A’s Relocation Efforts Continue to be Subpar
The Oakland Athletics keep failing at every step of the way throughout their relocation efforts, yet they are still expected to be approved for relocation to Las Vegas later this week when MLB’s owners take a vote.
The latest failure at making this seem like a legitimate process has already come and gone. With the relocation vote looming some time between Tuesday and Thursday, time is of the essence for the A’s to make one last pitch. During the summer, it was revealed that the A’s would be announcing their design team for the Vegas project in November. We have also yet to see any new renderings since the team said to wad up the initial renderings and throw them in the trash. We still don’t know what the ballpark will look like, and the owners are expected to have a legitimate vote in just a few days.
Nearly two months ago, I predicted that the A’s would announce the design team and rendering as close to the owner’s meetings as possible, throwing out Friday, November 10 for the design team, and Monday, November 13 for the renderings.
Well, Friday has passed and there was no announcement on either front. If the votes are already locked in, they could also be waiting until after the formal approval to make those announcements, and then release new renderings of the project in an effort to buy some extra headlines. It would make sense to do all of this before the vote to garner some positive marketing for a ballpark that nobody seems to want. But that’s not how the A’s operate.
Throughout this entire process they have just snuck in under deadline after deadline in order to put pressure on anyone to tell them no. So far, it’s worked. The owner’s vote is expected to be no different, regardless of a number of key details that are missing from the A’s relocation proposal.
This entire process has been rushed just so that the A’s can stay on revenue sharing with the January 2024 deadline looming, and so that the other owners can finally cash in on the league’s expansion, which is on hold until the A’s and Tampa Bay Rays figure out their ballpark situations.
Of course they’d ram it through. There’s going to be at least $4 billion in expansion fees to divvy up between 30 owners. That’s a good chunk of change.
A’s fans and Oakland’s Mayor Sheng Thao are still attempting to persuade enough owners by sending out a number of items in an Oakland care package last week. There was also a press conference/rally to get Oakland’s leaders and fans together last week, and one thing that stood out was that the Mayor mentioned Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob by name, and alluded to him one other time, saying that there was an owner across the Bay that we all know is interested in buying the baseball franchise.
The A’s have been quiet for weeks now. Perhaps they’re waiting for the vote to make some expected, splashy announcements. Maybe they’re just delaying, which has been the norm throughout this process and plan to release the new designs on Monday. But some A’s fans are hoping that there is something else afoot. Joe Lacob was very careful in talking to the media about potentially buying the A’s a month ago, trying not to step on any toes. Yet the Mayor mentioned him by name as a potential owner just last week.
Is that a negotiation tactic if things fall apart in Las Vegas? It’s hard to believe that Thao did this without Lacob’s blessing.
Even if things play out as they’re expected to this week, with at least 75% of the owners voting yes on relocation, that isn’t the final nail for baseball in Oakland. It obviously wouldn’t be a step in the right direction, but if the group pushing the referendum in Nevada, Schools Over Stadiums starts to gather steam (and signatures) then the money that was approved for the A’s in Las Vegas could just simply vanish. It would be up to the people of Nevada next November.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred even mentioned that he’s keeping an eye on them before the World Series, saying, “If there was an adverse development with respect to that referendum, that would be a significant development.”
There have been so many twists and turns through this entire ballpark search that it feels like we’re in store for a least a couple more surprises. When they’ll come and what they’ll be could determine the fate of the A’s in Oakland.
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