Oakland Athletics to Las Vegas

[owbc]

Sounds like the A's will initially play in a minor league stadium, possibly as soon as 2024, with an MLB stadium opening in 2027. A sad day for Oakland A's fans. 

https://www.8newsnow.com/sports/local-sports/las-vegas-as/as-have-agreement-to-play-at-las-vegas-ballpark/?utm_source=klas_app&utm_medium=social&utm_content=share-link

 

[Frisbee Slider]

Oakland wins the trade?

[YelichPosse]

Long time coming is an understatement 

[Thurston Fluff]

How are they going to get anyone to go to minor league games when they're a major league team playing down the street?

[Brewcrew82]

22 minutes ago, Thurston Fluff said:

How are they going to get anyone to go to minor league games when they're a major league team playing down the street?

The minor league team would almost certainly get relocated. 

[edfunderburk]

2 hours ago, Brewcrew82 said:

The minor league team would almost certainly get relocated. 

There’s an available stadium in Oakland that will need a team. Maybe the minor league Vegas team can move there. 

[edfunderburk]

3 hours ago, Brewcrew82 said:

The minor league team would almost certainly get relocated. 

The Las Vegas Aviators, currently the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics, will be staying in the area.

“It’s going to be like the Golden Knights and the Silver Knights,” said Kaval. “Having two teams in town at the same time. It’s going to be great for player development.”

[SomewhereInTime]

4 hours ago, Brewcrew82 said:

The minor league team would almost certainly get relocated. 

Maybe.  I mean in hockey we have the Las Vegas Golden Knights and just a few miles away the Henderson Silver Knights is their farm team.  There will still be plenty of people who will choose the cheaper option.

[Brewcrew82]

1 hour ago, edfunderburk said:

The Las Vegas Aviators, currently the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics, will be staying in the area.

“It’s going to be like the Golden Knights and the Silver Knights,” said Kaval. “Having two teams in town at the same time. It’s going to be great for player development.”

Interesting. There's little precedent for that in MLB. Maybe the St. Paul Saints and the Twins?

[nate82]

1 hour ago, edfunderburk said:

The Las Vegas Aviators, currently the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics, will be staying in the area.

“It’s going to be like the Golden Knights and the Silver Knights,” said Kaval. “Having two teams in town at the same time. It’s going to be great for player development.”

I don't see MLB allowing this.  I doubt they are going to be all that willing for a AAA team to be taking away revenue from the MLB team.  That team will get moved regardless of what that article says or what the A's are saying right now.  In order for the A's to move there they are going to require the AAA team to move at some point.  I doubt the owners will allow this and there will be a stipulation that the AAA team must move within x years. 

[True Blue Brew Crew]

7 hours ago, nate82 said:

I don't see MLB allowing this.  I doubt they are going to be all that willing for a AAA team to be taking away revenue from the MLB team.  That team will get moved regardless of what that article says or what the A's are saying right now.  In order for the A's to move there they are going to require the AAA team to move at some point.  I doubt the owners will allow this and there will be a stipulation that the AAA team must move within x years. 

So you don't think this has already been hashed out at the top with MLB approval? The AAA stadium is very new and consistently rated one of the best minor league parks. The AAA team is going nowhere. This A's move to Vegas has literally been in the works for years. About as long as Las Vegas Ballpark has existed.

By the way, look up the Gwinett Stripers AAA team and take a look at where it's located.

[igor67]

Surprised Brock hasn't chimed in to mention the Saint Paul Saints have been a AAA team for a couple of years now.

[Brock Beauchamp]

9 hours ago, Brewcrew82 said:

Interesting. There's little precedent for that in MLB. Maybe the St. Paul Saints and the Twins?

Yeah, but the Twin Cities are way bigger than Las Vegas, 3.7m to 2.2m population.

This choice seems... weird.

[endaround]

5 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Yeah, but the Twin Cities are way bigger than Las Vegas, 3.7m to 2.2m population.

This choice seems... weird.

The size is also why it is very questionable if baseball will work in Las Vegas.  Even assuming they can get visiting crowds to come in for the stadium, baseball makes its money from local tv deals.  The Las Vegas population is on par with Pittsburgh. And there really is no one in Nevada outside of Las Vegas. So where is the revenue going to come from?

[patrickgpe]

42 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Yeah, but the Twin Cities are way bigger than Las Vegas, 3.7m to 2.2m population.

This choice seems... weird.

Yes but during the summer how many people are in the LV metroplex compared to the Twin Cities. I am sure they are figuring the road team will bring fans in for a weekend of gambling and baseball. 

[wibadgers23]

28 minutes ago, endaround said:

Even assuming they can get visiting crowds to come in for the stadium, baseball makes its money from local tv deals.

And many people don't visit Vegas in the middle of summer, which makes up the bulk of the baseball season.  I'll be interested to see what kind of crowds they get in June, July and August every season.

[Brock Beauchamp]

1 minute ago, patrickgpe said:

Yes but during the summer how many people are in the LV metroplex compared to the Twin Cities. I am sure they are figuring the road team will bring fans in for a weekend of gambling and baseball. 

It's possible but man, I struggle to see that being the case for baseball. Hockey, basketball, especially football, yes... but there just isn't anything special about any single baseball game most of the time. Will some tourists check it out? Sure, but having spent a lot of time in Vegas, I'm skeptical it will happen in the numbers needed to succeed.

