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Post by mikecubs on Dec 4, 2022 11:48:39 GMT -6
Tampa Bay Rays enter bid to redevelop Tropicana Field site The Tampa Bay Rays, in partnership with a global real estate investment and development firm, have submitted a bid to redevelop Tropicana Field and surrounding land on the edge of downtown St. Petersburg. T he club said Friday that in addition to a new ballpark, an ambitious plan for the Historic Gas Plant District would include more than 5,700 multi-family units, 1.4 million square feet of office, 300,000 square feet of retail, 700 hotel rooms, 600 senior living residences and a 2,500 capacity entertainment venue.The Rays have been pursuing a new home to replace Tropicana Field, the domed stadium where the team has played since its inception in 1998, for more than a decade. The Rays have often ranked near the bottom in annual attendance in the majors. The club's lease expires in 2027. Most recently, Major League Baseball rejected a split-season proposal that would have involved building new stadiums in Florida and Canada, with the Rays playing some homes games in the Tampa Bay area and the rest in Montreal. The Rays are partnering with the real estate investment and development firm Hines, which also joined the club in exploring the prospect of building a stadium in downtown St. Petersburg in 2008. That plan involved building on the site of Al Lang Stadium, where spring training games were once played. "For decades, Hines has demonstrated the knowledge, expertise, and reliability to deliver complex projects of this size and magnitude," Rays president Matt Silverman said. "Hines has been acquainted with this site for 15 years, and we know that Hines will be here 15 years from now, fulfilling its promises and vision for the Historic Gas Plant District." The Rays' proposal was among four bids submitted to the city by Friday's deadline. A developer is expected to be selected by the end of January.www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/35169001/tampa-bay-rays-enter-bid-redevelop-tropicana-field-site
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Post by mikecubs on Dec 4, 2022 11:50:57 GMT -6
Rays’ proposed stadium would have roof, windows, turf If the Rays-Hines redevelopment plan is approved, expect a pavilion-like structure with a low profile. The Rays have come up with another new stadium plan. They revealed some details Friday while sharing their bid in partnership with Hines — a global real estate investor and developer firm — to redevelop the Tropicana Field site. If their bid is chosen by the City of St. Petersburg and they proceed as planned, expect a stadium in 2028 that will have a fixed roof but large glass side windows that open, a capacity of around 30,000 and a turf field. It likely would cost in excess of $1 billion and be built slightly east of the current site.The stadium is being designed, principal owner Stuart Sternberg said, as “a pavilion.” It would include a somewhat square base and a roof that — while high over the playing field but with no catwalks — would (given there is no upper seating deck) appear low in scale to the rest of the shops and restaurants on what they’re calling a Game Day Street area, and fit into the neighborhood. “ It’s a fixed roof with operable walls,” said Rays chief development officer Melanie Lenz. “So we’re able to open the walls up and invite the community in but have a fixed roof to guarantee comfort and gain certainty (against rain being an issue).” Home plate would be at the south end of the plot with batters facing north. The north and west sides would have most of the windows, which could be opened on the few days when air conditioning isn’t necessary and provide breezes. T he roof would be made out of a hard deck with sections of the fluorine-based plastic ETFE which can let in diffused light.The Rays, working with the well-known Populous architectural firm, said they have not yet designed the interior of the stadium which, according to the request for proposal, is supposed to be a state-of-the-art, community-centric, engaging ballpark. As part of that, team officials said the stadium would be available for use for myriad other events, and walkways would be open on non-event days. www.tampabay.com/sports/rays/2022/12/02/rays-tropicana-field-proposed-stadium-hines-roof-windows-pavilion/
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Post by mikecubs on Dec 4, 2022 11:53:05 GMT -6
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Post by mikecubs on Apr 20, 2023 10:40:53 GMT -6
