Less than a month after the Oakland Athletics announced plans to build a new stadium in Las Vegas, the team is reportedly exploring other sites in the area.
The A’s are still reportedly hoping to build the new stadium at the previously announced site. But other concerns have led to the term searching for Plan B.
“Sources connected to the A’s and close to the negotiations said Monday that the A’s are still focused on acquiring the former Wild West Casino site bordered by Tropicana Avenue and Dean Martin Drive from Red Rock Resorts for an undisclosed price for the 35,000-seat retractable roof stadium and a surrounding entertainment district,” Howard Stutz and Tabitha Mueller of The Nevada Independent wrote.
The report continued.
“However, they also confirmed the A’s reached back out to ownership of the Rio Hotel & Casino, which offered the team 22 acres of the resort’s 90-acre site, for just $1,” it said. “The A’s had rejected the deal that could have greatly reduced some of the costs associated with the land acquisition because the team was concerned about traffic access.
“With no concrete proposal and touch-and-go negotiations ongoing, sources spoke to The Nevada Independent on the condition of anonymity. An A’s spokeswoman declined to comment on the record.”
The team’s leadership — primarily owner John Fisher and president Dave Kaval — have long been targets of criticism for (among other things), the way the team’s potential move to Las Vegas has been handled.
To the surprise of nobody, that only continued following this news.
Fisher and Kaval are weapons-grade clowns https://t.co/H8OMspEJwm
— Nick Stellini (@StelliniTweets) May 9, 2023
I don’t want to rush to judgment here. But it sure seems possible that A’s ownership is totally incompetetent and may very well screw the pooch. Or, they’re playing 4D chess and everyone else is too dumb to follow along.
I’d bet on the former. https://t.co/dgE4K0gMBf
— Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) May 9, 2023
This saga is not over. As we have been saying on Nothing Personal for months. Maybe years. This is all part of the process. Moving to Vegas is far from certain. #waittosee https://t.co/QX3nKII4OX
— David P. Samson (@DavidPSamson) May 9, 2023
Dave Kaval is really killing it. https://t.co/mSuFvVLgiX
— Steve Berman (@BASportsGuy) May 9, 2023
Shocker https://t.co/jzeaHC2Vnu
— Jerry Blevins (@jerryblevins) May 9, 2023
The A’s, ladies and gentlemen! https://t.co/k95EZV6IzV pic.twitter.com/tENGwiDLMG
— Funky Cold Luda (Taylor’s Version) (@lcm1986) May 9, 2023
John Fisher is John Fishering the move to Vegas.
Shocker. https://t.co/sIZmJKtpDW
— Ben Verlander (@BenVerlander) May 9, 2023
Easily the worst Ownership group in Professional Sports https://t.co/4487NpULZN
— Devine Sports Gospel (@DevineGospel) May 9, 2023
That stadium is never getting built https://t.co/MflrQSLFL0
— local bIogger (@fergoe) May 9, 2023
https://t.co/0AirOAWePC pic.twitter.com/GcXL6znPqT
— Casey Pratt (@CaseyPrattABC7) May 9, 2023
