Las Vegas Mayor: Athletics Should Find Way to Stay in Oakland amid Relocation Push

Scott Polacek@@ScottPolacekFeatured Columnist IVFebruary 6, 2024

John Fisher/Getty Images

The Oakland Athletics may end up moving to Las Vegas, but the mayor of their potential new home believes they should try to stay put.

“I personally—I’m not talking about anybody else or anywhere else in this community—I personally think they’ve got to figure out a way to stay in Oakland to make their dream come true,” Las Vegas mayor Carolyn Goodman told Front Office Sports:

B/R Walk-Off @BRWalkoffCarolyn Goodman, the Mayor of Las Vegas, thinks the A’s should figure out a way to stay in Oakland 😳

(via @FOS)pic.twitter.com/erAJCh4iWz

Goodman released a statement after her comments were publicized and further explained her position:

Carolyn G. Goodman @mayoroflasvegasStatement on today’s conversation about the Oakland A’s. pic.twitter.com/3dOXfFuq3d

In November, Major League Baseball announced its club owners approved the franchise’s relocation from Oakland to Las Vegas. The announcement explained the plan was to open a new stadium on the site of the Tropicana hotel in Las Vegas by the 2028 season.

It also explained the Athletics would work with the league to decide the next steps after playing the 2024 campaign at the Oakland Coliseum.

Last month, Rio Yamat of the Associated Press reported the Tropicana is set to close on April 2 to prepare for its demolition.

Yet there has been pushback to the overall Las Vegas plan.

Evan Drellich of The Athletic reported Monday a political action committee representing a teachers union in Nevada filed a lawsuit against the state, Gov. Joe Lombardo and state treasurer Zach Conine that challenged the grounds of the $380 million in public money that was allocated to the stadium in a bill.

It is the second such effort, although the first was a ballot initiative that attempted to bring the funding bill to a public vote that was defeated in court in November. There is a pending appeal.

The latest lawsuit argues the SB1 bill violates the Nevada state constitution because it didn’t set the threshold for approval at two-thirds of the Nevada Assembly and Senate majorities.

Goodman’s comments are the latest development as the back-and-forth continues regarding the home of the Athletics.

The franchise started as the Philadelphia Athletics from 1901 through 1954 and then became the Kansas City Athletics from 1955 through 1967. It has been located in Oakland since the 1968 season but could be headed to its fourth different city with this potential move.