A’s make getting $500m+ in Vegas stadium funding team’s priority, Oakland cuts off talks access_timeApril 20, 2023 personNeil deMause Last night, Oakland A’s stadium-search czar Dave Kaval told the San Francisco Chronicle that team execs had entered an agreement to buy 49 acres of land just west of the Las Vegas Strip for the purposes of building a $1 billion, 35,000-seat stadium and relocating the team.“For a long time we were on parallel paths and right now, at this moment, and with this transaction that we just entered into, we are really focusing our efforts on Las Vegas and on bringing the 20-year saga of the A’s stadium venue efforts to kind of a final positive conclusion,” Kaval told the Chronicle. He later told the Las Vegas Sun that the plan is to enter a public-private partnership — more on that in a minute — and open a “partially domed” (the Sun’s words) stadium at the corner of Tropicana Avenue and Dean Martin Drive by the start of the 2027 season. So far, this wasn’t yet necessarily a death knell for the Oakland A’s: Team owner John Fisher will still need to negotiate the public share of that billion-dollar price tag, making this very much like the Chicago Bears situation with Arlington Heights, where the team owners have control of the land they want but are still jockeying for the tax kickbacks they say they need to build a stadium. But what happened next might well put the A’s on the fast track to their fourth city in the last 70 years: O akland Mayor Sheng Thao announced that she was cutting off talks on a new A’s stadium at Howard Terminal, effective immediately. Declaring herself “deeply disappointed that the A’s have chosen not to negotiate with the City of Oakland as a true partner,” she said that “in the last three months, we’ve made significant strides to close the deal. Yet, it is clear to me that the A’s have no intention of staying in Oakland and have simply been using this process to try to extract a better deal out of Las Vegas. I am not interested in continuing to play that game — the fans and our residents deserve better.”Kaval, told of the mayor’s remarks, replied, “That’s the first I’ve heard of that, to be honest with you. And I guess what I would say is we are always open to a dialogue.” There are two ways to read this — as Kaval genuinely being surprised because he was hoping to use the Vegas plans to get a bidding war going, or as Kaval trying to spin the team’s relocation plans as “Hey, we wanted to leave the door open to staying in Oakland, it’s the mayor who shut down talks” — and your tea leaves are as good as mine for determining which is the case. But for now, at least, it’s full speed ahead toward the Las Vegas A’s, which raises an absolute ton of questions: Where will the money for a stadium come from? Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo immediately declared his happiness at the prospect of the A’s moving to his state, but decidedly did not commit to anything about stadium funding, continuing his tightlippedness on the subject. Finding a billion dollars — or more, depending on whether “partially domed” means a retractable roof as has been discussed before or just an elaborate sun roof — is not a trivial matter, especially when Kaval seems to have just given up all his leverage by burning his bridges in Oakland. The Nevada Independent, however, reports, citing unnamed sources, that Lombardo has secretly signed off on kicking back sales taxes from a ballpark district, plus providing around $500 million in “transferrable tax credits,” which would allow the governor to provide a Raiders-level payout to Fisher while still technically sticking to a “no new taxes” pledge. (U PDATE: Kaval confirmed to The Athletic that he’s working on an “incentive package” worth “$500 million,” though “we’re not all the way there.”)W here would the A’s play until a new stadium is ready? The team’s Oakland lease expires after next season, and Sheng seems unlikely to agree to extend it for a lame duck franchise. Fisher does own the Las Vegas Aviators, who play in Summerlin, Nevada (and who Kaval said would stay put as a Las Vegas A’s farm club), so a timesharing arrangement for that team’s stadium is possible — it only holds 10,000 fans, but then, it’s unlikely more people than that are going to want to turn out to see an A’s squad that is currently last in the majors with a beyond abysmal 3-16 record.Would MLB approve a move? Three-quarters of the league’s owners would have to vote to approve a relocation, and while they’re generally supportive of each others’ plans and would undoubtedly love to see the A’s situation finally resolved, you also have to wonder if they’ll all be quick to okay trading down from a second team in a large market to what would be the smallest media market in the league. There’s also the matter of any relocation decision taking place against a backdrop of the U.S. trying to figure out how to reallocate the Southwest’s dwindling water supply from the Colorado River, which could throw a wrench into a lot of plans not just for Las Vegas but for other cities like Phoenix as well. I have absolutely expressed skepticism that the A’s would move in the past, for the simple reason that it wasn’t clear any deal Fisher and Kaval could extract from Nevada