Elections In November Will Affect Athletics’ New Stadium Quest
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Stadiums and politics.
When teams are hungry for free public money to help build their palatial sports palaces, politics rule the day.
And in the case of the Oakland Athletics’ endless quest for a new ballyard, November’s Election Day is crucial for two pivotal political leaders in Oakland and Nevada.
In Oakland, Mayor Libby Schaaf, who supports the Athletics’ waterfront ballpark proposal for Howard Terminal, is term-limited out in November. Who will succeed Schaaf and will that person be for or against the ballpark deal in Oakland?
Meanwhile in Nevada, Gov. Steve Sisolak, who is seeking re-election, has said there is no public money for an Athletics ballpark in Las Vegas. So, even if the Athletics think Las Vegas is the answer for a new ballpark, there’s no stadium construction subsidy here in Nevada — until at least November, anyway. Sisolak faces Republican Joe Lombardo in November.
The A’s have the American League’s worst record at 41-67 and are averaging a sad 8,475 fans a game at the Coliseum in Oakland. On some nights, the Athletics’ Triple-A team in Las Vegas, the Aviators, draws a higher attendance than the parent club in the majors. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred recently said the Coliseum is not a “major league-quality” venue, while the A’s payroll is less than $50 million.
The Athletics actually drew a huge crowd to the Coliseum Saturday when fellow Bay-area San Francisco Giants defeated the A’s, 7-3, with announced attendance at more than 40,000 in Oakland.
On Saturday night in Las Vegas, fans at the Aviators’ Las Vegas Ballpark received a free giveaway at the gate — a kids lunch bag with school starting in the Clark County School District Monday.
It was a rough night for the Aviators Saturday. The Reno Aces, the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Triple-A affiliate, defeated the Las Vegas team 12-3. The Aviators announced attendance at 7,167. Las Vegas is 51-52 on the season after losing the first five games of this six-game series to Reno. The Sunday game between the Aviators and the Aces is 7PM.
