The Oakland Athletics agreed to buy a 49-acre site just off the Las Vegas Strip and hope to relocate to Nevada, team president Dave Kaval told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Wednesday.
The club plans to build a new ballpark on the site at Dean Martin Drive and Tropicana Avenue, just west of the New York-New York and Excalibur casinos.
The Athletics have spent years exploring paths to a new stadium in Oakland, but are still playing before sparse crowds at the 57-year-old Oakland Coliseum.
The purchase agreement in Las Vegas was made with Red Rock Resorts, which runs Station Casinos.
¡°For a while we were on parallel paths (with Oakland), but we have turned our attention to Las Vegas to get a deal here for the A¡¯s and find a long-term home,¡± Kaval told the newspaper. ¡°Oakland has been a great home for us for over 50 years, but we really need this 20-year saga completed and we feel there¡¯s a path here in Southern Nevada to do that.¡±
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement to the Review-Journal, ¡°We support the A¡¯s turning their focus on Las Vegas and look forward to them bringing finality to this process by the end of the year.¡±
Kaval told the newspaper that the team plans to build a $1.5 billion, 35,000-seat venue with a partially retractable roof.
¡°It¡¯s really exciting to have a site,¡± Kaval said. ¡°We¡¯ve spent almost two years doing our due diligence, working with community leaders, elected officials and everyone in town to really determine a location that could be a win for the A¡¯s as well as the community and public officials.¡±
The new ballpark would be near Las Vegas¡¯ other major league venues: Allegiant Stadium, home of the NFL¡¯s Las Vegas Raiders (who also fled Oakland for Nevada); and T-Mobile Arena, home of the NHL¡¯s Vegas Golden Knights.
The A¡¯s rank last in average attendance among major league teams this year, drawing around 11,000 fans per game. Oakland also has the worst record in the majors at 3-16, and the team¡¯s Opening Day payroll of $56,895,000 was the lowest in the majors, according to USA Today.
Oakland¡¯s Triple-A affiliate has played in Las Vegas since 2019.
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