would be better than the $775 million in infrastructure money he has on the table from Oakland — though if the reports about Nevada tax kickbacks are true, that could well shift the financial incentives. But regardless, as the history of sports, not to mention other things, shows clearly, this is how momentous decisions tend to get made: not by calm, rational thinking, but by gamesmanship and impulsiveness and falling in love with a dream even if it turns out you haven’t fully thought through all the consequences. Unless there’s a major curveball soon — Kaval told the Sun the A’s face a January 2024 deadline, though it wasn’t immediately clear for what — it looks likely that we’re going to see only the second MLB relocation in the last 50 years, for better or for worse. Which means all that’s left to do is to haggle over the price: Hold onto your wallets, Nevadans. www.fieldofschemes.com/2023/04/20/19869/as-make-getting-500m-in-vegas-stadium-funding-teams-priority-oakland-cuts-off-talks/#comments
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Post by mikecubs on Apr 20, 2023 10:44:21 GMT -6
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Post by mikecubs on Apr 20, 2023 10:46:28 GMT -6
Major-league deal: A’s to purchase land near Strip for new ballparkThe Oakland Athletics have zeroed in on Southern Nevada, signing a binding purchase agreement for land just west of the Strip where a major-league ballpark could be constructed. The agreement is for 49 acres at Dean Martin Drive and Tropicana Avenue, owned by Red Rock Resorts, parent company of Station Casinos. “For a while we were on parallel paths (with Oakland), but we have turned our attention to Las Vegas to get a deal here for the A’s and find a long-term home,” A’s President Dave Kaval told the Review-Journal on Wednesday. “Oakland has been a great home for us for over 50 years, but we really need this 20-year saga completed and we feel there’s a path here in Southern Nevada to do that.” With the announcement of the purchase agreement, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred concurs with Kaval and hopes the A’s shifting their efforts solely to Southern Nevada will lead to the end of the team’s yearslong quest to leave crumbling Oakland Coliseum. “We support the A’s turning their focus on Las Vegas and look forward to them bringing finality to this process by the end of the year,” Manfred said in a statement provided to the Review-Journal. The deal is for the land only, with the A’s having an option to purchase an additional 8 acres at a later date. K aval said a $1.5 billion, 30,000-seat, partially retractable roof stadium would be built on the site, and that ancillary development, including but not limited to food and beverage establishments and even an amphitheater, are also in the cards.“It’s really exciting to have a site,” Kaval said. “We’ve spent almost two years doing our due diligence, working with community leaders, elected officials and everyone in town to really determine a location that could be a win for the A’s as well as the community and public officials.” With the location being just over Interstate 15 and west of the Strip, Kaval said the site works out for residents and visitors alike. “It’s a great location not only for tourists, because it’s in the Resort Corridor, but it’s easy to get to for locals,” Kaval said. “About 70 percent of our fans are going to be locals, so we want to make sure we cater to them, to have a great experience at the ballpark. And this location will do that.” The A’s have been working with Las Vegas economist Jeremy Aguero of Applied Analysis, who determined that the new ballpark would draw around 400,000 incremental visitors annually to Las Vegas.“That’s just visitors coming only because the team is here (Las Vegas),” Kaval said. “That brings a lot of tax dollars that helps the community pay for social services and benefits and really creates a positive return on yield for the whole project.” Red Rock Resorts, which owns 100 total acres at the former site of the Wild Wild West property, will still control about 50 acres of land in the area once the land deal is finalized. The A’s portion of land in the agreement is bordered by Dean Martin Drive to the east, Tompkins Avenue to north, Procyon Street to the west and Tropicana Avenue to the south. The additional 8 acres of land that is available to the A’s is just to the west of the 49 acres, bordered by Valley View Boulevard, Tropicana and Procyon. The site is just over a mile north of Allegiant Stadium on Dean Martin and is a little over a mile west of T-Mobile Arena, which is located just off Tropicana and Las Vegas Boulevard. “It’s really in the sports district,” Kaval said. “So you have all the stadiums kind of clustered in one spot. I think that creates a powerful zone, a kind of energy to it that will benefit the community and also help us be successful running a baseball team.”
