Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said a vote on the Oakland Athletics’ potential move to Las Vegas could take place when owners meet in New York next month.
The Athletics recently agreed to use land at the southern end of the Las Vegas Strip, where the Tropicana Las Vegas casino resort sits, to build a 30,000-seat stadium.
‘It’s possible that the relocation vote could happen in early June,’ Manfred said Thursday in Milwaukee during his tour of major league stadiums to speak with players.
‘It’s very difficult to have a timeline for Oakland until there’s actually a deal to consider. There’s an internal relocation process that they have to go through, and we haven’t started that process yet.’
Nevada Gov. said. Joe Lombardo on Wednesday that legislative leaders and the Athletics have reached a tentative agreement on a $1.5 billion stadium financing plan that would lure the franchise to Las Vegas. The funding bill still must be approved by the Legislature.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said owners could vote on moving the Oakland Athletics to Las Vegas, Nevada during the owners’ meetings taking place between June 13-15 in New York
The Athletics and the state of Nevada have tentatively agreed to build a stadium in Las Vegas
The move would also see Oakland lose its last ‘Big Four’ sports franchise for seven years once the move is completed in 2027.
Manfred was asked if he believes the door is completely closed on the possibility of the Athletics staying in Oakland, where the team has played since 1968.
‘I think you’ll have to ask the mayor of Oakland about that,’ Manfred said. ‘He said he broke off negotiations after an announcement was made in Las Vegas.
‘I don’t have a crystal ball where to go. No definitive deal has been made in Las Vegas. We’ll have to see how it works.’
Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao released a statement after the Athletics’ land purchase in Nevada saying he was disappointed the team did not negotiate with the city as a ‘true partner.’
The Athletics are looking for a new ballpark to replace the Oakland Coliseum, which has served as their home park since their arrival from Kansas City and where the team’s lease runs through 2024.
The team also looked at a location near Oakland’s Howard Terminal before shifting their focus out of state.
Aside from the bleak future, the Athletics are struggling at a historic level on the field and in the stands.
The tentative agreement reached plans to build a potential stadium on the site of the Tropicana hotel
The hotel is on a 35-acre site that will now be used for a $1.5billion, 30,000-seat stadium
The Tropicana has been a historic staple of the world famous Las Vegas strip since the 1960s
Like most hotels and casinos in Vegas, Tropicana offers a wide range of gambling games
In recent years however it has been overshadowed by luxury resorts such as the MGM Grand
They started Thursday 10-41 after matching the 1932 Boston Red Sox and 1897 St. Louis Browns for the fourth-worst 50-game start in major league history.
Their average home attendance of 8,695 is nearly 3,600 fewer fans per game than any other team.
Manfred was in Milwaukee as Wisconsin lawmakers debated potential funding plans for American Family Field, the Brewers’ home stadium since 2001. Manfred expressed confidence the state could do something.
The Brewers’ lease, which runs through 2030, calls for the Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District to cover the renovations. Democratic Gov. said. Tony Evers and the team that the district does not have enough money to pay the need, and the state surplus provides an opportunity to fund it without implementing a new tax or borrowing money.
‘It’s a gem of a ballpark,’ Manfred said. ‘It is absolutely essential that the existing obligation under the lease be funded so that this great ballpark can be maintained on a regular basis. It needs to be done in a timely manner.’
Evers proposed spending nearly $300million in taxpayer money to make improvements to the stadium, a plan Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos declared dead on arrival. Republicans who control the Legislature have yet to unveil their own alternative, but talks continue privately.
Vos said he wanted to make a deal that sought a commitment from the team to stay in Milwaukee longer and not rely too much on money from a one-time budget surplus expected to be around $7bn.
‘The choices made between different ways that public funds can be spent are choices that legislators have to make,’ Manfred said.
‘All I can say is this ballpark is an asset. The Brewers are interested in a long-term relationship, a lease extension that keeps them here.’
The Athletics began playing at the Oakland Coliseum in 1968 after moving from Kansas City
But starting in the 2000s, the Coliseum began to show some serious signs of its age
Since the 2000s, the A’s have also failed to win the AL Pennant or come close to a World Series
Manfred noted that the Milwaukee situation is ‘really the opposite of what happened in Oakland.’
‘It was an A-plus facility when it was built,’ Manfred said. ‘It is well maintained. The ownership has made a commitment not only to put a competitive team on the field, but to do its part in terms of maintaining this stadium.
‘And above all, the fans here have enthusiastically supported the tam. I think the real decision that needs to be made here is what can we do to maintain that great dynamic.
‘Oakland, unfortunately, it’s a facility that was never as good as this one was when it started. They made some unfortunate decisions to not maintain the ballpark the way it needed to be maintained. This resulted in a drop in attendance, which had an impact on the quality of product the team was able to provide on the field.’
