The A’s plans for a stadium proposal in Las Vegas have changed. According to reports from both Mick Akers of the Review-Journal and Howard Stutz of the Nevada Independent, the A’s have entered into a new land agreement for the construction of a stadium at the current site of the Tropicana hotel on the Vegas Strip.
Initially, the organization had been focused on a site just west of the Strip. They even announced a land deal last month, but the Nevada Independent reported yesterday the franchise was looking into alternatives due to concerns about the extent of the public funding for their previous plan. They’ve quickly settled on a new location and are moving on from the land they’d planned to build on a few weeks ago.
The A’s had been set to propose a plan that called for $500MM in public funding via county-issued bonds to be paid by tax dollars related to the stadium project. Both the Nevada Independent and Review-Journal report that the team’s public funding ask for the new site will be $395MM. The hope is that by reducing their ask on public funding by $105MM, their proposal will be more palatable whenever it’s formally put in front of the Nevada legislature.
Whether that’ll prove to be the case remains to be seen. The A’s are seeking approval from county and state officials for the construction of a park that’d be ready by the start of the 2027 season. If they receive government approval and sign a binding stadium agreement, they could then petition MLB for relocation out of Oakland.
The A’s lease at Oakland’s RingCentral Coliseum runs through the end of next season. The organization has until January 15 to formally sign a contract for the construction of a new facility if they’re to retain their status as revenue sharing recipients in the collective bargaining agreement.
Lol. A’s gonna A’s.
Like Billy when he decided to do Fyrefest?
Stick to moneyball billy
How about if the mayors of San Francisco and Oakland decide to put all of the homeless people inside the Oakland Coliseum. As they’re being brought in, we can give them Oakland souvenirs and the sad part is they probably still be 30th with the homeless people in attendance
This is not gonna happen.
Hilarious that MLB/John Fisher want to move to Las Vegas for financial gain yet won’t pony up the money to make it happen. Fisher is a billionaire several times over and the A’s get over $100 million (estimates are closer to $150 million) a year in revenue sharing. Couple that with Fisher decimating the roster and stripping payroll down to the studs, and he should have enough money to not ask the public to fund his financial investments.
Fisher wants a stadium in Las Vegas? Then he should pay for one.
You’re obviously not a fan of capitalism
Wealth distribution backed by government agencies and armed local government agents redirected to a private company against the will of the public is more a mix of socialism and general banditry.
If the majority of people in Nevada support the deal then it’s just a democracy voting for socialism.
Capitalism does not involve welfare for billionaires. Capitalism is not simple when MLB is a monopoly. These are complex issues and both sides try to make them falsely simple. The team owners should not need cash subsidies to build a stadium. The team owners should not be able to wreck their team roster and say look attendance is down. But Oakland had bad attendance back when they were consistently fighting for playoff spots. A new owner would be best, the close proximity of San Francisco and Oakland is also a factor. San Francisco would love to see Oakland move to Las Vegas.
The A’s are the proletariat’s team. The Giants belong to aristocracy. Tickets? Go to a game? In Oakland? Aint nobody got time for that! However, Bay area bosses, oh they entertain a son and a client to watch Giant ball.
You guys are not the brightest people on Planet Earth.
Thirty thousand baseball fans will be going to the Las Vegas strip every game. You don’t think they won’t spend money?
Anyway, people with a clue should be able to make a choice if subsidizing a corporation is good for their community. You A.O.C. economic geniuses have no clue.
Your basic understanding is billionaires should not be subsidized. Which is both basic and stupid.
Nevada is enticing businesses to leave California. Unless they vote Democrat, it’s good for the state.
Know what makes billionaires, billionaires?
Not giving out hundreds of millions of dollars when it’s avoidable.
Better to have corrupt politicians take it from the taxpayers. That is a transfer of wealth from the taxpayer to the billionaire who likely pays little or no taxes. You REALLY think that is a fair way to do business? That says it all.
Agree that billionaires collect more corporate welfare than homeless people. Even though the billionaires create global warming whereas the homeless just create piles of litter.