To further that synergy, there’s also a possibility that the A’s would have a pedestrian bridge constructed from their ballpark over I-15 linking to Park Avenue at T-Mobile Arena.“So you’d have this connection to the Strip, which would be great for tourists getting in and out of the location,” Kaval said. “It’s also a nice way to knit everything together in a positive way and extend the vibrancy of the area. It also helps the casinos in that area as well as the resorts.” The stadium would be the site of 81-plus MLB games each year in addition to other events and concerts that could take place at the ballpark. The facility would also be a big draw to land big one-off baseball events such as the MLB All-Star game and the World Baseball Classic. Gov. Joe Lombardo is excited about the prospect of another major-league sports team calling Southern Nevada home and is looking forward to the next steps in the process. “Welcoming the A’s to Las Vegas would be great news for Southern Nevada as well as our entire state,” Lombardo said in a statement provided to the Review-Journal. “The prospect of bringing new jobs, more economic development and a historic MLB franchise to Las Vegas is exciting on many levels. As we continue to navigate this opportunity, I’m in regular communication with the A’s, Major League Baseball, legislative leadership and local and state stakeholders.” What’s next for the A’s? With a site now identified, the A’s will turn toward working on a public-private partnership with state and local officials. The A’s have enlisted an army of lobbyists in Carson City for the legislative session. Kaval is one of them. Kaval noted their plan is still being developed and would be revealed at a later date. “To put a package together that hopefully can work for all parties and that can be a positive return on investment,” Kaval said. “That’s the next step in the process. Hopefully that is done in a positive fashion, and then we can go to Major League Baseball and apply for relocation.” Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager, D-Las Vegas, said he’s had preliminary discussions with the A’s regarding their relocation and looks forward to furthering those discussions once the A’s legislative plan comes into place. “I am excited about the prospect of bringing Major League Baseball to Las Vegas,” Yeager told the Review-Journal in a statement. “When the time comes, we will vet the proposal, seek input from interested parties and make the best decision for the people of the great state of Nevada.” The A’s are working against a January 2024 deadline set by MLB to get their ballpark deal finalized. If all goes as planned and the A’s negotiate a public-private partnership that benefits all sides, and MLB approves their relocation, plans call for crews to break ground on the new Las Vegas ballpark sometime in 2024. “Then opening for the 2027 season,” Kaval said. “That’s the current plan right now. Obviously things need to fall into place … but I think that is an achievable timeline right now.” How the A’s got here with Las Vegas MLB first pushed the A’s to pursue a new ballpark in 2009, with the commissioner’s office stating at the time, “The A’s cannot and will not continue indefinitely in their current situation.” The A’s weren’t able to successfully land a new stadium before then-MLB Commissioner Bud Selig left his position and was replaced by current Commissioner Rob Manfred. “For more than half a century, MLB has demonstrated overwhelming franchise stability and a consistent record of finding local solutions,” Manfred said. “The A’s have done their part to stay through an enormous investment in Oakland, their many playoff berths, outstanding baseball operations leadership and an abundance of patience. Under John Fisher, the A’s ownership has invested unprecedented time and resources to try to build a new ballpark in Oakland.” The A’s have been working with Oakland officials on the planned $12 billion Howard Terminal project, which is centered around a $1 billion waterfront ballpark near Jack London Square. Since the Oakland City Council approved its own version of a term sheet for the project in July 2021, the A’s and city officials have been working to resolve issues between the two sides. Many of those issues still remain, inducing off-site infrastructure costs and affordable housing. Las Vegas came into the fray in May 2021 when Manfred gave the A’s the green light to explore relocation to Southern Nevada. In recent years the Raiders left the Bay Area in 2020 for Las Vegas, and in 2019 the NBA’s Golden State Warriors moved across the bay, beginning play at Chase Center in San Francisco. “The A’s have remained in Oakland long past the departures of other teams in the market,” Manfred said. “In 2021, given the continued lack of progress, MLB instructed the A’s to explore a parallel path plan with Las Vegas. Since that time, the process in Oakland has not progressed and Las Vegas has presented a comprehensive path forward for the A’s that will preserve this historic franchise forward and set the stage for future success.” Las Vegas ballpark location process During the A’s Southern Nevada search, they once