Honestly though, I hope I'm wrong. I hope the franchise revitalizes in Vegas.

[MrTPlush]

Crowds don't matter. A third of MLB flirts with 20k a game...the A's failed to even crack 10k last year. No city without an MLB team right now is some obvious attendance monster. Any city is going to be questionable to actually show up to the stadium for a relocated team. 

The Las Vegas Aviators have been one of the best teams in attendance for years. So people will go watch baseball there. 

[RobDeer 45]

I too have been questioning this a bit.  I do think there will be a draw to go watch your team when they play in Vegas.  I would love to do that.  But my question is, will it be an annual thing for people or just something people will want to do once.  We shall see.  I hope it works because I think it will be cool.  I'm sure the stadium will be bonkers and cater to the people looking for a higher end experience.  

[patrickgpe]

the odd thing thing is that if the A's move next season, they would need the minor league stadium, thus it would be hard to have 2 tenants (not impossible) in the same season.  Basically anytime the A's were on the road, he aviators would be at home. 

[homer]

I think a Vegas baseball team will get plenty of out of town fans like the Raiders do. Probably a good draw for the city in the summer when there might be less tourism.

As for a minor league team + a major league team....I think it makes sense if this was A or A+ ball but AAA seems odd. 

[Vgmastr]

1 hour ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

It's possible but man, I struggle to see that being the case for baseball. Hockey, basketball, especially football, yes... but there just isn't anything special about any single baseball game most of the time.

I disagree with this, the beauty of baseball is the series.  Why spend the money to travel to one game when you can travel and see multiple?  I've traveled to numerous cities to see the Brewers on the road, always taking in multiple games.  It's summer so the weather is nice, the tickets are the cheapest of any sport, and the different ballparks are fun and unique.  Baseball is the best sport for travelling.

[owbc]

4 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

It's possible but man, I struggle to see that being the case for baseball. Hockey, basketball, especially football, yes... but there just isn't anything special about any single baseball game most of the time. Will some tourists check it out? Sure, but having spent a lot of time in Vegas, I'm skeptical it will happen in the numbers needed to succeed.

Honestly though, I hope I'm wrong. I hope the franchise revitalizes in Vegas.

Personally I hope they fail miserably. It sickens me that the A's used the movie Major League as a blueprint for getting out of Oakland. It sickens me that the Montreal Expos situation was allowed to repeat itself. 

As of right now there are plenty of opportunities for failure. No tax money has been granted to the Vegas franchise yet, all they have is the land. They have no other city to hold as leverage because Oakland was smart enough to call their bluff. Everybody knows that a deal could have been accomplished in the bay area if that's what ownership wanted and there are more than enough A's fans in the bay area to support a team if they played somewhere that wasn't a literal sewage dump. 

What's the high water mark for success here? Probably the Arizona Diamondbacks, who play in a bigger market and have a fanbase that has been largely disengaged for the past 20 years.

I find it unlikely that the Vegas locals will embrace this team. The Raiders are actively disliked in Vegas. The Golden Knights are extremely popular because the locals feel that the team belongs to them and nobody else. The new team is almost certainly going to keep the A's branding but there's no way that anyone in Oakland continues to follow this team. They will be starting from scratch with a terrible roster and low budget in what is now a crowded sports market. Good luck. 

 

[Brock Beauchamp]

8 minutes ago, owbc said:

Personally I hope they fail miserably. It sickens me that the A's used the movie Major League as a blueprint for getting out of Oakland. It sickens me that the Montreal Expos situation was allowed to repeat itself. 

As of right now there are plenty of opportunities for failure. No tax money has been granted to the Vegas franchise yet, all they have is the land. They have no other city to hold as leverage because Oakland was smart enough to call their bluff. Everybody knows that a deal could have been accomplished in the bay area if that's what ownership wanted and there are more than enough A's fans in the bay area to support a team if they played somewhere that wasn't a literal sewage dump. 

What's the high water mark for success here? Probably the Arizona Diamondbacks, who play in a bigger market and have a fanbase that has been largely disengaged for the past 20 years.

I find it unlikely that the Vegas locals will embrace this team. The Raiders are actively disliked in Vegas. The Golden Knights are extremely popular because the locals feel that the team belongs to them and nobody else. The new team is almost certainly going to keep the A's branding but there's no way that anyone in Oakland continues to follow this team. They will be starting from scratch with a terrible roster and low budget in what is now a crowded sports market. Good luck. 

 

I actually agree with a lot of this, but direct it solely at ownership of the team. I understand that teams will sometimes move and that sucks.

Maybe baseball should require an ownership change before moving a team. That would allow local people to try to save the team and if they can’t do it, the team is allowed a completely fresh start somewhere else with new ownership in place.

[jerichoholicninja]

I'm not going to claim to be an expert on their situation but it seems like the city was doing little to help keep the team and not just when it comes to publicly funding construction. I believe the A's had a couple different stadium proposals and the city blocked them from even purchasing the land. Obviously it takes two to tango in any deal but it seems like neither side ever really wanted to get anything done. And it certainly doesn't look good for the city of Oakland that they've already let two other major sports franchise leave in the last few years.