Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher and right-hand man Dave Kaval, president of the American League baseball team, must not be much for social media.
They apparently don’t watch a whole lot of television, read newspapers, or listen to sports-talk radio, either.
And they clearly aren’t big connoisseurs of podcasts, at least not the one produced by Front Office Sports, which covers sports business.
Let’s just say that when the mayor of the city to which you are attempting to relocate publicly trashes your plan, it’s not a particularly good sign. Whether Mr. Fisher and Mr. Kaval are even aware of the latest salvo against their bid to move the A’s to Southern Nevada is yet another unanswered question in a long, sad saga that continues to torture East Bay fans who have already stomached seeing their professional football and basketball teams skip town.
Already facing massive backlash from Oakland city officials and the surrounding populace, as well as a political action committee representing a Las Vegas teachers’ union that has thrown up multiple legal challenges, Mr. Fisher and Mr. Kaval might have thought they, at least, had an ally in Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman.
Apparently not.
Channeling a sentiment shared by many in Oakland and Las Vegas, Ms. Goodman said Feb. 6 on the Front Office Sports podcast that the A’s $1.5 billion stadium plan in the city she represents “does not make sense.” She strongly suggested that the team would be much better off rechanneling its efforts toward getting a new facility built in Oakland.
A subsequent statement released by Ms. Goodman’s office said she is “excited” about a Major League Baseball team coming to Las Vegas and an A’s relocation could become “a reality that we will welcome to our city.” She also, however, reiterated her belief that in a “perfect world,” A’s ownership would prefer a new ballpark in Oakland.
As oblivious to reality as Mr. Fisher and Mr. Kaval seem to be, they have been solely focused on Las Vegas since April, when they abruptly ended talks with Oakland regarding a proposed new waterfront venue at Howard Terminal near Jack London Square.
The A’s relocation bid, which received unanimous approval from apparently short-sighted Major League Baseball owners in November, calls for a 30,000-seat stadium with a retractable roof on a nine-acre Las Vegas Strip parcel currently occupied by the Tropicana hotel and casino.
Ms. Goodman, who favored an alternate location in the northern portion of the city that is near multiple interstate highways, expressed concern about increased congestion on the already chaotic Strip if the project were to become reality. She also raised questions about whether the site is large enough for a ballpark.
The A’s have yet to release artists’ renderings that include specifics for the stadium, or for that matter, a funding plan. Strong Public Schools Nevada, a political action committee backed by the Nevada State Education Association, on Feb. 5 filed a lawsuit in state court in Carson City challenging the allocation of up to $380 million in public funding approved in June by the state Legislature and Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo.
A state court judge rejected a previous legal effort backed by the teachers’ union, but an appeal of that ruling is pending before the state Supreme Court.
There is also the unresolved matter of where the A’s might play once their lease at the Oakland Coliseum expires after the coming season. Even in a best-case scenario, a new home in Las Vegas wouldn’t be ready until 2028, leaving at least three seasons of uncertainty.
There has been talk that the A’s might be able to share Oracle Park, home of the National League’s San Francisco Giants, or perhaps play at Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park, where the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate, the Sacramento River Cats, is based. Las Vegas Ballpark in suburban Summerlin, home of the A’s Triple-A farm club, the Las Vegas Aviators, has also been mentioned.
The options at minor-league facilities are far from ideal, however, and would likely meet severe resistance from the Major League Baseball Players Association due to a glaring shortage of seating capacity and customary amenities.
Mr. Fisher and Mr. Kaval have provided no answers regarding a potential interim home for the A’s. Neither have they chosen to comment on what Ms. Goodman had to say, nor has Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred.
Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, who has steadfastly maintained all along that the city has a workable plan for a new stadium, released a statement Feb. 6 saying that the door remains open for Mr. Fisher and “anyone else that has the means and desire to purchase the A’s” and keep them from relocating.
Fans in Oakland, who first lost the NFL’s Raiders to Los Angeles from 1982–94 and most recently to Las Vegas in 2020, and saw the NBA’s Warriors move across the Bay to San Francisco in 2019, would love nothing more than for Mr. Fisher to sell the A’s to local investors. They expressed those feelings loud and clear during several organized protests last season, with more to come during what looms as a lame-duck campaign for the A’s at the antiquated Coliseum.
If Mr. Fisher and Mr. Kaval thought Las Vegas would welcome their low-budget, low-performing baseball team with no questions asked, they obviously miscalculated greatly. Unlike desperate cities that have ponied up big-time to lure professional sports franchises in the past, Las Vegas already has not only the Raiders, but also the NHL’s Golden Knights, the reigning Stanley Cup champions.
And if there were any question that the city has long since arrived as a prominent player on the overall professional-sports landscape, Las Vegas is hosting this week’s Super Bowl festivities that will culminate with the Feb. 11 matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs at Allegiant Stadium.
Clearly, Mr. Fisher is running out of options. The likelihood of the “Las Vegas” A’s diminishes with each passing day. It’s past time that he and Mr. Kaval started paying attention.