compiled a list of more than 20 ballpark sites, including locations in the Resort Corridor, downtown Las Vegas, Summerlin and Henderson. After reviewing feedback from a survey the team commissioned for potential season ticket-holders, it was decided to focus on areas near or on the Las Vegas Strip. Last year, that list included the Wild Wild West site, which eventually was nixed. Since earlier this year the team had a list of three final sites, including the Tropicana, the Rio and the Las Vegas Festival Grounds. That changed when the Wild Wild West site came back into play. “The Wild West site was the best site as far as an ingress-egress perspective,” Kaval on how the site came about. “It was really favorable and when it became available for somewhere that could work for us, it was really something we jumped on.” “Clark County looks forward to welcoming the A’s to our region, and we are in full support of adding Major League Baseball to our growing sports brand,” Jennifer Cooper, chief communications and strategy officer for Clark County, said in a statement Thursday. www.reviewjournal.com/sports/athletics/major-league-deal-as-to-purchase-land-near-strip-for-new-ballpark-2764701/?utm_campaign=widget&utm_medium=latest&utm_source=post_438820&utm_term=Oakland+A%E2%80%99s+enter+binding+purchase+agreement+for+Las+Vegas+ballpark+site
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Post by mikecubs on Apr 20, 2023 11:21:50 GMT -6
Howard Terminal was too expensive with the infrastructure. They approved $495M in property tax breaks for the A's The state approved 279.5M in infrastructure money mostly for the ballpark They couldn't find another $320M more in infrastructure money As beautiful as that site was and how pretty the pictures were that I posted that site wasn't meant for a ballpark unless the city really wanted to screw itself. The Coliseum site wouldn't work. Signing territory rights away to San Jose to the San Francisco Giants killed the franchise. The latest firesale losing Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, Sean Murphy, Marcus Siemien made attendance 9,000 last year and this year it's constant 4,000 past opening night. Once the Giants got this it was a massive blow to the A's Here is the A's current home lol Something else to think about CSA's with more than 1 team in a sport 1. New York (23,216,685) 2 of everything, 3 nhl teams 2. Los Angeles (18,490,242) 2 of everything 3. Washington/Baltimore (9,946,526) 2 NFL teams, 2 MLB teams, 1 NBA 1 NHL team 4. Chicago (9,876,339) 2 MLB teams 5. San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose (9,545,921) 2 MLB teams Boston way back in the day had the Braves before they moved to Milwaukee then Atlanta, Philadelphia used to have the A's before they moved to Kansas City then Oakland. Don't be shocked in 10 years to see a White Sox move to Charlotte, Nashville, Portland, San Antonio or Salt Lake City. Nashville and Salt Lake City want expansion teams and are growing fast. The White Sox have been run into the ground by an awful 86 year old owner the past 40 years and south side Chicago is experiencing big population loss. The stadium is 32 years old, blah and has a lease that runs out in 2029. The Cubs and Wrigley Field own that town just like the Giants do the Bay Area since they have the cool park. MLB's cable TV model is dying and everything will soon be streaming. Bigger markets will still have the advantage but maybe less so since it will be only fans paying for the games and not everyone who has cable.
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Post by ekjet72 on Apr 20, 2023 15:54:56 GMT -6
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Post by mikecubs on Apr 20, 2023 23:41:02 GMT -6
I've thought about that a lot what would happen to Vegas and Phoenix some day(along with Florida). It's the ostrich mentality. Enjoy the short term don't worry about the long term. I just read Vegas is expecting another 1M people by 2060. Worse comes to worse in 30 years make it city number 5. They went from Philadelphia to Kansas City to Oakland to Vegas. Maybe Alaska is next. If enough people try to escape global warming maybe Alaska gets a big population in the future LOL
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Post by mikecubs on Apr 20, 2023 23:46:29 GMT -6
The A's are going to keep the A's name. I like this the A's have been part of baseball from the beginning. www.8newsnow.com/sports/local-sports/las-vegas-as/will-the-las-vegas-mlb-team-be-called-the-as/They expect just under 30% of the fans to be tourists. This article says 30,000 capacity instead of 35,000 which is the right decision. www.8newsnow.com/investigators/what-will-it-cost-to-bring-the-as-to-las-vegas/Vegas in 2021 was 2.35M. Pittsburgh is the smallest 3 team market at 2.6M. They better hope to god the tourist thing works and casinos buy a lot of tickets to make this work. I do think it will at a low level(better than Oakland at the Coliseum) but this is going to be a small market underwhelming team that will struggle bad on week nights when a team like the Dodgers/Cubs/Red Sox isn't in town. I just worry the NBA comes too and 4 teams will be too much.
