Oakland A's to play in Sacramento for a few years while Las Vegas stadium is built

LadyStanley

Registered User
Sep 22, 2004
110,796
23,200
Sin City
Live blog above. Here's one laymaker:
Democratic Sen. Rochell Nguyen :

“I just want to get this correct. You've all called us in here for a special session and are asking, minimally, for the state to give you all $36 million per year for the next five years for a taxpayer-funded stadium at the same time that the governor has vetoed funding for summer school, a bill to support children's mental health, a bill requiring paid family leave, all because the governor said we couldn't afford them.

“Can you explain to me why we need to provide hundreds of millions of dollars for a billionaire team to come to the Las Vegas Strip on some of the most valuable property in the world if we can't provide funding for critical resources like summer school and health care.

“And to follow up on that, I guess my specific question is can you explain to me why this is such a good deal that we should agree that no taxes generated on the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana should go to these critical state and local services for the next 30 years?”

The numbers they are using for usage is 32k (or essentially a nearly full stadium) for all 81 home games. Just seems unrealistic for summer day games (when the locals have to work).
 
  • Like
Reactions: Roadrage

GKJ

Global Moderator
Feb 27, 2002
193,015
43,511
I've been following the clips, this sounds like, to me, not knowing all of history, to be one of the more hilariously awful proposals in sports business history.



It's painfully transparent that after Vegas became so enamored with the spectacle of pro sports that the Golden Knights and Raiders brought, the A's expected the same and are not getting it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tom ServoMST3K

PCSPounder

Stadium Groupie
Apr 12, 2012
2,972
631
The Outskirts of Nutria Nanny
I feel like there’s been worse proposals… on their face. The real problem, when you look at John Fisher’s portfolio, is whether one thinks there will be an “oops, I need more public dough to finish the project” moment. Fisher is a trust fund baby and Dave Kaval is not an above-board guy, so they’re anything but trustworthy.

By the way… the legislature adjourned. Until Monday. Clearly the votes aren’t there at present, though there have been reports all afternoon of bargaining. Not doomed, but certainly there are issues.

By the way, my favorite part of yesterday’s hearing was when then-17-day-old Cole Cannizzaro registered 3 or 4 loud distressed opinions before his mom- the Senate Majority Leader chairing the hearing- looked down and said “yeah, me too!” Then declared recess.
 
Last edited:

KevFu

Registered User
May 22, 2009
9,414
3,599
Phoenix from Rochester via New Orleans
As a proud Philadelphian, I'll bite my tongue on the "always a Bay Area team" bit, but yeah, them moving to San Francisco isn't the same thing as the other moves. It's still a move, though.

I'm gonna guess you're not old enough to remember the Philadelphia Warriors...

But I get it. I was in the Sacramento Kings arena and took a picture of the Rochester Royals 1953 NBA Champions banner.

Haven't had a Big Five team since 1980 and we still have three Big Five Sports Championships. Suck it, Buffalo, Phoenix, Salt Lake, Syracuse, Columbus and San Diego!
 

KevFu

Registered User
May 22, 2009
9,414
3,599
Phoenix from Rochester via New Orleans
There was a really good article I saw on how the A's are totally botching this because they're not using The Team of Arena Getters that exist and most sports leagues use all the time.

Basically, the A's need to give the city something... not a big thing, just something that the politicians can USE to justify their vote giving away hundreds of millions to a billionaire.

The author suggested a tiny tax, like 0.1%, on their tickets going back to the state for 10 years. Which allows the politicians to say they played hardball, and it's not a gift, it's a loan; and something the Raiders and Knights didn't give up.

The politicians need something to hang their hat on to call giving away hundreds of a millions "winning the fight against greedy owners"
 

ponder719

M-M-M-Matvei and the Jett
Jul 2, 2013
7,769
10,758
Philadelphia, PA

Big Z Man 1990

Registered User
Jun 4, 2011
2,710
412
Don't say anything at all
The City of Oakland needs to petition MLB to include a right for MLB to return to Oakland with no territorial rights owed to the Giants as part of the relocation agreement.

They need the "Cleveland Browns Deal."
In which case the baseball team can either call itself the Martians and have a sci-fi theme or the Bonanza and a Western theme. Whatever name is not taken goes to the NBA team. This provided that the Athletics history remains in Oakland.
 

oknazevad

Registered User
Dec 12, 2018
508
360
Considering the A's have already moved twice, and most of their history already belongs to other cities already (the franchise has not played a majority of their seasons in Oakland; this is their 56th season in Oakland, but the team's 123 season overall), they don't qualify for the Cleveland Browns treatment.

And no one is going to want to replace them anyway. If a second team wants to go to the Bay Area, they'd want to be in San Jose. Not Oakland. Period. Keeping the East Bay as a separate territorial right does nothing to get a second team back in the Bay Area.
 

RayMartyniukTotems

Registered User
Jul 8, 2022
6,601
2,625
First Oakland loses the Golden Seals,then Raiders(twice) and now the A's! The last one out turn out the lights...maybe the city of Oakland can build a new Arena for hockey and attract a NHL Expansion team
 

PCSPounder

Stadium Groupie
Apr 12, 2012
2,972
631
The Outskirts of Nutria Nanny

YAK!

Noticed that the overnight ratings for the VGK clincher last night were down 49% from last year. I know some of that is probably network vs sort-of-network. Yet I have to think that the Vegas market can only carry so much for media. That’s so unfortunate for the Golden Knights, which have so many facets contributing to a compelling narrative, they deserve more. That works for the NHL. For baseball, this market and plan isn’t right.
 

Albatros

Registered User
Aug 19, 2017
13,766
9,084
Ostsee
Both. Vegas will give him much more for a stadium and the team will likely be more profitable
I know the Bay Area is the fastest shrinking metropolitan area in the US in terms of population, but it's still a whole lot bigger than Vegas. With two other major sports leagues in town already, are there really enough fans and visitors for 81 home games to beat what they could potentially have in Oakland with a new stadium?
 

Voight

#winning
Feb 8, 2012
42,086
18,620
Mulberry Street
I've been following the clips, this sounds like, to me, not knowing all of history, to be one of the more hilariously awful proposals in sports business history.



It's painfully transparent that after Vegas became so enamored with the spectacle of pro sports that the Golden Knights and Raiders brought, the A's expected the same and are not getting it.


Taxpayers are probably tapped out mentally after forking over huge sums for the Death Star.

An enclosed NFL style stadium is also a big moneymaker outside of football vs a ballpark which is limited in what they can host/do. No WrestleManias, Final Fours, Boxing Fights etc.
 

BKIslandersFan

F*** off
Sep 29, 2017
11,880
5,377
Brooklyn
Taxpayers are probably tapped out mentally after forking over huge sums for the Death Star.

An enclosed NFL style stadium is also a big moneymaker outside of football vs a ballpark which is limited in what they can host/do. No WrestleManias, Final Fours, Boxing Fights etc.
Well on the other hand its guranteed 81 game days. Wonder how many events Allegiant host in a year.
 

BigBadBruins7708

Registered User
Dec 11, 2017
14,566
19,985
Las Vegas
Well on the other hand its guranteed 81 game days. Wonder how many events Allegiant host in a year.

FWIW Allegiant had the highest "non resident" ticket revenue in the world in 2022 at $182m over 24 events.

Non resident revenue is events that aren't the resident team, so excluding The Raiders.

There will always be a need for more venues in town. It helps the As as well on non sport events that their stadium is free during football season.

 

Ad

Ad

Ad