It is apparent to everyone—except Rob Manfred and John Fisher—that the A’s should stay in Oakland and Las Vegas should get an expansion team. Relocating the A’s to Las Vegas is such an inelegant transaction, it is clearly the wrong move:
- The Las Vegas ballpark won’t open until 2028 at the earliest, which means A’s players face a three-to-four-year stint as refugees in a minor league ballpark far from their fan base.
- The Nevada taxpayers will likely have to pick up the tab for bonds based on unrealistic attendance projections. To be fair, MLB owners view this sort of unwitting public subsidy as a welcome turn of events.
- The combination of a tiny Las Vegas site and cheap-ass owner mandates a fixed-roof ballpark—a regression to the 1980s when stadiums such as the Metrodome, the Kingdome, and the Astrodome blocked out the sun.
- The exorbitant air conditioning bill means less disposable income for Fisher to spend on player salaries.
- The relocation demonstrates that MLB is fine with white flight from the inner city. This probably isn’t a smart brand move as the country gets further and further away from the 1950s.
- The relocation will destroy the Oakland A’s brand, the anti-establishment brand of baseball for 57 years. The New York Yankees are the empire; the Oakland A’s are the rebellion. For crying out loud, Hollywood made a movie about the Oakland A’s beating the odds. In the right hands, the Oakland-East Bay market is tremendously lucrative. The Oakland A’s are an enviable brand for anyone who is willing to put in an ounce of work. The Las Vegas A’s would never have the grit and swagger synonymous with the Oakland A’s, no matter what the scrawny guy says.
- Let’s keep it simple. There’s probably no better baseball weather in the country than a day game in Oakland.
For Pete’s sake, Rob, keep the A’s in Oakland and put an expansion team in Las Vegas. Force Fisher to stay in Oakland, and cut off his revenue-sharing checks. Fisher can decide whether he wants to invest in his product or sell the team. Las Vegas will get to start fresh with its own franchise, its own heritage, and hopefully, a first-rate owner.
Don’t eradicate one of baseball’s greatest brands—57 years in the making—to accommodate a bungling idiot. If the A’s move to Las Vegas, the storied history of the Oakland A’s gets flushed away. It isn’t transferable to Las Vegas. Not that MLB cares about such things, but 57 years of A’s history is pretty important to the people of Oakland. Though the names on the backs of the Oakland jerseys are all too fleeting, they are stitched on our hearts forever. Reggie Jackson, Vida Blue, Rollie Fingers, Campy Campaneris, Catfish Hunter, Sal Bando, Joe Rudi, Gene Tenace, Ray Fosse, Billy North, Mike Norris, Billy Martin, Rickey Henderson, Dwayne Murphy, Dave Stewart, Carney Lansford, Hendu, Dennis Eckersley, Terry Steinbach, Miguel Tejada, Eric Chavez, Tim Hudson, Ramon Hernandez, Dallas Braden, Coco Crisp, Grant Balfour, Khris Davis. Too many to name. And let’s not forget Bill King and Kool & the Gang. An unduplicable list of greats that Las Vegas couldn’t care less about. All this great history will be vaporized if the A’s move to Las Vegas. No one from Oakland will travel to Las Vegas to see an A’s Hall of Fame. Too heartbreaking. Better just to take a trip to Hawaii.
Fisher says he wants to build a winner in Las Vegas.[1] Is this his attempt at deadpan humor, or is he serious? Do Las Vegans really think Fisher is going to spend money once he gets to Nevada? Counting on Fisher to open his checkbook is like counting on a wasp to be a model picnic guest. This is the guy who perfected the CLT sandwich. Even a wasp wants no part of that.
No, Fisher isn’t going to turn over a new leaf when he gets to Las Vegas. He has never had the entrepreneurial drive to build a winner, and it’s too late for him to develop one now. As long as his franchise appreciates in value, that will be enough for him. He turned 63 years old in June, and the Las Vegas ballpark isn’t slated to open for at least four years. He isn’t going to stumble on newfound vigor when he gets to Las Vegas, no matter how much Nugenix he takes.
Stupidity has its own momentum, so we’ll just have to wait and see whether this Las Vegas misadventure crosses the finish line or careens off the path into failure. With Fisher’s past failures squarely in the spotlight now, his ego is no doubt fully engorged. He may work harder than he ever has to bring this fiasco to fruition—a rare instance of cutting off the nose to save face.
[1] NBC Bay Area staff, “The John Fisher interview: Oakland owner talks Vegas, backlash and future plans” nbcbayarea.com, 23 August 2023, Oakland A’s owner John Fisher goes on record in rare interview – NBC Bay Area.