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Post by mikecubs on Apr 21, 2023 0:26:30 GMT -6
snip What felt like a steady march towards inevitability now feels like a brick wall. And on that front, all I can say is that… you’ve been lied to. From the beginning, both the A’s and the City haven’t been upfront about how much everything’s going to cost. The A’s pushed Howard Terminal with gleaming renderings in late 2018, hesitant to give a price tag. As they encountered resistance and skepticism, they crowed about the total development being worth $12 Billion, as if that would sway anyone sitting on the fence. But the infrastructure cost was largely kept under wraps by both the A’s and the City, going from $180 million to $300 million to $600 million and up in four years. The only documentation we have explaining the cost is the term sheet [PDF] the A’s drew up in summer 2021, which explained that the cost of offsite infrastructure and community benefits would be $860 million. Those numbers haven’t been adjusted yet for 2023 market realities or 2027 projections, and should be a major cause for concern. How can you go from $180 million or $300 million to $600 million? You can’t blame inflation for all of that rising cost. Someone wasn’t being straight with A’s fans and Oakland residents.The simple fact is that there is no deal yet at Howard Terminal. No term sheet, no DDA (disposition and development agreement) for the BCDC to approve, and most importantly, little movement from either side. Remember that the A’s put together the term sheet that the City rejected in summer 2021, with the City saying that they would take care of the offsite infrastructure and community benefits. To put it mildly, for a cash-poor city to put the onus on itself is a recipe for failure. Then again, consider that Oakland is in this position thanks the cumulative effects of the pandemic. The pandemic cancelled and rebirthed the 2020 MLB season in a truncated format with zero tickets sold during the shortened regular season. The pandemic created a whirlwind of unprecedented economic activity around prevention of transmission, detecting Covid infections, and living with the disease. Then when that whirlwind faded, the world was left with inflation and a society struggling to come to grips with it. The economic windfall that briefly filled the state’s coffers is gone. The economy itself is still fundamentally good for now, with eyes on the Fed in its efforts to walk a tightrope to contain inflation while also trying to prevent a recession. None of the extraordinary economic activity seen over the past three years was predicted. It was also irreplicable. I can’t blame the City of Oakland for attempting to turn the pandemic’s lemons into lemonade. Everyone knew, though, that whatever was happening was unsustainable. It was a gold rush, incompatible with the glacial pace of municipal financing. So when Oakland was denied the federal grant earlier this year, it felt appropriate. While my rant might sound like a eulogy, I will concede that Howard Terminal is not actually dead yet. Perhaps the A’s combing the desert in southern Nevada will prove as fruitless as Oakland’s checking the couch cushions for grant money. If Vegas doesn’t work out, it’ll buy Oakland more time to make HT work somehow. If that doesn’t happen, well, the Rays eventually figured out the most practical way forward. I can only hope the same for the A’s. Or Oakland can keep trying the impossible shot. newballpark.org/2023/04/08/ghosting-the-town/
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Post by mikecubs on Apr 21, 2023 1:25:22 GMT -6
A’s have agreement to play at Las Vegas BallparkThe Las Vegas A’s will have a temporary home in southern Nevada ahead of the construction of a billion-dollar baseball stadium west of the Las Vegas Strip, Dave Kaval, president of the Athletics organization told 8newsnow.com Thursday.The new stadium “So it’s a great site,” Kaval said of the future location of the A’s baseball stadium, “good for locals, easy to get in and out of in the resort corridor for tourists. We’re really excited about it and we’re excited to make this big milestone announcement to the public.” Kaval talked about a survey that went out to thousands of Las Vegas residents, and sports fans from other markets asking what elements would be important to make a Las Vegas professional baseball team work. He said the responses were loud and clear. Who's the best DFS Pitcher tonight? “Have a climate-controlled environment for the games in the summer, which we’re going to have because we’re going to have a dome or partially retractable dome, and also have somewhere that’s easy to get in and out of,” said Kaval. The A’s president told 8newsnow.com that designers were looking into extending Park Avenue near T-Mobile Arena to create a pedestrian overcrossing that would end at the new stadium and provide access from many of the popular casinos and resorts