The Oakland Athletics are officially moving to Las Vegas.
MLB owners voted unanimously to approve the move Thursday morning, closing the book on the city the franchise has called home since 1968.
Well, kind of.
While the A’s are set to move, the ballpark in Vegas will reportedly not be ready until 2028 and the Athletics’ lease with the Oakland Coliseum is set to expire following the 2024 season. It’s unclear where the A’s will play in between, but there have been multiple options floated already, from their Triple-A stadium outside of Las Vegas to Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, to extending the lease and remaining at the Coliseum.
While the last option seems like the most plausible, it would be a tough sell to the fanbase who already spent the past couple of years at odds with owner John Fisher. Athletics fans notably had a reverse boycott during a game in June where they packed the stadium and chanted “sell the team” at Fisher.
The A’s staying in Oakland also will come at a cost, according to Mayor Sheng Thao, who would like to keep the Athletics name and be awarded an expansion team after the team departs.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred was non-committal on Thursday, saying, “We don’t even know if we’re going to have an expansion process.” Manfred also noted that the team name was up to Fisher and the organization, who have already expressed a desire to keep the name, according to Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times.
If A's want to stay in Oakland through 2027, mayor wants A's name to stay in Oakland and promise of expansion team.
Manfred: "We don't even know if we're going to have an expansion process."
He said name issue is up to team, which has said it's taking the name to Vegas.— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) November 16, 2023
Manfred also called it a “terrible day for fans in Oakland” and said that MLB “has always had a policy of doing everything humanly possible to avoid a relocation” and he “truly believes [MLB] did that in this case.”
Last winter, Manfred and the other MLB owners agreed to waive the $300 million relocation fee if the Athletics could secure public funding from the state of Nevada to build their new stadium, which doesn’t feel like doing everything possible to avoid relocation.
Rob Manfred: "I know, I know this is a terrible day for fans in Oakland. I understand that. That’s why we always had a policy of doing everything humanly possible to avoid a relocation, and I truly believe we did that in this case."
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) November 16, 2023
[Bill Shaikin] [Evan Drellich]
