MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred warned Oakland officials that the Athletics could move to Las Vegas if a lawsuit preventing the franchise from building a new stadium doesn’t get dropped.
The San Francisco Chronicle first reported Manfred’s warning shot to city officials. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf confirmed to KTVU-TV that Manfred mentioned Vegas as an option.
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The RingCentral Coliseum is jointly owned by the Athletics and Alameda County. The organization offered $85 million for the county’s share of the stadium and county officials have indicated they would be interested in the deal, according to the Chronicle.
The city filed the lawsuit claiming it cannot match the Athletics’ offer, according to the newspaper. A judge issued a temporary restraining order until Nov. 14 to halt the deal.
The Athletics are trying to buy the rights to the stadium to help subsidize the cost of a privately owned and financed ballpark project they plan to build at Howard Terminal. The Athletics are aiming to redevelop the land around the old Coliseum.
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“I’m very concerned about the developments of the last couple of days,” Manfred told the San Francisco Chronicle last week. “I think [A’s President] Dave Kaval and John Fisher and the rest of the A’s organization have made a huge investment to try to get a stadium done here, and to have a city entity turn around and litigate against progress is upsetting.”
According to the newspaper, Manfred met with Schaaf and Oakland City Council President Rebecca Kaplan about the Athletics’ new stadium construction.
“I made it clear that it’s time for the city of Oakland to show concrete progress on the stadium effort,” he said. “It’s gone on too long, and things need to fall into place to get a new stadium here. The fans here, as demonstrated by the 55,000 here tonight, are great fans and deserve a major-league-quality facility.”
The Athletics have played in the Coliseum since 1968 and it's one of the oldest ballparks in the majors.
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By 2020, the Athletics will become the only professional team in the city. The Golden State Warriors are moving into a brand new facility in San Francisco and the Oakland Raiders will be moving to Las Vegas.