on the Strip. Kaval expects groundbreaking to occur in 2024, with a grand opening to take place in 2027. As for how the new stadium will be paid for, the A’s have been in communication with various southern Nevada leaders. “We’re working with Governor Lombardo, Nicole Cannizzaro in the senate, Steve Yeager with the assembly, all the leadership, Clark County, Jim Gibson, to ensure that we put together a package that’s fiscally responsible, that ensures that it’s done in a way that is accretive and beneficial to the public sector,” Kaval said. “We’re going to be contributing the land that we purchased to the public as part of a stadium district.” Additionally, Kaval said the Athletics have spoken to the Boring Company, the organization headed by Elon Musk which has been tasked with building tunnels underneath Las Vegas. “We spoke to Steve Davis at The Boring Company,” Kaval said. “And yes, a stop is in our future. Maybe two.” Kaval said the importance of a local fanbase for the A’s is paramount. “We want to make sure that we have an incredible team to watch, and we’re very competitive and winning World Series,” said Kaval. “I think that fan base is out there and tapping into that as an exciting aspect of the team coming to town.” “It’s going to be a spectacle,” Kaval said, adding that promotions will be important to the club as they get a new start in southern Nevada. “I think that’s going to fit in perfectly in Las Vegas, it’s going to be a lot of fun and excitement.” Fun and winning, Kaval anticipates the Las Vegas Athletics will have a much larger payroll. “We’re going to have a lot more resources and to give that type of resources to Billy Beane and David Forst on our baseball side — look out it’s going to be really, really compelling,” Kaval said. Moving from Oakland The deadline placed on the club to have an agreement for a new stadium, Kaval said, affected the decision to leave Oakland for Las Vegas. “That was a big deal because that put out there a hard deadline that we had to achieve and I think that really accelerated our efforts in Las Vegas,” Kaval said, adding that his experience in the Las Vegas valley had been positive and encouraging. The future of the Las Vegas Aviators “We have an agreement with the Aviators with Don [Logan] and Howard Hughes [Corporation] to play at their stadium temporarily,” he said. “We’re really deferring to Major League Baseball to kind of help us make that decision.”
Kaval said the Las Vegas Aviators, currently the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics, will be staying in the area. “It’s going to be like the Golden Knights and the Silver Knights,” said Kaval. “Having two teams in town at the same time. It’s going to be great for player development.” www.8newsnow.com/sports/local-sports/las-vegas-as/as-have-agreement-to-play-at-las-vegas-ballpark/?utm_source=t.co&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=socialflowpics It seats 10,000 and there is a pool in right center like at the Arizona Diamondbacks park
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Post by mikecubs on Apr 21, 2023 5:30:11 GMT -6
Sarah Ravani @sarravani · 14h Then, she said, Dave Kaval called her Wednesday night to say the A’s were moving forward with a land deal in Las Vegas. Less than two hours later, John Fisher, A’s owner, called her – at the urging of the city’s mediator. Sarah Ravani @sarravani · 14h Thao said Oakland would not be used as leverage to negotiate with another city: “It has become clear that we are not able to reach acceptable terms and that the A’s are not good partners in the effort.” Sarah Ravani @sarravani · 14h The city knew that Kaval was focused on Las Vegas, but they thought they were negotiating in good faith with a team that reported directly to Fisher and expected to make substantive progress this week. Sarah Ravani @sarravani · 14h As part of the negotiation summit, the city’s attorneys and the A’s were planning to meet Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The A’s came up with the agenda, city officials said. Sarah Ravani @sarravani · 14h On Wednesday, the city presented their plans to raise money for offsite infrastructure. The city said it has raised $375 million so far, but current estimates show the cost is likely to be $568 million. The A’s were supposed to debrief with the city at 4:30, but didnt call. Sarah Ravani @sarravani · 14h Kaval said the financial terms of the project remained a sticking point between the city and the team, as well as the timeline. He said, if the A’s get all of their approvals & clear their hurdles in LV, they could open their ballpark in 2027 whereas in Oakland, it would be 2030. Sarah Ravani @sarravani · 14h Kaval: “We know this is a very hard message for our fans... We have had so many great memories here. And that will always be part of our history. By the same token we’re under a tight deadline, January of next year is not that far away to find a path forward.”
