(Arlington) Major League Baseball owners unanimously approved the Athletics’ move from Oakland to Las Vegas, the first since the Montreal Expos’ move, two people familiar with the vote revealed.
The people spoke on condition of anonymity to speak to The Associated Press because the league has not yet officially announced the results. In order for the measure – which received prior approval from Commissioner Rob Manfred – to be approved, 75% of the owners of the 30 Major League Baseball teams had to vote in favor of this option.
The A’s, who have complained for years about the dilapidation of the Oakland Coliseum and the lack of political will to build a new stadium in the San Francisco Bay Area, plan to move to a stadium that will be located near the Las Vegas Strip. and which will be financed in the amount of 380 million dollars by the government of Nevada.
The A’s Coliseum lease will expire after the 2024 season, and it remains unclear where the team will play before its new stadium opens in 2027 at the earliest.
Las Vegas will become the fourth home city for this franchise that was based in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954 before moving to Kansas City for 13 seasons and finally settling in Oakland starting in 1968. The new stadium will become its fifth home , after Columbia. Park (1901-08), Shibe Park (1909-54), Memorial Stadium (1955-67) and the Coliseum.
Since the Washington Senators became the Texas Rangers in 1972, only one other team has moved to Major League Baseball. The Expos became the Washington Nationals in 2005.
The Athletics proposed building a stadium in Fremont, about 25 miles south of the East Bay, in 2006 but abandoned the project three years later. The city of San Jose, located about 40 miles south of Oakland, was proposed in 2012, but the San Francisco Giants blocked the site because it was part of that team’s territory.
The Athletics chose a site in the Oakland area near Laney College but were rejected by the college and its neighbors. They then focused on the Howard Terminal area in Oakland. Although some approvals were obtained, no financing plans were reached.
The team announced on April 19 that it had purchased land in Las Vegas, and a month later replaced that site with an agreement with Bally’s and Gaming & Leisure Properties to build a stadium on the site of the Tropicana Hotel along the which is called “Las Vegas Strip”.
The Nevada Legislature and governor approved state funding for a $1.5 billion stadium with a capacity of 30,000 and a retractable roof. That stadium will be located near Allegiant Stadium, where the NFL’s Oakland Raiders moved in 2020, and T-Mobile Arena, where the Vegas Golden Knights have played since joining the NHL in 2017.
Although the San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose area is 10It is Las Vegas is the 40th largest television market in the United States.It is. Major League Baseball Players Association President Tony Clark questioned last month whether relocating to a smaller city would put the team on track for the perpetual assistance required under the master income-sharing plan.
Major League Baseball can decide on changes to the city due to the exemption from competition granted to the sport under a 1922 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Over the past half-century, the NFL has seen several moves, notably the Raiders (from Oakland to Los Angeles, back to Oakland and then Las Vegas), the Colts (from Baltimore to Indianapolis), the Cardinals (from St. Louis to Phoenix), the Rams (from Los Angeles to St. Louis and back to Los Angeles ), the Oilers (from Houston to Nashville) and the Chargers (from San Diego to Los Angeles).