What makes billionaires billionaires is trickle-down economics. four decades (and counting) of ever increasing tax breaks. Do they earn those tax breaks? No. A dollar “given” to a poor person goes right back into the real econonmy, is entirely an investment in a company. A $1 to the 1% can easily go right out of the real economy and is not investment in a U.S. company. That $1 can (and often does) go into offshore tax haves, properties, and goods and services. I prefer welfare for the poor than welfare for the rich and welfare for the corporations. Not only does it keep people alive and off the streets, it entirely helps the economy.
The other part of trickle-down economics is higher and higher salaries for the 1%. There is no end in sight. In 1979 a CEO made 8X the average employee. Now it is something like 400%. Did they earn that raise? Are they so much better than the 1979 CEO. No. It’s just a climate that assumes CEO’s earn whatever they can take simply because they are in the right position to do so.
And if Vegas wants a team they should pony up as well.
It’s not one or the other.
The jobs it would bring – that brings income tax and payroll tax $ for the state.
The $ ppl would spend – there’s sales tax on all of that – more $ for the state.
Ever bought a ticket on stubhub or directly from a team? There’s an entertainment tax. More $ for the state.
$400m is a drop in the bucket for the amount of $ it’d produce over time.
This logic is only accurate if the profits from the stadium are redistributed equally amongst the local investors/taxpayers. If it’s shipped back out to a California billionaire and provides mostly minimum wage jobs (requiring social programs to help support the workforce) then it’s more a burden on the local community.
New ballparks don’t create jobs or tax revenue. They simply transfer jobs and tax revenue from other entertainment businesses.
Every single study has shown that its not a revenue generator. Even if the area around the ballpark blossoms, it isn’t adding NEW tax revenue to the city. Its just moving what is already there around.
The people that buy those tickets on StubHub didn’t suddenly start making more money just because a stadium was built. They spent money on that ticket instead of something else. NO new tax revenue was created. It was just transferred from another business to that billionaires pocket for you going to that game in a stadium YOU paid to build.
ANYONE with a modicum of common sense realizes that. You apparently don’t. What does that say?
Tourism is a bit of an aberration though. Small population, tourism driven economies (e.g. islands in the Carribean or off Africa) don’t follow the model of other more populous regional peers.
Still, I’m not sure if the new stadium will do more than just redistribute those tourist dollars. I guess it depends on how many affluent baseball fans visit Vegas and would suddenly splurge $500 on tickets, food, etc… around the new stadium when they would otherwise just hit a $15 dollar buffet and walk around town.
Just taking those sports tourist dollars away from the casinos.
So wouldn’t that same thing be said about any new business? By that theory, there’s no point in allowing any business to open up shop, bc all its done is reallocating $ spent.
Most studies show that people just reallocate money they would spend on other entertainment to a sports team so over time the community does not benefit beyond the restaurants and hotels within a half a mile of the stadium.
The point is cities can make that choice. There is a balance. It’s a symbiotic relationship. It can be a win-win.
Why people think it’s one or the other is beyond me.
New ballparks create windfall profits for owners. Undeniable. That’s the game. It’s a swindle. And you’ll frind these swinfles feeding the 1% all across the board. As a person who has climbed the ladder substantially and worked with executive peers and bosses and board members and customers I know the opportunities become more and more successful and accumulate wealth, and avoid taxes, grows on every rung. Did I or any of those people “earn” all that? Not all of it. The system is definitely heavily rigged. And new ballparks are just one data point to prove it.
Utah, it’s the worst system on the planet….except for everything else.
My grandparents came over here with nothing and learned English. I married someone whose ancestors came over on the Mayflower.
It’s the best system on the planet and has lifted more people out of poverty, by far, than any system on the planet.
And providing crime doesn’t kill you, anyone who makes the right choices can advance.
Those restaurants within a half mile of the stadium are just getting money that would have been spent elsewhere in the community.
No NEW money is created by building a stadium or bringing in a professional sports team.
Cities don’t make that choice. A handful of politicians make that choice and the people in the area pay the price.
They are talking about a bond that would be paid with taxes on hospitality and entertainment in Clark County. So even those people that do not attend a single game, which would be the vast majority of Clark County residents, would pay for that billionaire’s stadium. Fisher in essence would be pocketing $395-500 million of taxpayer dollars that came from people that DON’T go to games.
It can be a win-win if the A’s were bringing a large number of high paying jobs to the region. On average, anyone that makes under 200k a year redistributes most of the funds to the community and everybody would win.
