The Oakland Athletics are getting set to move from the Bay Area to Las Vegas, and their owner has finally broken his silence amid the very public backlash.
The A’s owner John Fisher gave an exclusive interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal released on Aug. 23 where he spoke about several topics surrounding the struggling MLB franchise, including the calls by fans for him to sell the team.
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“I have not considered selling the team,” Fisher said. “I’ve now owned the team with my partner Lew Wolff, it’s shocking really how the time flies, but since 2005. Our goal since then has been to find a new home and build a new home for our team.”
The Athletics have been one of the worst franchises in MLB, and in more ways than one. The team’s 36-91 record is by far the worst in the league, and its average of 10,468 fans per home game is over 3,000 fans fewer than the next closest team.
But many have pinned the blame on bad management and their unwillingness to invest in the franchise.
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Fisher also spoke more about the move to Las Vegas saying that more steps have been made to facilitate the move.
“We just recently submitted our relocation application,” Fisher said. “The commissioner has established a relocation committee that is going to review that, and it will then make its way to the other committees that will be reviewing it, and then to the full group of owners to vote on it.”
He didn’t give an exact timeline on the move, though reports have said that the team’s new building on the Las Vegas Strip is supposed to be ready by the 2028 season. The Athletics are expected to play in Oakland for the 2024 season, but it’s unclear where the team will be playing for the three years between the end of their lease in at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum and the projected opening date of their new stadium in the Sin City.
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