Life is full of awkward moments, such as having dinner with an ex and his or her family or getting stuck next to someone at a red light moments after flipping them off. Generally, while they may feel like an eternity, the awkward moments don’t last long. But the Oakland Athletics and their fans are apparently in for an entire season’s worth of awkward moments in 2024.
There are still some hurdles that need to be cleared, but the A’s are likely on their way to Vegas. But their new stadium in Vegas won’t be ready until 2028. So, where will the team play from 2024-2027?
At least some of those seasons will likely be played at Las Vegas Ballpark, the home of the team’s Triple-A affiliate, the Las Vegas Aviators. But that reportedly won’t happen until 2025, at the earliest.
In 2024, the A’s will play their home games in the same building they’ve called home since 1968 — the Oakland Coliseum.
“The Oakland Athletics are set to play out their lease at the Oakland Coliseum in 2024, meaning the earliest the team could play in Las Vegas will be the 2025 season,” Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. “The team’s $1.5 billion, 30,000-seat ballpark envisioned for Las Vegas won’t be ready until 2028, which fueled speculation the A’s would play next season at Las Vegas Ballpark, sharing it with their Triple-A farm club, the Aviators.”
Akers added that “there have been no discussions regarding the A’s not playing in Oakland for the 2024 MLB season, a person with knowledge of the situation told the Review-Journal.”
There has been no shortage of bad blood between the fans in Oakland and tea John Fisher, the team’s owner. Fans of the team, tired of Fisher’s penny-pinching and obviously upset with the pending move, have understandably stayed away from home games this year.
When the fans have filled the stadium, they’ve made their disgust of Fisher known — prompting snide commentary from MLB commissioner, Rob Manfred.
So, the news that the A’s will play in Oakland for what will likely be a lame-duck season in 2024 drew some interesting commentary.
Uh… WHAT https://t.co/8JJ5A9OWFc
— Anti-Fisher by Design (@AsFanByDesign) June 17, 2023
Predict their total home attendance for 2024. https://t.co/nCHhGN46YH
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) June 17, 2023
Force them out. Stand up for Oakland after we've been abused and disrespected by Fisher and MLB.
Let them play in their AAA ballpark they touted as ready to go. https://t.co/OfP5qeZfLw
— Matt Ortega (@MattOrtega) June 17, 2023
I feel so bad for the people who work in the ticket office and will have to make calls asking people to buy ticket packages https://t.co/2nLpBpKAdo
— William Boor (@wboor) June 17, 2023
The only crowds they'll be playing in front of will the opposing team's fans… It'll get them ready for what it'll be like in Vegas. https://t.co/tbXPRLpA6D
— CoachⓋShawn (@shawcochrane) June 17, 2023