Unfortunately the complex will probably just bring a handful of middle management positions and a large number of service jobs paying close to minimum wage. Given Fisher’s “bad even for a MLB owner” treatment of minor leaguers during the pandemic I assume the company will go the Walmart route and provide handbooks teaching employees how to apply for food stamps.
Case. Adults can make decisions and decide if it’s good for them or not.
What do people have against people making their own choices? If the elected officials make bad choices, vote them out of office.
Since Vegas is still Harry Reid, blue, I’m sure they understand the situation better than you do.
A great 7th grade textbook description of democracy but it turns out the world is vastly more complex than the average person can comprehend. It’s unlikely you have spent years studying advanced economic or political theory and it’s objectively absurd to assume that the majority of citizens voting in Nevada have this type of education.
You aren’t qualified to understand a “Harry Reid” or “Paul Laxalt” Nevada which is why the founders formed a constitutional republic. If our educational system was better the average voter could at least understand the more simple historical truth, that we have a staggeringly corrupt political system, but I suppose watching 15 minutes of youtube videos attacking people with the “wrong” ideology will have to do.
There IS no state income tax in Nevada. Are you really that uninformed? They would NOT be spending more than they already are spending on things that they pay sales tax on. Just not spending it elsewhere. Ever bought a ticket on StubHub? That means you didn’t spend money on something else that you would have paid tax on.
Halo bootlicker.
Theodore. Ironically, you’ll be the one taking from society. People like me don’t.
We have a better understanding of economics than you do.
Since you have demonstrated that you have literally NO understanding of economics, how are you contributing?
Really. So the AOC versions of economics works for you? How’s that Amazon facility working out for those constituents in her district…. Oh wait. It’s not.
WTF does AOC have to do with a ballpark in Nevada? That says it all about your lack of understanding of even simple concepts,
But think of the tourism it would generate.
Not like there is anything else attracting people to Vegas.
I’ll go to Vegas to see the A’s. Technically the A’s are my local team, but I wouldn’t drive to Oakland to see them.
No you won’t. By your own admission, you don’t even go to Angels games.
You are telling me what stadiums I go to? What a dweeb.
I did have season tickets to the Angels, Now I watch every game that’s available.
I flew to KC and Minnesota to see games in 2021. I’ve seen games in Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, LA, Milwaukee, Detroit and Seattle, but because I’m not stupid enough to go to Oakland I won’t go to Vegas.
I guarantee you, health permitting, shortly after the As move to Oakland, I’ll see a game in Vegas, Phoenix and San Diego. I might even see a game in LA or Anaheim.
But you know better, what an ass.
You SAID you don’t go to Angels games. YOU. So you are saying YOU are a liar. That I believe.
You’re an ass.
I moved out of the state 16 years ago. I don’t go to Angel games anymore. Man what a dweeb you are.
Spend the $395 million on some actual talent and then they might pass those bonds.
The Trop is where I stay. There’s no room for ballpark there.
There are plans for it being demolished.
Exactly. That area is already to crazy. MGM across one street, Excalibur across the other. And I don’t see how a stadium is going to fit there and not encroach upon the Airport which is basically behind the Tropicana.
I lived in Vegas once too and I was just thinking the same thing. They can’t put a park on that site. This report is incorrect.
I love living in California those who moved away I’m glad you left
You want to know how great California is, check out the UHaul prices for one way trunk rentals from and to California.
Enjoy California. The quality of my life is so much better because I left.
I don’t miss it one bit. I do miss a couple of restaurants though.
Then you DO miss it. At least 2 bits. You even lie to yourself.
Admitting you miss an abusive partner’s cooking isn’t the same as saying you miss the environment in which you got the cooking. If that’s all he misses about California, then it’s safe to say he doesn’t really miss the state itself.
Nothing abusive about southern California. Its not like its Florida or Texas.
Literally every state has issues that make certain people want to leave. Just because you have your head so far up your butt that you can’t conceive of a single reason some people might not like living in California, just as you wouldn’t like living in Florida or Texas, doesn’t mean those reasons don’t exist. It also doesn’t mean you have to hate everything about a state to leave it, just as you don’t have to love everything about a state to stay there. Those reasons this guy had for leaving aren’t invalid because he misses a few restaurants.
