AP Photo/Matt York
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday that league owners could approve the Oakland Athletics’ prospective move to Las Vegas as early as their June 13-15 meetings.
“It’s possible that a relocation vote could happen as early as June,” Manfred said, per Steve Megargee of the Associated Press.
“It’s very difficult to have a timeline for Oakland until there’s actually a deal to be considered. There is a relocation process internally they need to go through, and we haven’t even started that process.”
The A’s and the state of Nevada agreed upon a public-financing package en route to the team building a $1.5 billion partially retractable-roof stadium seating 30,000 on the Tropicana Casino site, per Tabitha Mueller and Howard Stutz of the Nevada Independent.
However, the Nevada state legislature must now approve the deal, and the same goes for the Federal Aviation Administration because of the stadium’s proximity to Harry Reid International Airport.
On the league side, MLB’s relocation committee has to clear the agreement by Jan. 1. The move already has the blessing of Manfred, who told Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal in April that MLB approves “the A’s turning their focus on Las Vegas and look forward to them bringing finality to this process by the end of the year.”
Per Akers, the A’s are looking for $395 million in public funding after previously looking for a half billion. A’s owner John Fisher has pledged to commit more than $1 billion toward the stadium.
The A’s are looking to move to Las Vegas in time for the 2027 season.
In the meantime, Oakland is floundering on the field. The team with the league’s lowest payroll ($56.9 million as of April 17, per Scott Boeck of USA Today) has gone 10-41, or five games worse than the next-closest team to them in the league (the 15-36 Kansas City Royals). Understandably, Oakland is also last in attendance (8,695 fans per game).