Even as Oakland moves forward with plans to help fund a brand new waterfront stadium for the A’s, the MLB team’s recent actions may mean it is ready to say, “Viva Las Vegas.”
The A’s recently put an offer on an unidentified plot of land in Southern Nevada to possibly build a $1 billion ballpark, A’s President Dave Kaval confirmed to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, meaning the possibility of leaving Oakland entirely just got more serious.
“We’re kind of moving from a phase of research/data gathering to action around a final site,” Kaval told the Review Journal. “That’s really important because the site selection is a really critical path to keep the process moving forward to where we could have a holistically blessed project.”
The blessings began in May, when the MLB officially endorsed the A’s departure from Oakland, where they have been located since 1968. At the time, the league said that staying on at the 1960s-era Coliseum was not an option after the team’s lease expires in 2024 and that the city’s slow movement on an A’s-approved site for a new stadium in Jack London Square gave the team an out to begin exploring other markets.
At the time, East Bay leaders had just begun to make some headway on the A’s proposed $12-billion redevelopment of the waterfront site, announcing plans to contribute funds to develop the area around the future ballpark and hundreds of millions in state and federal funding for the overall redevelopment project. Mayor Libby Schaaf has said that she believes plans for a final project will come before the City Council early next year.
The city is also moving forward with plans to develop the current Coliseum site, recently choosing developer African-American Sports and Entertainment group to move ahead with that 100-acre redevelopment, which is half-owned by the A’s.
While Kaval told the San Francisco Chronicle that the Oakland funding was “a really positive development,” he also said the team is still looking at “parallel paths” for a move to Las Vegas.
Kaval told the Review-Journal the team is looking at “two or three” sites in Southern Nevada, including the one it has put an offer on, but has not yet revealed.
The Howard Hughes Corporation, which owns the A’s Triple-A affiliate and its ballpark, has had “informal” meetings with the team about a spot just west of Las Vegas in Summerlin, according to Peter Riley, senior vice president and general counsel for Hughes Corp. After the word was out on the offer on a different site, Riley said the team could have the Hughes land for free as it “would give us a big leg up” should the team decide to relocate.
Oakland Mayor Schaff is hoping they won’t get the chance. She said in a statement that recent moves by the city and Alameda County will “make it clear” to the team and the league that “our region is all in to keep the A’s rooted in Oakland.”
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