The Oakland A’s are on the verge of going to Las Vegas

The Oakland Athletics have signed a binding agreement to buy land in Las Vegas to build a new ballpark, signaling a move away from Oakland after more than five decades in the city.

Team officials announced this week that they have finalized a deal to purchase a 49-acre site west of the Las Vegas Strip and hope to play there in 2027. “We realize this is a difficult day for our Oakland fans and community,” the team said in a statement.

The A’s hope to break ground on a new stadium with a seating capacity of 30,000 to 35,000 next year, team president Dave Cavell told The Associated Press.

If the move goes ahead as planned, the A’s will become only the second Major League Baseball franchise to move cities in more than 50 years.

In a statement, the team said they had made a “strong and sincere” effort to remain in Oakland, where they have played since 1968.

The team has played in its current stadium, the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, throughout its tenure in the city. The Coliseum is one of the oldest stadiums in the major leagues, and the A’s owners had long been looking for a new park.

“With the support of fans, leaders at the city, county and state levels, and even throughout the broader community, the process of building a new ballpark in Oakland has made some progress for some time,” the team said. “We know this is very difficult to hear. We are disappointed that we have been unable to achieve our shared vision of a waterfront ballpark.”

Negotiations recently focused on a waterfront site near downtown Oakland. Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao announced Wednesday night that the city had ended negotiations with the team, adding that he was “deeply disappointed” by the team’s decision.

“The City has gone above and beyond in our efforts to reach mutually beneficial terms to keep it in Oakland,” she said in a statement. “However, it is clear to me that the A’s have no intention of staying in Oakland and are using this process to get a better deal out of Las Vegas. I have no interest in continuing to play that game – the fans and our residents deserve better. is.”

The A’s were a powerhouse when they first moved to Oakland, bringing home three straight World Series titles from 1972 to 1974, then fourth in 1989 behind the home-run-slugging “Bash Brothers,” Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco.

The team’s current owner, John Fisher, acquired a majority stake in the team in 2005 and became its sole owner in 2016. In the Fisher era, the A’s shed payroll and traded stars. The team appeared in the postseason seven times but advanced past the divisional round only once.

After a disappointing 2022 season, in which the A’s lost 102 games, the team’s 2023 season is off to a particularly bleak start: the team’s total payroll is just $58 million, the lowest in the league, and at 3-16, the A’s record is the worst. . in baseball.

The team’s move would mark the third major professional sports team to depart Oakland in recent years, leaving the city with none. In 2019, the Golden State Warriors, who had played in Oakland Arena since 1971, moved across the bay to a new arena in San Francisco. The following year, the Raiders, Oakland’s longtime NFL team, left for Las Vegas.

Las Vegas is one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the U.S. Its population has tripled since 1990. The A’s will be its third major professional sports team, joining the Raiders and the NHL’s Golden Knights, who were added as expansion teams in 2017. .