A's Las Vegas Bill Could be Introduced Within 24 Hours
Three weeks ago, the Oakland Athletics announced their plan to relocate to Las Vegas. Two days ago it was reported that the team had switched the land they wished to build on from the Wild Wild West site to the Tropicana site. According to Jaclyn Schultz of Fox 5 Las Vegas, the bill to get things moving could be ready in the next 24 hours.
Nothing motivates John Fisher like a deadline. The deadline he's most worried about is the one in January where his precious revenue sharing checks could disappear if he doesn't have a ballpark deal in place, but missing the June 5 Nevada legislature deadline would make it more difficult to continue to meet the January deadline.
Schultz is also reporting that there would be an MLB anchor store with gear for all 30 teams. This is wise, because the A's know that a decent amount of the fans that visit their ballpark won't be locals. May as well stock up on Yankees and Dodgers merch to really maximize those dollars!
The last two pieces of information from Schultz are some of the more intriguing. The first is that the site the A's would build on would be 12 acres, not nine, as was previously reported. Which number is correct we won't know until the team starts talking. The Tropicana site itself is 36 acres, but the rest of that space is to be used for a new hotel/casino across from the ballpark.
The other bit is that there are apparently renderings that exist, which is news to everyone. Could these renderings be on the back of a napkin and drawn by Dave Kaval? Sure, it's the A's. But there are renderings.
Yesterday, News 3 Las Vegas caught up with Nevada State Senator Scott Hammond, who said, "I want to make sure that language is specifically written that tells us that we have basically ownership - the county has ownership, just like we do with the Raiders. I want to make sure that we understand that the A's have responsibility for any overages."
Senator Hammond also said he believes that the state senate would be voting on this proposal next week, "with the assembly getting the bill the following week before the end of session."
Senator Hammond comes off as confident in this deal getting done in the piece, but he did mention that he wants to make sure the A's are responsible for any overages, and that had been a sticking point in negotiations with the City of Oakland.
There is also the question of just how much money the A's will be seeking in public financing. The reported ask has been $395 million at the new Tropicana site, and that could potentially be a tough sell. If that figure comes in a bit lower, it may be a little easier to manage.
We'll have to wait to see what the bill says when it's released.