The Oakland Athletics agreed to buy a 49-acre land site near the Las Vegas Strip with hopes of relocating to Nevada, team president David Kaval confirmed to the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Wednesday.
The team hopes that they can be playing games in Las Vegas as early 2027, in what would be the team’s new billion-dollar stadium with a retractable roof.
“It’s obviously a very big milestone for us,” Kaval said about the agreement. “We spent almost two years working in Las Vegas to try to determine a location that works for a long-term home. To identify a site and have a purchase agreement is a big step.”
The agreement ends tense negotiations that have been going on behind closed doors for years. The A’s currently play in the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, which was built in 1966 , making it the fourth-oldest stadium league wide at 57 years old.
“It’s really exciting to have a site,” Kaval said.
Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred also spoke about the negotiations coming to an end.
“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 said.
This move signals an end to not only Athletic’s baseball in Oakland, but sports as a whole. It wasn’t to long ago (2020) when the Raiders fled Oakland to Las Vegas. It now appears the Athletics will be following in their footsteps. The planned stadium will be within one mile of Las Vegas’ other sports venues: T-Mobile Arena (Golden Knights) and Allegiant Stadium (Raiders).
It’s also noteworthy that the Athletic’s Triple-A affiliate, the Las Vegas Aviators, have been playing in the area since 2019.
To start their 2023 campaign, the A’s have gotten off to a deplorable start. Their current record sits a 3-16, which is the worst among all teams. Their current attendance is also at a league-low average of 11,025.
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