A's sign purchase agreement for land in Las Vegas, per report. Future in Oakland in doubt.
The Athletics appear one step closer to leaving Oakland.
The team has signed a binding purchase agreement for 49 acres of land near the Las Vegas Strip, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported late Wednesday night.
A's president Dave Kaval strongly indicated the team has made building a $1 billion, 35,000-seat stadium on the land, owned by Red Rock Resorts, its preferred course for the future.
"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 paper. "Oakland has been a great home for us for over 50 years, but we really need this 20-year saga completed and we feel there’s a path here in Southern Nevada to do that."
Kaval and the A's have the support of baseball's commissioner.
"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," MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred told the Review-Journal.
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Though many steps still remain should an actual relocation happen, Wednesday's news prompted a statement from Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, who effectively shut the door on any new stadium being built in the city.
"I am deeply disappointed that the A’s have chosen not to negotiate with the City of Oakland as a true partner, in a way that respects the long relationship between the fans, the City and the team," Thao said in a statement, via the San Francisco Chronicle. "The City has gone above and beyond in our attempts to arrive at mutually beneficial terms to keep the A’s in Oakland. In the last three months, we’ve made significant strides to close the deal.
"Yet, 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."
Thao added the city is "ceasing negotiations and moving forward on alternatives for the redevelopment of Howard Terminal," which had been a leading candidate for the site of a new stadium in Oakland.
The A's have played in the Coliseum since 1968, when they arrived in Oakland from Kansas City. They have won four World Series championships since moving to the Bay Area. Despite the regular-season success of Billy Beane's "Moneyball" A's, the team's last title came in 1989.
The Coliseum opened in 1966 and also served as the longtime home of the Oakland Raiders, who moved to Las Vegas following the 2019 season. Though still in the area, Oakland also saw the Warriors leave town in 2019 as they moved to play home games at the new Chase Center in San Francisco.