Oakland A’s to have a look at Las Vegas for transferring MLB staff

Oakland Athletics officials will be visiting southern Nevada next week to assess the possibility of Las Vegas becoming a home for the Major League Baseball Club.

Several sources confirmed that a group led by A-President and co-owner Dave Kaval would meet with regional government officials for several days.

The A are also supposed to set up a prominent government firm to help with the information trip.

Las Vegas is one of six cities identified as potential A’s applicants that have not made satisfactory progress in building a new ballpark in or around Oakland.

That was the same scenario that caused the NFL Raiders to move from Oakland to Las Vegas.

MLB issued a statement last week that the Oakland Coliseum was no longer a viable option for the A’s future.

“We have directed athletics to explore other markets while they continue to operate a waterfront ballpark in Oakland,” the statement said in part. “Athletics needs a new ballpark to stay competitive, so it is now in our best interests to consider other markets as well.”

Las Vegas is the first city the A’s plan to visit, sources confirmed. Part of the reason the A’s plan to visit South Nevada first is that the response from the local community to the team potentially moving to Las Vegas has been largely positive.

The A’s hope to discuss the possibility of a new ballpark in or around Las Vegas that would represent a private-public partnership similar to the one that led the Raiders to move to southern Nevada and the 65,000-seat Allegiant stadium ahead of the 2020 season The dome cost $ 2 billion to build, with $ 750 million offset in a Clark County room tax.

Also up for discussion, according to sources: whether the baseball field would need a dome or retractable roof to offset the Las Vegas heat during the summer time when the core of the games were being played.

The location of the new ballpark is probably too early. According to the sources, the opportunity to partner with the NHL Raiders and Golden Knights in a new facility in the resort’s Cooridor would be fascinating from a visitor standpoint and could appeal to the tourism industry as well. Instead of a soccer or hockey game, a ballpark on the Strip could attract visitors for a whole series of three or four games, sources said.

The A’s should also openly discuss possibilities in Henderson or Summerlin, the home of the Las Vegas Aviators, their triple A farm club.

MLB and Henderson have also flirted with each other. In 2018, the city planned to lure the Arizona Diamondbacks to West Henderson in a planned retractable rooftop stadium with a capacity of 36,000 fans and a capacity of $ 1 billion. The deal would run for 30 years, with the stadium publicly owned and exempt from property tax, the plan says.

The team’s lease at the Coliseum runs until 2024, but the aging venue where the A’s have been playing since 1968 is struggling with lighting and installation.

The A’s failed or stalled half a dozen stadium locations in the Bay Area. In November 2018, the A’s announced that they had found a waterfront location for their new ballpark, which would cost more than $ 1 billion and offer scenic views of San Francisco, Bay Bridge and Oakland Harbor.

The goal had been to open in 2023, but now, even if it was approved by Oakland City Council this summer, it wouldn’t be ready until 2027.

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.