Athletics strike a ‘tentative’ deal for a new stadium in Las Vegas
The Athletics’ move from Oakland to Las Vegas plans to stay on track with a tentative deal being agreed upon that serves as another step in the finalization of the deal. Additionally, reports suggest the state have between $300-400 million in public funding, lower than the original $500 million the club wanted, according to the Nevada Independent.
“This agreement follows months of negotiations between the state, the county, and the A’s, and I believe it gives us a tremendous opportunity to continue building on the professional sports infrastructure of southern Nevada,” Nevada governor Joe Lombardo said Wednesday. “Las Vegas is clearly a sports town, and Major League Baseball should be a part of it.”
Quote Via the Score
The truth is, not that long ago there were no major sports teams in Las Vegas. It was always a desired location, but the potential association with sports betting and other off-the-field distractions made franchises hesitant.
But in the last few years, there has been an explosion of teams coming to Las Vegas. In 2017, the city was given a hockey team with the Vegas Golden Knights, who gained instant popularity by making it to the Stanley Cup Finals in their first season and having now appeared in four Conference Finals in six seasons. The WNBA moved to Vegas in 2018 with the Las Vegas Aces, who are the reigning WNBA champs.
Most recently, three years ago, the Oakland Raiders packed up and made the move to Vegas, much like the Athletics are now. Now, soon arriving that will mark four major sports teams in Vegas within a 10-year span.
The NBA has also explored the possibility of putting a team in Vegas, and at this point, I don’t see why they wouldn’t.
Las Vegas is a rapidly growing sports market and people want to get in while they still can. In this case, The Bally’s owned Tropicana is taking the chance. They are supplying the Athletics with nine acres of land equal to around $200 million.
The thought process here for Bally is that the team will drive customer traffic into his casinos, creating stronger partnerships for the Trop in the process. While a good idea on the surface, I don’t think he is taking into account just how bad this team is.
The situation in Oakland is obviously a horrible one. They are far and away ranked last in home attendance. Ownership has refused to spend money and as a result, fans have stopped showing up.
I’m guessing the thought process is that in Las Vegas, the Athletics will spend more, but I’m not sure that’s the case. Oakland is by no means some small market like it was in the Money Ball days — they have had the resources but have simply refused to spend them.
Regardless of how bad of an idea it may be for Bally, MLB has approved the pending deal. The actual legislation is set to be released in the coming days, but the consensus is that it will pass relatively easily.
So good for the A’s I guess. You get to move out of the dump that is the Coliseum and into an actual stadium. I still don’t know if people will actually attend your games, but I suppose time will tell on that. At the very least, I expect more money to be spent and hope management actually shows a desire to win.
Or maybe it will continue to be more of the same and MLB will soon regret letting the Athletics leave. I’m betting my money on the second option, but hey I’ve been wrong before. I just feel for Oakland sports fans really.
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