A fan holds a sign to protest the Oakland Athletics’ planned move to Las Vegas, before a baseball game between the Athletics and the Tampa Bay Rays in Oakland, Calif., Tuesday, June 13, 2023.
Jed Jacobsohn, Associated Press
For a while now, the prevailing thought regarding the Oakland Athletics is that they will leave the Bay Area for Las Vegas, following in the footsteps of the Raiders.
After all, MLB owners unanimously approved the move in November.
That move is expected to come in 2028, per ESPN, with the only remaining question being whether the A’s will remain in Oakland in the interim or find a new temporary home in either Sacramento or Salt Lake City.
If you ask Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman, though, the A’s move to Las Vegas isn’t as set in stone as previously thought.
Goodman is convinced that A’s ownership wants the franchise to remain in Oakland, even though, as reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the team and the city haven’t spoken in 10 months.
“Mr. (John) Fisher and Dave Kaval (the A’s team president) have been here innumerable times,” Goodman said in an interview with Front Office Sports. “I know in the back of both of their minds is the thought, ‘If we can just get Oakland to go ahead and build what we need here … ’”
Goodman believes the A’s reticence to select a site in Las Vegas prior to settling on the location of the Tropicana Las Vegas is clear evidence that ownership would prefer not to move the team.
“We had entertained them down here,” Goodman said. “We have a very large complex, probably 60 acres, and we could’ve cobbled together more land to possibly have 100 acres. It is in the historic old part of town, which is where all major interstate highways come together.”
She continued, “We have seven access points to it and it is in an opportunity zone. There are all these benefits, so when they said no, I thought, ‘This doesn’t make sense. This is a great site and they can get a great price on it because it is owned by the city.’ And yet no, they wanted to get close to the Strip with all the congestion and I thought, ‘This does not make sense.’
“So why is it happening? Well, because they really want to stay in Oakland.”
For her part, Goodman would prefer the A’s remain in Oakland. Not for any lack of interest in Major League Baseball in Las Vegas, but because she believes Oakland needs a professional sports franchise.
“Certainly you have the fan base there,” she said. “We already have the Raiders and each city needs to have that spirit of sports.”
She continued, “I just think there is an appetite. I run into people from Oakland all the time and they want to keep the team. It is just the government up there. It costs money and you have to find tax breaks that will work. … Ways for the city to really get behind having them. I know people will feel that is the best.”
Goodman also noted in her interview with Front Office Sports that although it may seem that everything is worked out, as far as the A’s moving to Las Vegas, she remains skeptical of the plan.
“Those who’ve been involved with the conversations and planning, with Dave Kaval and his team, have had many, many, many meetings and picked on different (potential ballpark) sites,” she said. “They’d say, ‘This one is definite,’ then nope, they don’t like it anymore. Then, ‘This one’s the one,’ then nope, not that one. That is the reason I keep thinking there is something wrong here.”
She continued, “I personally think they’ve got to figure out a way to stay in Oakland and make their dream come true. It is possible even though they are talking about that small site (here in Las Vegas). It is not done until it is done. Until it is done, it is not done.”