A's, Las Vegas Have Loose Financing Agreement

The Oakland A's may take a big step towards playing in Las Vegas in the next few years

The Nevada Independent is reporting that "state officials and the Oakland A's have reached a loose agreement for a public financing package significantly less than the $500 million the team originally sought to assist in relocating the franchise to a $1.5 billion stadium in Las Vegas."

They are also hearing that the package that will be presented to lawmakers in the coming days will be lower than the initial threshold of $195 million in transferrable tax credits that the state had previously set, and that the bonds backed by Clark County will also have a similar reduction from the original $200 million ask. 

Jaclyn Schultz of Fox 5 Las Vegas reported on Monday night that Nevada lawmakers wouldn't go past $175 million, which would have left a $220 million gap to be filled. It seems as though Clark County will cover some of that gap, with the A's presumably covering the rest. 

With such a wide gap likely still at play here, A's fans are likely asking why that is a better deal than the one the team left on the table in Oakland, where they were reportedly $88 million apart. Casey Pratt of ABC 7 in the Bay Area noted that the deal with Vegas is for a small nine acre ballpark, with none of the ancillary projects that Oakland would have had. 

This makes the potential cost for A's owner John Fisher significantly less, especially if the team is on the hook for overages. We won't know that bit until the bill is introduced. 

The agreement has yet to be presented to lawmakers, and is expected to formally arrive in the next few days. The 120-day legislative session ends on June 5, which is a deadline of sorts to get this not only presented, but also passed, but there is also the possibility that they just hold a special session after the 5th and vote on it then. 

If this gets approved by the Legislature, the next step would be to get approval from MLB's other 29 owners. It's hard to imagine Rob Manfred letting this go on for so long without some degree of confidence that John Fisher's A's would get approval from his billionaire buddies. 

The deadline for that approval is January 1, 2024.

The Nevada Independent also notes that since the proposed site for the ballpark is so close to the Harry Reid airport, the project will also need to be granted approval from the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) before beginning construction. "Our determinations identify hazards to air navigation." 

With the ballpark being on the Strip, it's hard to imagine that anything a baseball park could do would present more of a hazard with so many lights surrounding the area. This probably means no fireworks or drone shows, however.