The Oakland Athletics came out and announced their threat to leave the city if they aren't given a new stadium when their lease runs out in 2024. Now, Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis criticized the city and said it's “expected”, according to Vincent Bonsignore of Vegas Nation.
.@Raiders owner Mark Davis on @Athletics looking to relocate: "I hate to say it's expected, but it's expected. It's what we went through…the government up there, is just not capable of putting a deal together that's win-win. And that's all you ever look for is win-win."
— Vincent Bonsignore (@VinnyBonsignore) May 11, 2021
The Raiders ultimately packed their bags and dashed for Las Vegas after dealing with a similar situation. Their reward? A huge, state-of-the-art, $1.9 billion home, named Allegiant Stadium. The move to Vegas has warranted immense success for Oakland and Mark Davis.
As for the Athletics, their desire- and the MLB's- for a waterfront ballpark would help bring more attraction to the stadium in an effort to fill the seats, once the COVID-19 restrictions are fully lifted.
Oakland also lost the Golden State Warriors, who moved across the bridge to San Francisco in 2019 and got a brand new arena. The trend isn't a good one for the city of Oakland, as they could potentially lose three major sports teams in the span of a decade.
According to Steve Gardner of USA Today, the Athletics proposed a $12 billion complex that would feature a brand new ballpark on the waterfront, similar to that of the San Francisco Giants.
It seems that Davis is right on cue, and perhaps the Athletics would be better off moving to another city and starting from scratch.
Could they potentially head to Las Vegas and reunite with the Raiders? That certainly seems like a viable option.
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