Oakland A's headed to Las Vegas

Merits its own thread.

Change their name to Vagabonds, Gypsies or Carpetbaggers. I do like Bubbler's idea of going back to the traditional A's colors of blue and white, and the historical "A" cap (not "A's").

Despite one's feelings about spending public money on stadiums, the elected officials in Vegas have decided they want to be a player on the pro sports scene, and have stepped up to fund the necessary infrastructure. If people are unhappy, they can vote them out.

Residents of Contra Costa County now have no reason to spend any money in Oakland.

 

The amazing thing to me is that all of these Vegas facilities are right next to the Strip.
If you had told me "Vegas" would build three new pro venues in a decade's time, I'd have assumed you meant Henderson. Or at least downtown or somewhere other than the busiest part of town.
Where did they find the land?

 

They’re not next to the Strip. They’re across I-15 from the Strip. Not really walkable to get there from the Strip … yet.

 

Pretty much everything where the stadiums are now and will be with the A's was undeveloped. What little bit was there could be bought or taken, I guess through emminent domain (if Nevada does that). I can't remember anything significant where the Raiders or hockey stadiums are now. I'm sure they'll put in a skybridge over the interstate or something like that to facilitate access to the stadium(s).

IMO no one in Vegas would go to Henderson to watch pro sports. They wanted them downtown around the action and tourists.

It's amazing to see how much LV has developed in 30 years. First time I went out, there was nothing of significance south or east of the airport. It was just starting to expand a bit, and also north.

 

Do they have the population to support three, and soon to be four, professional teams? I mean, I know people will go from out of town to Vegas to see their teams play, but eventually the novelty of that will wear off and there won’t be anybody left to go to the games. Nobody in Vegas is actually from there and even if they were there aren’t that many of them and the growth has sputtered.

 

I learned something odd today. Much of the Strip isn't in Las Vegas proper.
Paradise contains Harry Reid International Airport, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), most of the Las Vegas Strip, and most of the tourist attractions in the Las Vegas area (excluding downtown).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise,_Nevada

At any rate, it looks like the Raiders stadium is about one-third of a mile from Mandalay Bay as the crow flies. But as you said, it's not a walkable 0.36 miles.

 

Joe Sheehan says this move is, in poker terms, a semi-bluff on the turn. And, " If the A’s do end up in Las Vegas, that’s a loss, not a win, for everyone but John Fisher."

 

Was at an event at the Rio in 2019 and I had a view of the Vegas Strip from my window. "Hell, that doesn't look that far away. I'll walk it."
An hour later I had finally made it to Ceasar's Palace.

 

Somewhere, Mo Greene is smiling.

 

This didn't age well. It barely aged at all. David Samson on a podcast that dropped yesterday.

On the future of the Oakland A’s and Tampa Bay Rays: “I don’t think the A’s are going to move to Vegas. I don’t think Tampa is going to move anywhere. MLB wants to keep as many cities available as possible for expansion because make no mistake, MLB is going to 32 teams. … [and MLB wants to] keep as many cities as possible bidding for expansion franchises. You don’t want to waste the money on or waste the city on moving an existing team. So I think deals will get done in Oakland and Tampa.”

 

Knowing the AL's history with expansion (Senators, Pilots, Rays), the next time it happens they'll put a team back in Oakland.