Famous Face of the Vegas Strip to be Replaced

The news comes as part of protracted negotiations around the development of a new ballpark in Nevada. California’s Oakland Athletics have been looking for a new home since 2021 and had landed on a move to Vegas. Joining the Las Vegas Golden Knights and the Raiders was seen as a beneficial move for the franchise. In April of 2023, the franchise had arranged what was described as a binding agreement with Red Rock Resorts worth $1.5 billion for the new stadium. The exact cost of the land was not disclosed. This would have secured 49 acres just off the Las Vegas Strip. Now, though, it looks like that agreement has been broken and that they will instead take over the land currently occupied by the Tropicana.

Home is Where the Fans Are: Why Are the A’s Looking to Move?

Franchises come and franchises go. However, it still always feels a little unusual to see a team pick up and move across the country. And these decisions are very rarely taken lightly and are either driven by necessity or revenues. The decision for the A’s to leave Oakland is one driven by a necessity of sorts. But a necessity that seems to be somewhat manufactured by its ownership. The franchise’s lease on the Colosseum in Oakland is up in 2024. As such, something needed to be done for a home to be secured.

In recent years, the MLB side had struggled to get feet through the turnstiles, though. This was largely down to a long period of suffering for A’s fanatics, given that the roster had been stripped and the finances wound down by ownership. Because of this perceived apathy, it was determined by the hierarchy within the organization that relocation would be best. If fans aren’t turning up, what’s the point in staying?

It doesn’t concern those higher up that they may be part of the reason behind the lack of interest. However, there have been prominent figures fighting for the A’s to stay in Oakland. They include the mayor. Sheng Thao is quoted as saying, “The city of Oakland has for years worked to keep the A’s rooted here”. He added that it seemed that the franchise had leveraged the city’s enthusiasm to retain its MLB side as a way to broker a better deal with Vegas officials. He said, “they had no interest in reaching a deal with Oakland at all”. It appears that the ownership at the A’s always wanted to move the side and had no interest in retaining its loyal base in California.

Instead, it’s clear that the money lies in Nevada. And for a team that hasn’t claimed a World Series title in over 30 years, a hard reset was a better route to success on and off the field.

 

Las Vegas, a Blossoming Sporting City 

With the addition of an MLB franchise to the Las Vegas scene, it’s clear to see that Nevada is becoming a hotbed of Major League sports. As mentioned previously, the city is already home to NHL and NFL sides. As such, it’s perhaps a bit of a no-brainer to set up shop in Sin City. Given that baseball was the only sport lacking major professional representation in the Valley, there was a market to tap into. The city welcomed nearly 40 million visitors in 2022, and that represents a healthy churning population that the franchise can look to attract to a ballpark at the center of the city’s nightlife. 

With all that said and done, it will prove to be a sad situation for two groups of people. They are the Oakland-based fans of the A’s and those who have enjoyed the Tropicana and its iconic presence on the Strip. Two institutions will be missing from their respective homes, should these plans progress. However, from this grows a new opportunity for the city. Vegas could realistically become one of the new sporting Meccas in the United States. Should that happen, the A’s could bring home their first World Series in the best part of 40 years.