(Arlington) Major League Baseball owners unanimously approved the move of the Oakland Athletics to Las Vegas, a first since the Montreal Expos moved in 2005.
For the move – which had prior approval from Commissioner Rob Manfred – to be approved, 75% of the owners of Major League Baseball’s 30 teams had to vote in favor of Athletics owner John Fisher’s plan.
“For more than a decade, there have been attempts to develop a stadium project in Oakland,” Manfred recalled Thursday. It was John Fisher’s choice. It was also my choice… But it never came to fruition. »
The A’s, who have complained for years about the dilapidation of the Oakland Coliseum and a 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 to the tune of US$380 million by the Nevada government.
“It’s an incredibly difficult day,” Fisher said. We tried everything, did everything to find a solution (to stay in Oakland). »
The A’s Coliseum lease will expire after the 2024 season, and it’s still unclear where the team will play before their new stadium opens, around 2028 according to Fisher.
Las Vegas will become the fourth home city for the franchise, which 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 their 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 in 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 it was rejected by the college and its neighbors. Then they focused on the Howard Terminal area in Oakland. Although some approvals were obtained, no financing plan was ever reached.
The team announced on April 19 that it had purchased land in Las Vegas, then, a month later, replaced that location with a deal with Bally’s and Gaming
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 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.
While the San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose area is the 10th largest TV market in the United States, Las Vegas is the 40th. Major League Baseball Players’ Association President Tony Clark questioned last month whether moving to a smaller city would put the team on a path to perpetual assistance needed under the sharing plan of major income.
Major League Baseball is able to decide on city changes because of the competition exemption granted to the sport under a 1922 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Over the past half-century, the NFL has seen several moves, namely the Raiders (from Oakland to Los Angeles, back to Oakland then to 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).
Furthermore, Manfred confirmed Thursday that the Major League All-Star Game will take place in Atlanta in 2015.