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SALT LAKE CITY — The Oakland Athletics' impending move to Las Vegas cleared its potentially largest hurdle on Thursday, as Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo signed a $380 million financing package bill that will help the team build a $1.5 billion stadium on the Las Vegas Strip.
"This is an incredible opportunity to bring the A's to Nevada, and this legislation reflects months of negotiations between the team, the state, the county and (Major League Baseball)," he said, in a statement after signing the bill. "Las Vegas' position as a global sports destination is only growing and Major League Baseball is another tremendous asset for the city."
The Oakland A's also issued a statement calling the bill "a significant step" in the plan to relocate the team. The team is now starting the formal league process to move the team with the agreement in place.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday that other MLB owners will have to approve the relocation plan before the move is finalized, according to MLB.com. There is no timeline for this vote to happen; however, ESPN reported that the owners are expected to approve the measure sometime in the next few months and the team will likely move to Las Vegas by 2025 at the latest, playing in the city's Triple-A stadium until the new 30,000-seat stadium is ready.
The A's are already the parent organization of the Las Vegas Aviators in the Pacific Coast League.
This update has an impact on Utah's efforts to bring an MLB to the Beehive State. The league reportedly set an early 2024 deadline for the A's and Tampa Bay Rays, both teams that have unclear futures in their current stadiums, to figure out their futures before MLB considers an expansion of two more teams sometime down the road.
Big League Utah is one of a handful of coalitions that have been launched, seeking an MLB expansion team. Similar efforts are underway in Nashville, Tennessee; Orlando, Florida; and Portland, Oregon, among other potential cities.
"That means we're one step closer to expansion," said Steve Starks, the CEO of the Larry H. Miller Company, and a founding member of Big League Utah, when asked about the A's relocation process last week.
He told KSL.com that the A's relocation has been a tricky situation to watch from afar. On one hand, it's one of the dominoes that needed to fall ahead of the potential league expansion. But on the other hand, it's difficult to watch a passionate baseball city lose a team after 55 years.
MLB hasn't relayed any updates on when it plans to expand both publically and privately to clubs like Big League Utah. There is still no "definitive timeline" for when the league will pick new expansion markets, Starks said.
Expansion isn't the only option on the table, though. He added that Salt Lake City is also willing to take in a team if another club is looking to move. At this point, nothing has happened on that front.
"I would say Salt Lake is as competitive as any market," he said, referring to expansion and relocation. "We just want baseball to know that should a team look to relocate or sell with relocation as a possibility, that we would be an attractive (option), not only ownership group but also market — and that we're ready to go."
