The Oakland Athletics shocked the baseball world recently with news they’d finally worked out a stadium deal, albeit in Las Vegas, not Oakland.
However, that deal is contingent on the A’s receiving an estimated $500 million in tax incentives to help offset the cost of the $1.5 billion stadium complex.
The Nevada Independent reported Wednesday that Nevada Assembly speaker Steve Yeager said that the A’s had yet to present “concrete” language on the proposal, and furthermore, term deals should have already been submitted.
“If something was going to happen, it really should have been in place last week,” Yeager said.
The A’s signed a deal last week to purchase a site in the Las Vegas area, which is contingent on the team getting the tax package.
According to the report, “If approval for the package does not come through, the team could withdraw from the agreement to purchase the stadium site.”
This does not sound like a promising turn of events for the A’s.
While the Raiders were lured to relocate from Oakland to Las Vegas by a lucrative tax incentive package, a 2021 Las Vegas Review-Journal story found little support from state lawmakers to offer the A’s a similar deal.
It’s not unusual for such deals to take much longer than expected to work out the details. Even if an incentive package is eventually worked out, a delay could push the A’s relocation past their 2027 target date.
There’s also the possibility the A’s seriously misjudged the political climate and didn’t do their homework to ensure they had enough votes to get a deal approved.
The baseball world overwhelmingly blames the A’s for the troubling report.
— Center for Economic Accountability (@AccountableEcon) May 3, 2023
You get what you pay for and if taxpayers will have to combine to pay $500 million… 😂
You don’t want this pathetic Athletics ownership and franchise
— Noah Bieniek (@Seventy7NB) May 3, 2023
I wouldn’t give John Fisher one dime of taxpayer money if I was Vegas. Vegas has him over a barrel since he already announced the move.
— Will Beckman (@lilsnubby) May 3, 2023
Same old song and dance with #Athletics ownership. If Las Vegas wants a baseball team, it’d be much better off getting an expansion team the area can grow with. #FisherOut #KavalOut #SellTheTeam
— James Venes (@jamesvenes) May 3, 2023
If they are trying to get anything other than a tax increment district and state relocation funds this isn’t going to get approved
— Brian Wargo (@BrianBuckWargo) May 3, 2023
Can’t believe NV Legislature is considering bailing out a billionaire. Guy has spent over a decade turning the A’s into a joke. NV should get an expansion team with local owners who care about the community.
— D Perkins (@_dperkins) May 3, 2023
Peak A’s!
— Matt Cote (@iamnotmattcote) May 3, 2023
