The Oakland Athletics inched closer to a move to Las Vegas when the Nevada state assembly on Wednesday approved a bill providing public funding to assist in the construction of a new stadium.
The assembly voted 25-15 in favor of providing $380 million in public funding toward the Athletics’ proposed $1.5 billion stadium to be built on the site of the Tropicana Casino on the Las Vegas strip.
On Tuesday, the Nevada senate voted 13-8 in favor of the same measure, which now only needs the signature of Gov. Joe Lombardo, who has publicly backed the plan.
The A’s still would need approval from Major League Baseball to relocate to their fourth city. They played in Philadelphia from 1901-54, then in Kansas City from 1955-67 before landing in Oakland for the 1968 season.
Fans in Oakland are attempting to convince MLB to keep the franchise in Northern California. On Tuesday, they staged a “reverse boycott” in which a season-high 27,759 fans showed up, many wearing green-and-gold T-shirts adorned with “SELL,” a message to owner John Fisher.
The A’s have cited poor attendance and an outdated stadium as reasons for wanting to move. Years of talks with the city of Oakland regarding a new stadium did not produce results.
Las Vegas previously got the Raiders to move from Oakland ahead of the 2020 season. Sin City also is home to the new NHL champions, as the Vegas Golden Knights lifted the Stanley Cup on Tuesday to cap their sixth season as an expansion team.
–Field Level Media