Not a souper analogy
It is more like missing a five star restaurant because you don’t like the bill and getting the senior early bird special at Denny’s at 4:00 p.m.
Yosemite, Malibu, Half Moon Bay, Bodega Bay, Armstrong Redwood Reserve, Napa, Lake Tahoe, Newport Beach, La Jolla – not everyone can afford front row seats. California has plenty of flaws, but it is still a wonderful place to live if you can afford it.
So you created a new account Halo? You lied in your post and now you create a new account to call me out for saying truthfully that you are a liar?
Halo, Not everyone in California is rich and neither are you. I employ between 200-250 people depending on the contracts we have at any given time and not one of them is suffering or on government handouts. ALL of them live in California and get to benefit from all the incredible things the state has to offer. Most are in the OC area.
It costs MORE to live in many areas of the country that have none of the benefits we have here. So please Halo, shut down your second account and just stop with the attempts at spin. It is not working.
No it’s not. Great places in LA. No question about it. But the problem is all the crap that surrounds those great places. And all the crap you have to put up with.
I use to live about 15 minutes from Pepperdine. I lived in Bel-Air. I had celebrities as neighbors. I bumped into Marlon Brando on my street.
I was just in Santa Monica and Palos Verdes last March. I love eating at the Brentwood Country Mart and I’ve eaten at Moonshadows and other restaurants looking over the ocean dozens of times.
I much prefer where I am now, it’s not even close.
A better analogy is waiting ten hours for a ride at Disneyland. I’d much rather enjoy the ten hours than the 4 minutes of joy. That’s proportional in case you didn’t get it. There are great things in California, but not at that cost.
Just to add, my teenage years home is valued at over three million dollars and is about a mile away from where Bill Cosby’s child was murdered. That’s California in a nutshell. I’m glad I’m out.
You haven’t put up yet. Literally all you have done is made attempts at childish insults. Nothing ese is remotely close to an argument.
So please, only spout that garbage on one account. One Halo is far too much.
Of my god, you call me names. You’re points are absurd, and you cry when I punch back.
You are a California boy. Enjoy your safe spaces. What a dweeb.
You still have yet to refute the fact that Oakland is the fifth most crime ridden city in the country, despite your earlier claims to the contrary. Your smugness over not everybody being wealthy enough to enjoy the few tolerable parts of your disaster of a state really shows exactly the kind of person you are. It would be absolutely terrible if the violent part of California hurts and/or kills you. It would be funny too, but still terrible. Really hoping nothing happens to you though, no matter how funny it would be!
I lived in Cameroon years ago. I couldn’t wait to leave and I’ll never go back. Still sometimes I even miss the place but not for long.
I enjoy our fiscal responsibility. Don’t even mind all the states that need our federal tax dollars to maintain their economies, I’m just happy we can provide for the rest of the family :)(:
case;
About your “Fiscal Responsibility”….
California has been running the state for years now by taking money from the State Employees Retirement Fund as he federal government with with Social Security….thereby making those retirement systems a pay-as-you-go system in which they pay retirees out of the taxes collected from people currently paying in, and making up the difference each year as needed.
Trust Funds are supposed to be left untouched and protected…..at least in the private sector (see what happened to Enron executives).
“Fiscal Responsibility”…..LOL
Google “states federal tax deficit”
California does give a lot of money to other states. I have a feeling you are not one of the big contributors.
And by the way, California is not in a good financial place. Kind of like the USA. That’s what happens when you don’t have a clue how to handle a budget.
I contribute in quite a few different ways. For example, I teach young adults not to confuse money with character and accomplishment. Have a great day 😉
Not sure I’d trust John Fisher to run a lemonade stand
He’d make Mad Money. Somehow got his hands on a stand from 1972. Put it on his neighbors yard, who pays him a fee for the privilege. Poor kid working for him only gets 15 cents an hour and 20% of tips, though.
SOOOO. They claimed they BOUGHT a 49 acre site and now they are NOT buying it and are seeking to buy another site? Did I get that right?
I have the distinct impression that, as usual, Fisher and his lapdog Dave Kaval, are lying.
Not exactly. It was more of a handshake deal contingent upon public funding. They’ve found a better alternative and a partnership with Bally’s Corp. who are willing to invest with the A’s. Nevada state legislatures need a deal done very soon to approve and secure public stadium funds. This pivot will cost both the state and the A’s less money.
