Nevada lawmakers on Tuesday granted the A’s a crucial win in their dreams of a state-of-the-art, $1.5 billion Las Vegas ballpark, part of a whirlwind day for Oakland’s last major sports franchise.
The Nevada state Senate voted 13-8 to approve up to $380 million in public money for a stadium on the Vegas strip, setting up a vote in the Assembly that could seal the deal after the team at the 11th hour promised to provide new community benefits.
If approved by the Legislature, the bill is widely expected to be signed by Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo.
Back home, the East Bay’s most prominent lawmaker went on the offensive Tuesday, announcing new federal legislation — the “Moneyball Act” — that would force the A’s to compensate Oakland if the team does skip town.
And at the Coliseum, thousands of fans who have been following the never-ending stadium drama were gearing up to pack Tuesday’s home game for a cathartic release of anger toward billionaire team owner John Fisher.
In all, it was a climactic afternoon for the worst team in Major League Baseball, despite being on a six-game win streak since last week.
But the A’s nonetheless emerged victorious where perhaps it matters most: They now are just one step away from securing taxpayer money for some construction costs of the proposed ballpark.
The majority-Democratic Nevada Senate first met to consider the Athletics’ proposal nearly a week ago but spent several days in recess while the A’s appeared to be working on flipping votes.
The updated legislation contains key amendments that won over some initially skeptical senators. Surplus revenues from the eventual tax district around the ballpark now will go toward a $5 million homelessness prevention fund, while the bill’s language will require large companies to fund paid family leave for their workers.
These amendments originally were separate bills that Gov. Lombardo vetoed during the Legislature’s regular session, but the A’s agreed to bake the revived language into the ballpark proposal.
“I believe there are provisions in this legislation that actually deliver for the people of this state,” said Sen. Fabian Doñate, a Democrat who notably had grilled A’s President Dave Kaval with tough questions at a session last week.
By the end, the long list of community benefits appeared to be turning off a Republican senator who initially had backed the deal, while another, Sen. Ira Hansen, likened the project to “socialism” and criticized members of his party for agreeing to subsidize a private enterprise.
“Why are we now deciding that the government should replace the free market?” Hansen said at Tuesday’s session. “These baseball teams for the last 50 years have been doing this to communities across the nation. At some point, when are we going to break this cycle?”
The bill has now reached the Nevada Assembly, which on Tuesday afternoon held an informational session with team-hired financial analyst, Jeremy Aguero, about the project’s details, and then heard public comments. The Assembly adjourned until 11 a.m. on Wednesday, when they will likely begin their voting process.
The bill’s full passage would make the A’s planned departure from Oakland likelier than ever. But the team’s relocation still requires approval from three quarters of the other MLB owners, who were not expected to take any such vote this week at the quarterly owners meeting in New York, according to USA Today. Fisher and Kaval, the team’s top brass, were reportedly in New York on Tuesday as events unfolded in Nevada.
Among the A’s allies in their quest to move is Major League Baseball, whose commissioner, Rob Manfred, has said he would waive the team’s relocation fee if it went to Las Vegas.
The MLB’s bargaining agreement also holds the A’s responsible for securing a full stadium deal in order for the team to continue receiving millions yearly through the league’s revenue-sharing model.
The ordeal has drawn the ire of Rep. Barbara Lee, who on Tuesday announced the “Moneyball Act” that would target the team’s pocketbooks over anti-trust laws, which Lee — and fellow East Bay Rep. Mark DeSaulnier — argue were violated when Manfred actively incentivized the team to leave.
“This legislation will ensure that no city and community is left behind when billionaires decide that lining their own pockets is more important than the community that supports them,” Lee said in a statement.
Tuesday’s events in Nevada promised to add even more fuel to the long-anticipated fan demonstration that evening at the Coliseum, where fans had already begun tailgating hours before the game in the stadium’s vast parking lot.
Among the attractions were sales of T-shirts urging Fisher to sell the team. In one area, fans were enjoying a game of cornhole — played on wooden boards painted with images of the owner’s face.
“I wish I could be there, but I know the East Bay will be loud and proud tonight showing support for our Oakland A’s,” Lee said of the reverse boycott in a video tweet.
