The West Sacramento A's?

[soccerdad72]

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/oakland-play-west-sacramento-3-120930133.html

This has to be the worst franchise in baseball right now - I'm not sure even the move to Las Vegas in 2028 can help this team.

 

[tvguy]

They will just be the A's with no city name associated. Not sure if owner John Fischer and Ballys can put together the cash they need to build the Las Vegas stadium. Not counting the efforts to reverse the commitment of public money. After this week's vote in Kansas City on public funding for sports facilities, the days of public money for such projects may be numbered.

 

[cabanafrau]

Everything I've seen suggests the move to LV is far from a sure thing -- despite a landmark casino hotel shutting down this week to make way for a stadium. I've seen discussion for quite some time that even if the team makes the move it's highly likely the Tropicana site will not be where the stadium ends up and there is a lot of expectation that site will sit empty for many years.

I was quite surprised when the Rio site wasn't selected when it was pointed out that the parking lot is so massive the Rio could remain standing, with adequate parking, and a stadium and adequate parking would still fit on that site. Plus it's adjacent to the freeway.

 

[soccerdad72]

I was quite surprised when the Rio site wasn't selected when it was pointed out that the parking lot is so massive the Rio could remain standing, with adequate parking, and a stadium and adequate parking would still fit on that site. Plus it's adjacent to the freeway.

I know the new owners of the Rio have been putting money into updating and renovating the property, so maybe they weren't interested in selling it to the A's?

 

[cabanafrau]

I know the new owners of the Rio have been putting money into updating and renovating the property, so maybe they weren't interested in selling it to the A's?

My understanding is they didn't need to/still may not need to. They could simply elect to sell of X amount of acreage of their parking lot to allow for stadium and parking. Not to mention it would leave the Rio towers with their own parking remaining to operate next to a shiny new stadium with baseball games on their doorstep for several months of the year, as opposed to simply being an outpost away from the Strip needing to draw customers entirely on their own efforts.

IMO the big headwinds are going to be funding. As mentioned upthread, voters are not warmly embracing the idea of taxpayer $$. I believe in LV they not too long ago were forced to swallow some $$ for Allegiant if I remember correctly. I think taxpayers everywhere have begun to suffer stadium fatigue, but I'm guessing the LV market might be ready to fight on this one -- especially for a team like this one. Ironically the ice hockey in the desert went the private route and they've become beloved champs.

 

[hertamaniac]

The site in LV is smaller than I would have expected, but it is on The Strip. The concept art made me think of the Australian/Sydney Opera House. And the inside concept art view showed to me that this isn't going to hold the masses. I'm fine with it being more intimate, but for $1.5B I sort of expected something a little more in terms of seating.