Kaval said it was a binding agreement to purchase 49 acres of land. Not a handshake deal. Binding agreement.
I guarantee there were a thousand clauses to get out of that binding sale agreement. All commercial real estate deals have them.
So, he lied. If there is an out, its not binding, it an option to buy. They were NOT buying the land. They took an option. I do it 40-50 times a year. NONE of the options I take are binding agreements.
If there was one clause that allowed them to get out of the deal, then by definition it wasn’t a binding agreement.
I think the A’s are doing a double pronger. Firstly, they are paving way for expansion Vegas team. Secondly, the A’s are openly showing their hot yoga pants around town to remind Oakland that they’re still desirable so Oakland will renew wedding vows and buy them and their kids a new house.
In addition a lot of baseball players no longer live in California so nobody taking a home discount to play there: which you could see happen in Vegas.
This feels like a bad game of poker between Fisher, the city of Oakland and Las Vegas. Wonder who folds first…
As a lifetime A’s fan since childhood, send them packing immediately, let them play in the AAA stadium. I could care less if they finish the season in Oakland. Probably most likely won’t watch any baseball after they leave
I’m giving a chance with my second favorite team, the Blue Jays (born in Toronto). It’s not looking good, still kinda bored!
Is the difference between 500 mill and 395 mill that big that it will change the mind of any Nevada citizen that doesn’t support taxpayer money for an already profitable privately owned out of state corporation? I wonder if this is meaningless political theatre or if the American public really is that dumb.
I think the American public is that dumb. Look at the garbage Benjamin101677 is posting.
Gotta agree with Zachary. The American public is that dumb.
There are plenty of studies proving that expensive stadium/arena projects are a net drain on public funds.
The city of Glendale, AZ went bankrupt after financing venues for the Arizona Cardinals and Phoenix Coyotes as well as building MLB Spring Training facilities for over $100 million a pop. In consequence of which they had to lay off fire fighters, police force, teachers and other public servants, not to mention putting a stop to all infrastructural projects.
Americans, however, keep falling for their owners’ scams every single time.
Vegas’ home of the Laugh Factory might be going away, but there’ll still be plenty of guffaws at that site during A’s home games.
What would possess this team or the city of Las Vegas, for that matter, to consider building a stadium on the Strip? Have they even thought about congestion?
The article I read said that Bally’s would be building a 1500 room hotel/entertainment building around the stadium instead of the A’s. So with that lost revenue stream, I’m curious if this could be the beginning of Fisher selling the team.
Hey John Fisher:
Sign Shohei Ohtani, Julio Urias, Aaron Nola and Yoshinobu Yamamoto – and you will get your choice of a new stadium in Oakland or Las Vegas. Your payroll would still be lower than the other three California teams let alone the two New York teams.
So there’s no plan . . .
I’m excited for this, what a cool site for a new ballpark. I’ll definitely catch a game there.
Cost overruns to follow……
As an A’s fan I just want it done so we can get the ball rolling on some finances and a business plan that will allow my poor team to convince players to sign long term deals. Ruiz, Rooker, Diaz, Bleday and a bevy of your arms for example.
But please please please do not change the name or color of my beautiful little franchise .
Oakland A’s allllllllll the ways, baby!!!!
How lucky are Nevada taxpayers for being granted the honor to fatten another billionaire leech with their hard-earned money?
Imagine what half a billion dollars in tax money could do for the local citizens in terms of free education, affordable medical care or fighting homelessness.
But apparently Americans prefer risking private bankruptcy over medical bills and turning into lifelong debt slaves for some shoddy bachelor’s degree, rather than funding socially advantageous projects with their own money. Otherwise they’d rebel against the existent neo-feudalistic oligarchy.
Not what we meant when we said “tear down the Trop”. – Rob Manfred, probably
Anybody notice that the top 3 in OPS are all current or former A’s? Matt Olson having a great year also.
I just pointed at Pete.
Which is why people have been flocking there for decades in spite of taxes and liberal policies. Just look at real estate prices! Demand. Sure some people are finally leaving. For cheaper housing. To get away from fires.
Fifth largest economy in the world shows the policies are working. TX anf FL aren’t even on the map.
