Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred is confident the Oakland Athletics will be playing in Las Vegas starting in 2028.
"The reality of the situation is that whenever you’re leaving a market where you’ve been for decades and you’re going to make a move to a different city where there’s not a stadium, that’s a really difficult undertaking, and it’s not going to be seamless, smooth," Manfred said Thursday. “There’s going to be bumps along the road.”
The team reached an agreement with Bally’s and Gaming & Leisure Properties to build a stadium on the Tropicana hotel site along the Las Vegas Strip, and the Nevada Legislature approved $380 million in public financing last June for a $1.5 billion stadium that the team wants completed for the 2028 season. MLB owners unanimously approved the move in November.
No ballpark renderings have been released, and there has been speculation a 9-acre site might not be sufficient.
“I am confident that the deal in Las Vegas is solid and that the A's will build a stadium in Las Vegas and play there in 2028,” Manfred said. “We believe the parcel is adequate for a major league ballpark. I think the delay in the renderings is due to the discussions between Bally’s and the A’s as to how the ballpark and what else is going to happen there is going to be most efficiently designed to make it the best possible experience for fans.”
The team’s lease at the Oakland Coliseum extends through the 2024 season. It’s unclear whether the A’s will play 2025 home games in Oakland, Sacramento, San Francisco or a minor league stadium in Las Vegas. The A's met with the City of Oakland on Thursday about extending the club’s lease beyond this season.
"I believe it is important to work collaboratively for the good of our public, and that includes the workers, the fans and the taxpayers,” Oakland Vice Mayor and Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan told the Associated Press.
Manfred said the 2025 venue is a complicated decision.
“There’s conflicting considerations that kind of point you at one direction or point you to another direction. So it’s not an easy choice as to where it'll be, but I do think they have been thorough in terms of exploring their alternatives," Manfred said. “The schedule gets finalized July-ish. We need to know before that exactly where they’re going to be, because it will impact travel issues, whatever, if they’re not in Oakland.”