The Oakland Athletics’ quest to find a new landing spot in Las Vegas has taken a surprising turn—the list of potential sites, which was believed to have been whittled down to either the Las Vegas Festival Grounds or the Tropicana Las Vegas, has now increased to three, according to a report from the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
In a statement to the newspaper, New York-based developer Dreamscape Companies recently revealed that it has “been engaged in a dialogue about a portion of the excess land at the Rio as a potential MLB ballpark for the past several years,” and that it “remains open to this idea.”
That opens up a whole new realm of possibilities, as the two sites mentioned above were long suspected to be the final options for the franchise, which has been exploring relocation options for nearly two years now.
Bally’s Corp., which recently acquired the Tropicana, has said previously that it is also receptive to the idea of building the team’s $1 billion proposed ballpark on the site, but has maintained that it will consider all of its options for renovating and rebranding the iconic Strip property before making any official decisions.
Phill Ruffin, the casino magnate who owns the Festival Grounds, told the Review-Journal late last year via spokesperson that no discussions were ongoing with the team, and no future plans had been made.
However, the newspaper reported earlier this year that team officials were in fact meeting with Ruffin and reengaging in talks, but no comment was given on the matter.
In the midst of all of this, the team had still been working with Oakland city officials to propose a multibillion-dollar mixed-use development centered around a new ballpark at Howard Terminal, but the reception has been largely cold to this point, causing some to believe that it is now “Las Vegas or bust” for the franchise.
In any case, the team will have to move somewhere—MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has said himself that the team simply cannot return to RingCentral Coliseum once its lease ends at the end of the 2024 season. The team has played at the historic yet dilapidated stadium since 1968.
Manfred told the Review-Journal that A’s owner John Fisher “wants to make the best deal to secure the future of the A’s, whether it’s in Oakland or in Las Vegas,” but was firm in his stance that “they need a new stadium. I think that’s kind of beyond debate.”
And in some ways, it would appear that the team is doubling down on its Las Vegas prospects, having appointed 11 lobbyists to try and gain momentum with state officials.
According to the Review-Journal, the group of lobbyists, which includes A’s President Dave Kaval, four representatives from Summerlin-based law firm Kaempfer Crowell and others, will attempt to drum up public support for the team, in efforts to convince lawmakers to apportion public funds towards the ballpark costs.
When the Raiders pulled off the Oakland-to-Las Vegas transition in 2016, the team managed to procure $750 million in public funding for Allegiant Stadium, the most any U.S. city has ever allotted for such a project.
The funds are still being repaid through a 0.88 percent room tax on all Clark County hotels.
Former Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak, who approved the Allegiant Stadium funding, refused to open the public purse strings for the rest of his tenure, and current Governor Joe Lombardo hasn’t changed much from that position.
Lombardo has hinted, however, at the possibility of utilizing existing development funds, but that has not been confirmed.
