Oakland Gets Unexpected Ally in Keeping A’s

Article ByKyle Garlett

February 7, 2024

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Posted in: US Sports Betting News, Nevada Gambling News, US Gambling News

What Oakland A’s fans most want is for current owner John Fisher to sell the team. The next best outcome would be for the A’s planned move to Las Vegas to get nixed, and the team stays in the Bay Area. And that Plan B has support from an unexpected source.

On the Front Office podcast this week, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said the A’s would be better off staying in Oakland.

“I’ve lived in [Las Vegas] this year 60 years, and so I know the town like the back of my hand. I personally think they’ve got to figure out a way to stay in Oakland and make their dreams come true.”

The stadium site in Las Vegas, which has been the center of much controversy, is one of Goodman’s biggest concerns.

“There are a lot of questions about whether that’s going to fit. To come here and take down an old hotel and put it right in the heart of the Strip and more congestion. We have enough congestion right now, which we just experienced with Formula 1.”

The A’s have received unanimous approval from Major League Baseball owners to relocate the team to Oakland, and there is more than $380 million in Nevada public funding for a new stadium available. And with that in mind, Goodman did attempt to clarify her remarks on social media.

“I want to be clear that I am excited about the prospect of Major League Baseball in Las Vegas, and it very well may be that the Las Vegas A’s will become a reality that we will welcome to our city.

“[In the interview] I mentioned the passionate fans of Oakland who often visit our city to cheer on the Raiders. My points included that it is my belief that in their perfect world, the ownership of the A’s would like to have a new ballpark on the water in Oakland, and that the ownership and government there should listen to their great fans and try to make that dream come true.

“Should that fail, Las Vegas has shown that it is a spectacular market for major league sports franchises.”

Will More Professional Sports Teams Come to Las Vegas?

The last bit of clarification by Mayor Goodman was very deliberate. She said “teams” (plural) because she is currently working on an expansion NBA team. Basketball online sportsbooks have Las Vegas as +150 favorites to be the next city to get an NBA franchise. Seattle is next at +250.

On the longshot end of things, bookmakers are paying +15000 if the new NBA team in Las Vegas is a relocated Dallas Mavericks team.

“I can assure you. That’s a when, not an if,” Goodman said in regards to a future NBA team in Las Vegas. “I know they are coming. We’ve been working that through my whole term.”

And baseball is probably coming, too, if the A’s can get their plans in order. At the moment, they are a team without a home after the 2024 season. They will play this upcoming season in Oakland, and there is a possibility they will head to Utah for the 2025 season and beyond. 

Assuming Las Vegas is still the ultimate destination, the team wouldn’t move into a new stadium there until 2028.

Nevada online sportsbooks have the A’s at +50000 to win the 2024 World Series. That is tied with the Colorado Rockies for worst odds in baseball.