![]() “If the team’s current owners are dead set on playing in Las Vegas, let them sell the team and petition Major League Baseball to grant them an expansion franchise on the Strip,” Thao wrote in the Journal. ![]() Thao also noted how the city went to bat for the A’s financial needs, shoring up hundreds of millions in grant dollars for offsite infrastructure upgrades to support a stadium at the city’s waterfront. In between then and now, a Wall Street Journal op-ed written by Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao laid out the case for the team staying in town: The city, she argued, still offers a major media presence while Las Vegas has other major entertainment options that the team would compete with. “The small business community is basically being used to subsidize a form of corporate welfare for some exceptionally big people that honestly should be able to finance their own projects without the need of the Nevada taxpayers,” said Republican Sen. Nevada governor signs bill paving way for Oakland A’s ballpark in Las Vegas It’s unclear what, if anything, has gone on behind the scenes amid the Senate’s long recess, but the delay might not be unwelcome for the A’s. ![]() ![]() If the state Senate decides to subsidize construction costs for the $1.5 billion ballpark, it could be a death knell for Oakland’s foothold in the national sports conversation.īut if the team’s ambitious proposal is shot down, the large fan event at Tuesday’s home game might resemble something closer to a parade than a protest.Īs Monday crept into the late afternoon hours, there was no word from the state Senate, which last week punted on formal deliberations after hours of grilling the A’s for details and hearing numerous public comments. On the eve of a planned “reverse boycott” by fans to pack the Coliseum and show the world that Oakland has enough local support for a baseball team, the timing - and slow-walking - of the decision in Nevada bears significant weight. The future of the Oakland A’s is in the hands of Nevada lawmakers who still haven’t decided on the team’s request for $380 million in public money for a new ballpark nearly a week after the state’s governor called a special hearing. ![]()
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