Posted on 11/16/2023 12:13:30 PM PST by DallasBiff
The Oakland Athletics are one step closer to leaving their hometown for the past 56 years and relocating to Las Vegas.
Per ESPN's Jeff Passan, MLB owners unanimously voted Thursday to approve the A's move amid season-long fan protests in Oakland and ongoing legal issues regarding the site of a new stadium in Vegas.
A's owner John Fisher spoke about the team's impending move to Las Vegas after the relocation vote went his way
(Excerpt) Read more at bleacherreport.com ...
Rep. Barbara Lee, who represents Oakland, may be going after the antitrust exemption. I wouldn’t be surprised if Oakland sues MLB. That’s how Tampa and Toronto got in; it’s how Seattle got back in.
There’s a group in Nevada called Schools Over Stadiums that is in court trying to stop the stadium project in Las Vegas. There’s also a petition drive to put it on the ballot, run by people opposed to the ballpark.
They’ll have an enclosed air conditioned stadium or they wouldn’t even consider the move.
Now all that’s left is an NBA team.
Good luck with all that.
CRIME OUT OF CONTROL will drive anyone away.
Vegas better step up & clean itself up.
If the stadiums are around the main tourist areas, they’re pretty safe.
Viva Las Vegas!
I think Nashville is a prime location for an expansion team.
SF have owned the rights to the South Bay (San Jose) since 1990.
“Another empty stadium for the homeless?”
Well... Newsome now has another place to stash the bums and addicts when Xi comes back... with restrooms even! Not that they’ll get much use.
A number of cities have been mentioned for expansion teams. Nashville is often mentioned. So are Montreal, Charlotte, Austin , San Antonio, Salt Lake City, and even longshots such as Mexico City, Vancouver, and Portland. Perhaps now Oakland will be added to the list.
Rob Manfred has said they would like to add two teams, once the stadium situations for the Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays are settled. Adding 2 teams would get major league baseball to 32 teams, which is supposed to be much easier to deal with, as far as scheduling is concerned.
Interesting year over year between Balt and Wash
Year-over-Year Attendance
Rk Tm 2022 G 2022 Attendance 2022 Attend/G 2023 G 2023 Att 2023 Attend/G YoY Diff
▼ YoY Diff/G
3 BAL 81 1,368,367 16,893 81 1,936,798 23,911 568,431 7,018
29 WSN 81 2,026,401 25,017 81 1,865,832 23,035 -160,569 -1,982
Key takeaway, Balt attendance up 568,431; Wash attendance down 160,569.
Even with Baltimore’s stellar season, Balt was the 21st worst attendance and Washington 22nd.
Oriole Park at Camden Yards
Capacity (2022–present) 44,970
2023 Avg Attendance 23911
Percent of Capacity 53%
Nationals Park
Capacity (2017–present) 41,339
2023 Avg Attendance 23035
Percent of Capacity 55%
Fenway Park
Capacity (2022–present) 37755
2023 Avg Attendance 32989
Percent of Capacity 87%
Even with our monumentally bad season, more people went to Fenway than either Camden Yards or Nationals Park. Even less people went to Minutemaid Park in Tampa Bay (1,440,301) and they almost went to the World Series.
No problem if the stadium isn’t ready until 2027. The A’s can just play all away games until them (for a share of the ticket receipts).
ROFL...!
The announcer says, “He’s got two balls on him...and here comes the high, hard one!”
Philadelphia, Kansas City, Oakland, and next, Las Vegas.
Oakland hellhole loses another team. You’d think the people there would wise up.
The Texas Rangers played all thier games at night before they built thier new Dome Ballpark.
Sad for Oakland. But it’s a business after all and how could the As pass up the money and a new virgin market?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.