Report: Is Oakland in line for a baseball team if the A’s leave?
Sep 11, 2023, 12:34 PM
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 21: Paul Blackburn #58 of the Oakland Athletics pitches against the Kansas City Royals in the first inning at RingCentral Coliseum on August 21, 2023 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
If the Athletics leave Oakland, could The Town be in line for another baseball team?
According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, that’s a possibility. In his latest column, he drops a nugget of information about the situation in Oakland, indicating baseball won’t leave if the A’s do.
Although the Oakland A’s will be moving to Las Vegas, the city may not be without a team very long.
High-ranking executives say that if Oakland officials and an ownership group secure a site to build a new ballpark, they will join Nashville, Tennessee, as the top two expansion sites in the next five years.
Outside of a couple of late August interviews from owner John Fisher and A’s President Dave Kaval, there haven’t been many updates about Oakland A’s relocation efforts. If and when the team is relocated, they will need a temporary home because the Athletics’ lease at the Coliseum concludes at the end of the 2024 MLB season.
If this is the plan, it begs the question, why not sell the A’s to someone who will keep the team in Oakland and give Las Vegas the expansion team?
Where do Oakland Athletics relocation plans stand?
Plans to relocate accelerated this year when the organization changed direction after years of trying to work with the city of Oakland and a new stadium at Howard Terminal and announced multiple binding agreements with Las Vegas properties.
Ultimately, the team landed a spot at the Tropicana where a $1.5 billion, nine-acre stadium is expected to be built. The ballpark, which was granted $380 in public funding for construction earlier this summer, would include a retractable roof and roughly 30,000 seats.
The next move for relocation to become official is approval from 75% of MLB owners. If the A’s relocate, they’d be the first team to move since the Montreal Expos became the Washington Nationals in 2005.
Las Vegas would be the fourth home for the franchise. The team originates from Philadelphia where they played from 1901-1954. The Athletics then moved to Kansas City until 1968, when they relocated to Oakland. The A’s have been looking to either update or move out of the Oakland Coliseum for years.
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