Rob Manfred Calls Potential Las Vegas Referendum a "Significant Development"
Every time MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has talked about the Oakland A's potential relocation to Las Vegas, he has really riled up the fan base back in Oakland, speaking half-truths or flat-out lies. On Friday, that tone appeared to change just a touch, according to a quote from Bill Shaikin in the Los Angeles Times.
"If there was an adverse development with respect to that referendum, that would be a significant development."
The referendum he's talking about is the one that the group of educators in Nevada is trying to get on the ballot in an effort to block the public funding for John Fisher's Las Vegas ballpark. Schools Over Stadiums was once dismissed publicly, but now the A's are among a group that is suing the educators in an attempt to either slow them down, or tie them up with legal challenges so that their movement can't get off the ground.
Then we have Friday's quote from Manfred, which is also giving Schools Over Stadiums more credibility and some free publicity. There may be more worry about the challenge than has been let on publicly.
While his comments weren't in depth by any means, they do seem to give credence to the fact that Fisher is having a tough time with the funding of this ballpark, and any unforeseen expenditures, like the public financing gong away, or the sudden appearance of a relocation fee, could be catastrophic to his plan to move to Las Vegas.
Shaikin also points out that the President of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitor's Authority Steve Hill believes that even if Las Vegas fell through, that the team would not return to talks with Oakland and would instead look elsewhere, naming Portland and Salt Lake City as potential options.
That feels like a stretch, honestly. If they put all of this time, effort, and resources into finding a new home in Las Vegas, would MLB and the other 29 owners be okay with Fisher starting that process again in another city while not having a true home until a ballpark is built? That could singlehandedly set back expansion by years, and these owners have to be chomping at the bit for a crack at those expansion fees, which could be somewhere in the neighborhood of $4 billion ($2 billion per team) split between 30 owners.
If Vegas doesn't work, the easiest path for those other 29 owners to that free payday would be to force Fisher to sell the team to a local owner in Oakland, then expand into Las Vegas, which would be a win for all parties involved. Even Fisher would get a handsome payday out of the deal and end up netting around a billion dollars on his initial investment to buy the A's.
Tony Clark, the President of the Player's Union, also mentioned to Shaikin that there is an "ongoing dialogue" between the union and the league about where the A's will play following the 2024 season when the team's lease runs out at the Oakland Coliseum, but no decision has been made.