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Post by mikecubs on Apr 21, 2023 21:24:45 GMT -6
Former MLB Exec: A’s Could Stay In Oakland, Vegas Not Done Deal The A’s, who have called Oakland home since 1968, have its current stadium lease at run through the 2024 season. David Samson believes Major League Baseball would prefer the franchise to remain in Oakland.While the Oakland A’s are seemingly on their way out of the Bay Area after agreeing to buy land in Las Vegas to build its new ballpark, former Miami Marlins executive David Samson believes the A’s move to Sin City is “not a done deal” and the team could remain in Oakland. “I would say it’s not a done deal by any stretch,” Samson told Front Office Sports on Thursday. ‘You’ve even seen the president of the A’s walk it back a little bit because we all got the news overnight [that] the A’s are gone to Vegas, and that’s not accurate.’Oakland A’s president Dave Kaval called the team’s planned relocation “bittersweet” in an interview with NBC Sports, detailing local issues to secure government funding that the team faced in its attempted Howard Terminal waterfront stadium proposal to stay in Oakland. “The challenge is that we had an incredible visionary waterfront plan,” Kaval told NBC Sports. “Maybe the boldness and audacity of it was too much, and we had too much opposition at the waterfront with the maritime polluters, and they were able to delay the project very successfully, which really impeded [our] ability to move forward on a timeline that worked, especially for Major League Baseball.” The A’s, who have called Oakland home since 1968, have its current lease at RingCentral Coliseum run through MLB’s 2024 season. The team plans to break ground on its new ballpark in 2024 and open its Las Vegas ballpark for the 2027 season. Samson detailed why he thinks the A’s move to Las Vegas is not a foregone conclusion. Listen to the full episode on Front Office Sports Today. On why Las Vegas is not a done deal. “The A’s have not yet gotten public financing and they need it. The legislature’s meeting right now in Las Vegas, they have 60 days further to go in their session and they’ve got to figure out how to put a deal together. Because while they say it’s privately funded, that’s not exactly accurate. They do need public money and to do it, they have to have votes, both in the state and actually in the city.” On why the team could still make a deal with Oakland. “So what they [the A’s] said really was Oakland, if you don’t get back to the table and start giving in on a few of the issues we have left, like affordable housing and certain issues with taxes, guess what? We have a viable alternative. But the truth is they’ve always had the viable alternative. But baseball would much prefer the team to stay in Oakland. [A’s owner] John Fisher would prefer the team to stay in Oakland. So it is not over yet.” On securing public funding being an issue for the A’s. “We had the same issue in Miami [the Marlins’ ballpark]. You do not want to be in charge of public infrastructure. You don’t want to be in charge of overruns for public infrastructure because you’re not controlling the construction of the public infrastructure. That’s done by the government. And our rule was we’ll cover overruns as long as we have complete control over the process. “You have politicians who get out ahead of a deal and say, there’s no public money—this is fully privately funded. You have owners who get out ahead and say, hey, I’m doing it all myself. But both sides are not being truthful. All these deals have public money in them. Some of them disguise it as public infrastructure. Some disguise it like in New York as pilot payments, which are payments in lieu of taxes and are still money that is actually from the public going to the project.” On the “PR battle” happening between the A’s and Oakland. “And by the way, it’s happening in Vegas. They’re talking about not creating any new taxes, but creating a new tax district, and the taxes within that district go to the project. So that’s the same as tax money going to the project. So it really is how you frame it. There’s a lot of PR involved, and one of the steps in the PR battle is the, ‘we’re done with you, we’re moving the team, we’re not negotiating with you anymore.’ All of that is done to get people worked up. You’re getting worked up as a fan, as someone who’s local, your pulse is racing, you’re sweating a little bit, and that is when all of the magic actually happens. On why the A’s have a crucial deadline. “Is there a chance the A’s move to Vegas? Yeah. But here’s the problem. They’ve got to get a deal done somewhere by January of 2024. Not because their lease runs out in the Coliseum. Not because there’s possums running around. Not because they want to hurry up and get to Vegas, but because in the collective bargaining agreement, if they don’t have a stadium deal done by then, they lose their revenue sharing. That’s a big deal.” On what it takes to get a deal done. So they’re going to get a deal done somewhere and the way these deals get done, and I’ve done them. You have to get right to the edge where you’re hanging over the abyss and you’re holding on by your fingernails before you get a manicure, you’re slipping off. There’s no net and then a deal happens. And that’s going to happen either in Oakland or Vegas. I’d say we’re in the middle of the third quarter and that’s it.”frontofficesports.com/former-mlb-exec-as-could-stay-in-oakland-vegas-not-done-deal/
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Post by mikecubs on Apr 21, 2023 21:30:41 GMT -6
I'm starting to get a feeling this is a ploy to get Oakland to give more concessions. I don't think the 2027 opening in Vegas vs. the 2030 opening in Oakland is a big deal. If they struck an Oakland deal I'm sure MLB would let them collect revenue sharing until 2030.
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