Bay Commission Vote In Oakland Was Win For Athletics Last Week, But Clearing Hurdle Doesn’t Mean Ballpark Is Done Deal In Oakland (Las Vegas, You Still Have A Chance)
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
For those who thought a San Francisco Bay commission’s vote last week scuttled all chances of the Oakland Athletics moving to Las Vegas, please heed the advice of baseball oracle and wordsmith Yogi Berra.
“It ain’t over till it’s over.”
True, not a single Nevada or Clark County elected official has backed the idea of using public money to help build an Athletics ballpark in Las Vegas — so far.
But major league teams seeking subsidized sports venues are the stuff of soap operas, an ongoing drama series with installments and twists and turns. So, it’s hardly a done ballpark deal for the Athletics in Oakland.
Officially speaking, the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) voted to remove the Port of Oakland’s Howard property from Port Priority Use.
As the Port of Oakland said in a statement, “This is a major step in the process for the proposed development of the Howard property as a baseball stadium, along with retail, office space, housing, parks, significant open space, and more public access to the waterfront that combined will deliver thousands of jobs.”
But for fans who want the A’s to move to Las Vegas, there remains much discussions and talks between the city of Oakland and the MLB team that has played at the outdated Oakland Coliseum for 54 years
“We appreciate the thoughtful and careful consideration by BCDC commissioners regarding the Howard property,” Port of Oakland Executive Director Danny Wan said.
“Their vote clears the path for the ballpark development project to move forward to the next round of approval processes; it also allows the City of Oakland and the A’s to have more detailed discussions on the potential benefits of the proposed stadium project,” Wan said.
Las Vegas’ current two major league teams are examples of both a homegrown team like the Vegas Golden Knights and a team migrating from another market, the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Golden Knights’ economic success is tied to the emotional bond of originating in the Las Vegas market, while the Raiders are a national brand and functions as much as an NFL tourist attraction in Las Vegas as it does as the local sports team in Southern Nevada.
If they move to Vegas, the A’s would have to draw fans to 81 home dates — a challenge for a market that’s the 27th biggest area in the U.S.
The Athletics have their Triple A affiliate here in Las Vegas, so A’s fans can watch those players. But it’s not like the Las Vegas market is filled with Oakland Athletics fans. Anecdotally speaking, the team with the biggest demographic footprint in the Las Vegas market is the Los Angeles Dodgers, with the San Diego Padres behind the Dodgers.
The Athletics are not a national sports brand like the Raiders, which can draw visitors to Las Vegas on game day from both SoCal and Northern California as well as markets around the U.S.
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, who supported the $750 million public subsidy to help build the Raiders stadium, has said there is no public money to help build an Athletics ballpark. But Sisolak, who sits next to Raiders/Aces owner Mark Davis at Aces home games in Las Vegas, is up for re-election this year.
So if Republican candidate Joe Lombardo defeats Sisolak in November, the politics of public ballpark financing may change.
