’s.
Alternatively, the A’s might be able to stay in Oakland, which MLB said is desirable to the team.
“The A’s have worked very hard to advance a new ballpark in downtown Oakland for the last four years, investing significant resources while facing multiple roadblocks,” MLB said. “We know they remain deeply committed to succeeding in Oakland, and with two other sports franchises recently leaving the community, their commitment to Oakland is now more important than ever.”
The A’s have been pushing for a new stadium closer to the center of the city than east Oakland, where the Coliseum is located. The proposed new project would also include extensive mixed-use aspects that the team says would revitalize a waterfront district. The entire project would cost $12 billion, according to documents released by the team last month, with the A’s paying $1 billion. In an open letter to fans, team president Dave Kaval said in April that the proposed stadium fits a need for a “modern, fan and player friendly ballpark,” and called on the Oakland City Council to take a vote on the project before summer recess.
The league asserted that a proposal to build a new stadium at the site of the Coliseum was “not a viable option for the future vision of baseball.”
“We have instructed the Athletics to begin to explore other markets while they continue to pursue a waterfront ballpark in Oakland,” MLB stated. “The Athletics need a new ballpark to remain competitive, so it is now in our best interest to also consider other markets.”
Kaval said in a statement Tuesday that the team agreed with MLB that the Coliseum site was not viable. “While we remain committed to succeeding in Oakland and will continue to work toward our waterfront ballpark,” he added, “we will also follow MLB’s direction and immediately begin the process of exploring a new home for the A’s.”
If the A’s, who in the past have also looked into moving to the nearby cities of San Jose and Fremont, do decide to leave Northern California altogether, Las Vegas would be the “leading contender,” according to ESPN.
“I hate to say it’s expected, but it’s expected,” Raiders owner Mark Davis told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “It’s what we went through. … The government up there is just not capable of putting a deal together that’s win-win. And that’s all you ever look for, is win-win.”
Advocacy group the East Oakland Stadium Alliance asserted that a “win-win” for the city would be “a world-class sports facility in East Oakland and a world-class port in West Oakland.” Claiming that the Howard Terminal project represents a threat to union jobs related to the shipping industry and that East Oakland has far greater existing transportation options, the group said on Tuesday: “We want the A’s to stay in Oakland but not at the expense of thousands of blue-collar workers, or the health and safety of Oakland residents. While the Oakland A’s have claimed to be ‘Rooted in Oakland,’ after openly exploring moves to Fremont, Portland, San Jose, and Las Vegas over the past two decades, we now see that their roots in Oakland are shallow.”
Oakland’s mayor, Libby Schaaf, has expressed support for the waterfront ballpark. She said Tuesday that she shares “MLB’s sense of urgency and their continued preference for Oakland.”
“With the recent start of financial discussions with the A’s,” Schaaf said, “we call on our entire community — regional and local partners included — to rally together and support a new, financially viable, fiscally responsible, world class waterfront neighborhood that enhances our city and region, and keeps the A’s in Oakland where they belong.”
“We have an offer in front of the city council that we have not got a response on,” Kaval told the Associated Press. “So I think we’re still doing what we can to pursue the waterfront ballpark … but we are running out of time here in Oakland at our existing facility and we need to look at other options to see what might be possible.”
Oakland lost the Golden State Warriors, who moved to a state-of-the-art facility in San Francisco in 2019 after playing at Oracle Arena for almost 50 years. Las Vegas, shunned for decades as a major league home because of its gambling industry, first ended that trend by welcoming NHL expansion team the Golden Knights in 2017.
“Las Vegas has become a premier city for sports,” Rep. Dina Titus (D), whose congressional district includes most of the city, tweeted on Tuesday. “We’re more than ready for a Major League Baseball team.”
The Athletics originated in 1901 in Philadelphia, where they won five World Series titles before moving to Kansas City in 1954.
Over the past half-century, there have been only two MLB relocations, both involving the nation’s capital. Before the Expos became the Nats in 2005, the Washington Senators moved to Texas and became the Rangers in 1972.