In an effort that will surely alienate fans in their would-be new home, the A’s are demanding to play up to eight home games away from Las Vegas.
Howard Stutz at The Nevada Independent
The Oakland Athletics are requesting to play up to eight home games a season away from the team’s future $1.5 billion Las Vegas ballpark, a move that could significantly undercut the financial projections presented last year when the team sought $380 million in public financing for the project.
Why?
A’s President David Kaval said the idea of holding eight games outside of Las Vegas was a way to build the team’s brand, promote the club and attract players and sponsors.
For their part, the Las Vegas Stadium Board is responding as you should —
[Steve] Hill, who is also the CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, suggested the team could reduce its requested number of games to ensure the bonding capacity needed to finance stadium construction is not threatened.
“If you eliminate 10 percent of the games that will be played at the stadium, chances are you’re going to eliminate about 10 percent of that bonding capacity,” Hill said in a Monday interview.
The A’s lease in Oakland will expire at the end of this season. They plan to be playing in Sacramento for the ’25, ’26 and ’27 seasons. The soonest they could make it to Vegas is 2028.