If you are believing the bogus “CA is the worst state meme” you are far right-wing. You can only suck up that disinformation if you are.
You can do all three in California. But I spend most of my time where I work and sleep. As do most people. You’re paying a huge price for your ability surf.
You can do the other two in hundreds of other places, including taking hikes, and nightly walks, and living in a nice home in a safe neighborhood, where you don’t have to worry about your child playing after dark.
You don’t know any better.
That last sentence got to me…
My immediate family and closest friends all sold out and scattered around the western states.
The rest still in Europe and other far away places. I’ve travelled most of our states and the world to see them.
So don’t tell me I don’t know any better.
Walk outside without fear? My family went through what no one should ever have to endure in the 1940s…caught in the front lines.
My mom still cries when she says how thankful and grateful she is to America for her freedom.
Bad neighborhoods?
I grew up in Long Beach.
You don’t know fear. You don’t know me. What’s good for you is good for you and what is good for me is good for me and only I know what is good for me.
Did you write surf, fish and ski as if it was unique to California?
The surfing part may be unique but there are hundreds of place around this country that has better skiing and fishing.
Whoever wrote that must not know any better. No one who has been around would write that.
Make the A’s pay for it themselves. NO MORE CORPORATE WELFARE…
Sorry for allt he repeat posts of all my lengthy post. I only posted once. Sheesh!
You’re listening to disinformation.
Nobody lives in the state they grew up in. The country, not just CA, has gone to hell. Because disinformation rules the day. And it’s not going away.
Where I live now is awesome. I did live in Bend Oregon for five years. It’s completely changed.
The Oregon political climate ensured that.
For informational purposes:
John Fisher’s net worth is quoted at $2.2B
He owns ONE stock (GAP) with a total value of less than $360M,
A’s were worth $1.2B± opening day.
His SF commercial real estate holdings make up the rest … and their value is cratering.
He’s having major liquidity issues.
As a taxpayer. I would prefer they bought that land for $1 that Rio is on and they finance it themselves. Pro teams would never think of that.
Got to love good old corporate welfare. What a mockery of a system for the taxpayers.
And some people say they hate taxes. It’s not true. It’s only some taxes they hate. Corporate welfare is one of them.
The A’s aren’t going anywhere hahaha.
I have no horse in this race. Except maybe that I think Oakland city leadership sucks.
I’ll ask a question to anyone who lives in Vegas. Who is Vegas really competing with for the As? Because it ain’t Oakland. They are a joke and time is running out for the As to figure this out.
I’ll then ask you to take note… whatever deal is made, will be made with Vegas politicians being in one of the strongest negotiating positions of any city for a new stadium or moving a franchise.
Simply put, Vegas is not competing with another city. Oakland has put themselves in a bad negotiating position here.
Then judge for yourself how that deal ends up comparing with deals other teams got.
Trying to get this straight so bear with me.
After the City Council of Oakland had approved a deal to build the stadium on Howard Terminal, the A’s sent a last minute request for the city, meaning the taxpayers, to pay an additional $350 million in costs?
When the mayor said she would have to follow the law and hold public meetings and have the city council vote on it, the A’s said they suddenly had a binding agreement to by 49 acres in Las Vegas?
A few days later they no longer have a binding agreement to buy that land, but are looking at other sites?
A few days later and they have an agreement to build a stadium on the site of a current 1400 room hotel?
BUT they have to get the taxpayers to pay $395 million so that the billionaire owners of the A’s and Bally’s can build the stadium?
If Bally’s was just building a new hotel on the site, would the taxpayers be asked to pay for it? Are they being asked to to pay for the 1500 room hotel Bally’s is saying they will build next to the stadium?
I have stayed and driven in that area, so (I am being optimistic here) what happens to the already seriously congested area when 30k fans descend on it for games?
Tourism didn’t increase for Raider’s games there with, according to an article in the Nevada Independent, over 90% of tickets being sold to people living in the state. So how will this create any new tax revenue? Won’t it just be robbing from Peter (other casinos and restaurants) to pay Paul?
Someone explain this to me in simple terms. I am in the 1/2%, just not the billionaire class and this is confusing to me.
A correction: A’s & Oakland were only $88M apart on the offsite infrastructure costs and literally having meetings the city considered good progress the day Fisher and Kaval called and said “We’re buying land in Vegas”. Those meetings were controlled by a specific arbitrator Fisher demanded being used.
