The Oakland Athletics relocation to Las Vegas is an ongoing effort by the ownership of the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB) to relocate the franchise from Oakland, California, to Las Vegas, Nevada. The team was based in Oakland from 1968 through 2024, during which it won four World Series titles. Their relocation would make them the second major sports franchise to move from Oakland to Las Vegas, following the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL) making the same move in 2020. With four locations, the A's have had the most homes of any MLB team.[1]
The relocation effort follows years of failed attempts to replace the Oakland Coliseum with a more modern stadium in the Bay Area. In 2023, the team announced it was planning to build a new ballpark in the Las Vegas Valley, causing negotiations over the proposed Oakland Ballpark at Howard Terminal to collapse. Initially, the team's agreement to build a new ballpark in Las Vegas started at the Wild Wild West Gambling Hall & Hotel but later shifted to the Tropicana Las Vegas with a 1,500 room hotel and casino. On June 15, Nevada governor Joe Lombardo signed an MLB stadium funding bill worth $380 million, known as SB1, into law. Not long afterward, the Athletics announced they would begin the relocation process to Las Vegas when the bill was signed.[2] By June 21, the team had begun the relocation process with MLB by drafting a relocation application.[3] The application was submitted to MLB by August 23.[4] The move was unanimously approved by MLB ownership on November 16, 2023 during the owners meeting in Arlington, Texas.[5][6]
The Athletics' lease with the Oakland Coliseum expired at the end of the 2024 season. They will play at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, California, beginning in the 2025 season. This will be the third city relocation in the franchise's history since they had previously played in Philadelphia and Kansas City before their move to Oakland in 1968. It will mark the first relocation of an American League team since 1972 when the Washington Senators relocated from Washington, D.C., to the Dallas–Fort Worth suburban city of Arlington, becoming the Texas Rangers and first relocation for MLB overall since 2005 when the Montreal Expos departed from Montreal to Washington, D.C., to become the Washington Nationals.
- ^ "After MLB approves A's Las Vegas move, a look at the history of relocation". Sports. CBS News. Associated Press. November 16, 2023. Retrieved May 5, 2024.
- ^ "Lombardo signs A's baseball stadium funding bill; relocation hurdles remain". The Nevada Independent. June 15, 2023.
- ^ Akers, Mick (June 21, 2023). "A's begin relocation application process with MLB". Las Vegas Review-Journal.
- ^ Fisher, John (August 23, 2023). "COMMENTARY: The Las Vegas Athletics: 'A bright future together'". Las Vegas Review-Journal.
- ^ Feinsand, Mark (November 16, 2023). "Owners' vote approves A's relocation to Las Vegas for 2028". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
- ^ Hawkins, Stephen; Bloom, Ronald (November 16, 2023). "MLB owners unanimously approve Oakland A's move to Las Vegas". APNews.com. Associated Press. Retrieved November 16, 2023.