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The Oakland A’s are turning their attention to Las Vegas after signing a binding agreement to purchase land in southern Nevada with the intention of building a new major league ballpark.
A’s President Dave Kaval told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that a $1.5 billion, 30,000-seat ballpark with a partially retractable roof would be built on the site.
“For a while we were on parallel paths (with Oakland), but we have turned our attention to Las Vegas to get a deal here for the A’s and find a long-term home,” Kaval told the Review-Journal on Wednesday. “Oakland has been a great home for us for over 50 years, but we really need this 20-year saga completed and we feel there’s a path here in Southern Nevada to do that.”
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“It’s really exciting to have a site,” Kaval said. “We’ve spent almost two years doing our due diligence, working with community leaders, elected officials and everyone in town to really determine a location that could be a win for the A’s as well as the community and public officials.”
The deal is for the land only.
The A’s have long been rumored to be leaving the city of Oakland as the team and the city have been unable to come to an agreement on a new ballpark.
The Oakland Coliseum has been the home of the A’s since 1968 when the team moved to Oakland from Kansas City.
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“We support the A’s turning their focus on Las Vegas and look forward to them bringing finality to this process by the end of the year,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement provided to the Review-Journal.
The purchased land is just over a mile from Allegiant Stadium – home of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders – and over a mile away from T-Mobile Arena – home of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights.
“It’s really in the sports district,” Kaval said. “So you have all the stadiums kind of clustered in one spot. I think that creates a powerful zone, a kind of energy to it that will benefit the community and also help us be successful running a baseball team.”
If the A’s were to leave the Bay Area for Las Vegas, Oakland would not have a professional team in any of the four major sports.
Kaval said the A’s hope to break ground on a new stadium next year and would hope to make the move to Las Vegas by 2027, according to The Associated Press.