Over half his worth is the team, and it was used as collateral for a loan in 2020. That loan has not been repaid. His GAP stock is worth about a third of what the team is. His commercial real estate holdings are in free fall.
MF’er is desperate.
After 20 years of intense work to get a new stadium in Oakland and the stadium lease expiring shortly, yeah, I’d say the Atheletics’ owner is desperate.
Regardless of whether or not you like or dislike the owner, he’s going to do what’s most profitable for the team and fans have not supported the A’s for 20 years despite the team being competitive.
The bay area has consistently tanked stadium deals for the A’s.
Nope.
He’s desperate because he sees his wealth melting away. He walked away from an $88m gap because it was TOO MUCH. The team is the only source of guaranteed revenue he has left, and it’s already mortgaged.
The one tanking the deal in Oakland was Fisher, who has only been actually involved since 2017 when Lew Wolff gave up on San Jose and sold off most of his team stock.
Fisher’s family bought the A’s in 2016. 7 years ago. Fisher entered negotiations with the city to build a new stadium in 2019.
Fans supported the A’s quite well through 2019. Especially considering the ballpark they were playing in.
Fisher’s net worth crumbled along with the GAP stock that made up most of his wealth and he decided that the MLB owners paying him revenue sharing was a cash cow that didn’t require him to put a winning team on the field.
After doubling season ticket prices and trading away any and all players that led to 3 playoff seasons after he bought the team, Fisher took it a step further by having his team president Dave Kaval actually tell fans to not come to games. They responded by doing exactly what he asked.
This deal falling through is due to the actions of Fisher
No, Fisher/Wolff bought from Schott/Hoffman in 2005, bidding lower than several others but Selig wanted his old frat buddy (Wolff) to get the team. The rest of the Fisher family has nothing to do with it.
Fisher for the next 12 years let Lew Wolff handle everything, because Lew Wolff was good at real estate, which Fisher definitely isn’t. Wolff, having been gifted the team by Selig, assumed that Selig would allow him to build in San Jose.
When that fell apart, Lew Wolff was 80± and decided he no longer cared and sold most his shares to Fisher, who instantly proved he was bad at business.
According to the press releases from MLB, Wolff was the majority owner when they purchased the team in 2005 and managing partner from 2005 until November 2016 when he sold 20% of the team to Fisher making the family the majority owners. I can find nothing that says he is still not a minority partner in the team. All I could find was this quote.
“While I will transition out of my role as managing partner, I will forever be a fan of the A’s and, in fact, intend to retain an ownership interest in the team,” said Lew Wolff. “I have no doubt that under control of John Fisher and the Fisher family, who have been fantastic partners since day one of my involvement with the A’s and many years before, the club will thrive.
You want to know who John Fisher is? This article lays it out pretty good. si.com/mlb/2023/04/21/athletics-owner-john-fisher-…
Fisher owns over 70%. Wolff selling him 20% in 2016 still means he owned at least half. Wolff did retain about 5% to hand to his son.
The Fisher family started buying additional shares in 2011. To be the managing partner of a MLB team, you either have to be part of an ownership group where no one owns a majority and you own the largest share or you have to be a majority owner.
My guess is the other MLB owners allowed Wolff to continue to be the managing partner after 2011 only because they could see this coming if John Fisher became managing partner.
As Paul Harvey used to say, now for the rest of the story.
abc7news.com/athletics-news-oakland-new-stadium-as…
Fisher is to blame for this mess.
Not Fisher’s fault. Oakland and the Bay Area has tanked every single attempt to get a stadium done for 20 years. The funding wasn’t there for Howard Terminal’s reconstruction and the whole project was pretty murky. Can’t blame the A’s owner for wanting to have some options.
More has been plans and stability has been put into place in Vegas in a couple months than Oakland accomplished in years.
Excellent point about the traffic @Pad Fan. If the expectation is that they will draw from people at the hotels, that goes against what your stats say about the Raiders.
Traffic anywhere near the strip is a nightmare. Adding stadium traffic, I can’t see that working too well.
Should move to El Paso. Athletico de El Paso would be an enormous boon for the Hispanic market. If not change the name to Utah Raptors and put them in Salt Lake City.