After the National Hockey League (NHL) and the NFL, the city of Las Vegas will officially host a major baseball team in 2028 as the Oakland Athletics will be based there.
The move, the first since the Montreal Expos became the Washington Nationals before the 2005 season, was unanimously approved by major league owners, USA Today reported Thursday.
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Owner John Fisher will have to get creative in the next few years as his team’s lease at the old Oakland Coliseum ends in 2024. The A’s will then have to find a temporary home before they can move into their 1,000-year-old stadium. 5 billion dollars on the famous Las Vegas Strip.
However, according to American media, the Athletics plan to alternately play their home games in different stadiums. They could play in Summerlin, Nevada, the San Francisco Giants’ Oracle Park and even the Oakland Coliseum.
Relations between the A’s and the California city have been very strained lately. Spectators have been leaving the stadium for years because the offerings on the field no longer justify increasing ticket prices. Several fans attempted a “reverse boycott” in a desperate attempt to convince Major League Baseball to remain in Oakland and demand Fisher’s departure.
Since joining in 1968, the Athletics have won four World Series titles, most recently in 1989. They finished last season in the basement of the majors with a record of 50-112.
Vegas hosted the Golden Knights and Raiders in 2017 and 2020, respectively. The City of Vice also has a WNBA franchise, the Aces.