The Oakland A’s, the baseball team that has been playing in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1968, wants to move to Las Vegas.
But Sin City’s Mayor Carolyn Goodman says, “not so fast.”
At least, that’s the gist of the interview she gave to Front Office Sports six days before the city was slated to host the Super Bowl for the first time.
The A’s have been trying to build a new ballpark in Oakland for years, but they’ve faced many obstacles, such as environmental reviews, legal challenges, and opposition from some local groups. The current Coliseum, where they play, is outdated and dilapidated, and the A’s share it with the Raiders, the football team that is also planning to move to Las Vegas. The A’s say they need a new home to stay competitive and profitable in the long run.
But Goodman has some advice for them. She says, “I’ve lived in this town this year 60 years, and so I know the town like the back of my hand…I personally think they’ve got to figure out a way to stay in Oakland and make their dream come true.” But not in Vegas.
Her comments shocked the public and Las Vegas officials alike; after all, they have been courting the A’s for a long time. On Tuesday, Goodman issued a response to the blowback and doubled down on her initial comments.
“My points included that it is my belief that in their perfect world the ownership of the A’s would like to have a new ballpark on the water in Oakland and that the ownership and government there should listen to their great fans and try to make that dream come true,” Goodman’s statement reads.
The A’s have gone through multiple steps to move from Oakland to Las Vegas. They’ve received the funding green light from state and local government in Nevada, as well as unanimous approval from MLB ownership, and set in motion plans to build a 30,000-seat stadium on the Strip at the current site of the Tropicana hotel and casino.
Anyone who has visited Vegas recently is wondering what a venue that attracts thousands and thousands of people will do to the unbearable congestion and chaos that is already on the Strip, and may agree with Goodman: “We have enough congestion right now, which we just experienced with Formula 1, as you know, came here.”
The Formula 1 race, this past November, partially ran down the Strip, and with the setup and ongoing construction, it shut down access to local businesses and casinos and reportedly cost millions in lost revenue.
Having given them what she considers her best advice, Goodman does end it on a positive note: “Should that fail, Las Vegas has shown that it is a spectacular market for major league sports franchises.”
The A’s have said they will decide by the end of 2024, which means they still have some time to weigh their options and find the best solution for their future.
