Major League Baseball seems increasingly supportive of the Athletics’ move to Las Vegas, and this situation is creating tension with the City of Oakland.
Rob Manfred didn’t seem to show much attachment to the California team when he addressed the sensitive issue at a press conference on the sidelines of a meeting of the league’s owners.
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He said he was unfazed by fans’ efforts to convince owner John Fisher to sell the team to people who didn’t want to move the roster to Las Vegas.
A support group called Rooted in Oakland planned a “reverse boycott” on Wednesday to attract as many viewers as possible to the Oakland Coliseum. All proceeds from ticket sales for this game were donated to two local organizations. 27,759 spectators attended the game.
“I feel sorry for the Oakland fans and I understand how they feel. I think the real question is what Oakland is ready for. There is no agreement? They never got to the point where they had a plan to build a stadium anywhere. The community has to support it and at some point you realize that’s not going to happen,” Manfred said in an interview with The Athletic on Thursday.
“Completely wrong”
Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao insisted on correcting the words of the commissioner who claimed there was no bid for a stadium in Oakland. She argued that Manfred was not telling the truth about it.
“This is completely untrue as a specific proposal was under consideration in Oakland that had done everything possible to overcome the obstacles, including securing infrastructure funding, conducting an environmental impact assessment and working with other agencies to finalize permits.”
“The reality is that the owner of the A’s insisted on a 55-acre, multi-billion dollar project that included a ballpark, residential, commercial and retail space,” the door reads. -Word of the Mayor of Oakland in a statement obtained by ABC7 television network.
The state of Nevada on Wednesday approved $380 million in public funding for part of the construction project for a 30,000-seat stadium on the edge of the famous Las Vegas Strip. The total cost is estimated at $1.5 billion. The deal must be approved by the Nevada governor and Major League Baseball.
It would be the second change for a major league baseball team in 18 years if the Oakland team’s change goes through. The last concession move was in 2005 when the Montreal Expos left for Washington.