The Oakland A’s publicly stated their intentions to move to Las Vegas more than a month ago, and it seems that they are finally making progress on that relocation this week.
The Nevada Independent reported Tuesday that the A’s and Nevada state officials have reached “a loose agreement” to publicly finance the team’s new stadium in Las Vegas.
The A’s will reportedly request less than the $395 million in public financing the team said it needed when it agreed to a term sheet to build a stadium on the site of the Tropicana casino.
The team’s two-part money ask of the state of Nevada will reportedly be less than $195 million in transferable tax credits — the amount that the state legislature set as a maximum last week — while the request of $200 million in bonds from Clark County will also be reduced, too.
The team has not responded Tuesday to a request for comment on the matter.
Previous reporting from the Independent indicated that Nevada state lawmakers were considering $150-195 million in tax credits.
The planned nine-acre, 30,000-seat ballpark on the site of the Tropicana is estimated to cost $1.5 billion. Last week, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that A’s owner John Fisher is set to contribute more than $1 billion to the ballpark’s construction.
“John Fisher has made an unprecedented commitment of personal resources to get the A’s in a major league facility and to make the team more competitive,” Manfred said.
Still, more than a quarter of the building’s financing would come from public taxpayer money, either via the state of Nevada or from Clark County.
The A’s initially stated their intention to move to Las Vegas on April 20, when they announced they were acquiring 49 acres of land from Red Rock Resorts in Las Vegas for a stadium and entertainment district.
The team quickly abandoned those plans, leading to last week’s announcement with Tropicana hotel owner Bally’s Corp and real estate investment trust Gaming and Leisure Properties (GLPI).
While the team has publicly said its attention is focused on Las Vegas, hope isn’t fully lost back in Oakland. Oakland mayor Sheng Thao recently told ABC 7 that the city and the team are “very close” to a deal, if the A’s were willing to re-engage with the city.
“Howard Terminal, it’s already entitled. And so I want the A’s to stay here,” Thao said. “If the owners called us back and say, ‘Let’s get back to the table,’ we are very close to a deal. If someone wants to buy the A’s and that happens, we are very close to a deal.
Obviously, we would be able to break ground as soon as possible in regards to the process after having that deal, whatever that looks like.”
Thao added that the building may only need two years, and she would want to “expedite” the process.
“It would be great for the city, it will be great for not just the fan base but for our economic potential as well,” Thao said.
Still, it does seem increasingly likely that the deal in Oakland will never come to fruition — and the A’s may be heading to Las Vegas in the near future.
