Are the A's moving to Las Vegas? What new stadium land deal means for franchise, Oakland

Tom Gatto

Are the A's moving to Las Vegas? What new stadium land deal means for franchise, Oakland image

The Athletics have taken a big step away from Oakland and toward Las Vegas.

The club has agreed to purchase 49 acres of land near the Las Vegas Strip for a proposed $1.5 billion, 35,000-seat stadium and other development projects, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported late Wednesday. Team president Dave Kaval said that the park could open as early as 2027.

Here's what you need to know about the latest developments in the A's pursuit of a new stadium/city: 

Are the A's moving to Las Vegas?

The answer appears to be yes, for now. The club has entered a binding agreement to purchase the land from Red Rock Resorts, which owns Station Casinos. An additional eight acres near the site are also available to the club for purchase, the Review-Journal reported.

According to the Review-Journal, the stadium — which would have a partial retractable roof — would be located about a mile north of Allegiant Stadium, home of the NFL's Raiders, and about a mile west of T-Mobile Arena, home of the NHL's Golden Knights and a prime venue for world championship boxing and MMA.

The A's have been trying for years to leave RingCentral Coliseum, which has been their home since moving from Kansas City in 1968. The club has been negotiating stadium and development deals with Oakland and nearby cities for decades. It began talks with Las Vegas in 2021.

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"For a while we were on parallel paths (with Oakland), but we have turned our attention to Las Vegas to get a deal here for the A’s and find a long-term home,” Kaval told the Review-Journal.

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao told the Oakland Tribune late Wednesday that the city is ending negotiations with the A's in response to the club's announcement, saying "it is clear to me that the A’s have no intention of staying in Oakland and have simply been using this process to try to extract a better deal out of Las Vegas. I am not interested in continuing to play that game — the fans and our residents deserve better."

Kaval told the Review-Journal that the club's next step is forging a public-private partnership with state and local officials. If that comes together, then the A's would apply for relocation.

Nevada Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager told the Review-Journal that he has held preliminary talks with the club about a move to Las Vegas and will be ready to resume them once the club and lawmakers complete negotiations.

Does MLB approve of the A's plan to move to Las Vegas?

Again, the answer appears to be yes. Commissioner Rob Manfred backed the land purchase agreement in no uncertain terms Wednesday.

"We support the A’s turning their focus on Las Vegas and look forward to them bringing finality to this process by the end of the year," Manfred told the Review-Journal in a statement.

Manfred has given the A's until January 2024 to put together a deal for a new stadium in Oakland or Las Vegas. The club's lease at the Coliseum expires at the end of the 2024 season. Manfred said in December 2022 that he would waive MLB's $500 million relocation fee to facilitate an A's move to Vegas.

MORE: Athletics to Las Vegas? Manfred believes Oakland's team could be heading east

The A's will need approval from 23 of the 30 MLB clubs to relocate. The last franchise to change cities was the Expos, who moved from Montreal to Washington, D.C., and became the Nationals for the 2005 season. MLB owned the franchise at the time; it sold the Nats to the Lerner family in 2006. 

If approval to relocate is given this year, the A's would need to play at least three seasons in a temporary location, based on Kaval's 2027 estimate for a Vegas stadium opening. The club's Triple-A affiliate plays in Las Vegas at 10,000-seat Las Vegas Ballpark in nearby Summerlin, Nev.

The A's are last in MLB in attendance at 11,026 tickets sold per game, according to Baseball Reference. The club was 3-16 through games of April 19 and in last place in the American League West.

Manfred is insistent that the A's and Rays must first resolve their stadium issues before MLB can go forward with expansion. The Rays, after years of trying, are making progress on getting a new stadium built next to their current home, Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla.

MLB franchise relocations, 1953-present

Year Franchise Old market New market (nickname)
1953 Braves Boston Milwaukee
1954 Browns St. Louis Baltimore (Orioles)
1955 Athletics Philadelphia Kansas City
1958 Dodgers Brooklyn Los Angeles
1958 Giants New York San Francisco
1961 Senators Washington Minnesota (Twins)
1966 Braves Milwaukee Atlanta
1968 Athletics Kansas City Oakland
1970 Pilots Seattle Milwaukee (Brewers)
1972 Senators Washington Texas (Rangers)
2005 Expos Montreal Washington (Nationals)

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.