LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The fate of the Oakland Athletics is now in the hands of Major League Baseball.
On Wednesday, the team and Major League Baseball both confirmed that the A's have submitted its official relocation application with the league. MLB's three-man relocation committee is made up of Kansas City Royals CEO John Sherman, Philadelphia Phillies CEO John Middleton and Milwaukee Brewers chairman Mark Attanasio. The three will review the A's application and make a recommendation to commissioner Rob Manfred and an executive council. Three-quarters of the league's 30 team owners have to approve the move in order for the team to get the green light to come to Las Vegas. No vote has been scheduled, as of Friday.
RELATED LINK: MLB executives join relocation committee to determine if A's should move to Las Vegas
So what are valley leaders doing while waiting for the final decision to come down?
A lot of paperwork that includes a development agreement, a lease agreement, a non-relocation agreement, and a community benefits agreement, according to the Las Vegas Stadium Authority, which met on Thursday.
"It is intended to be an agreement that was negotiated with the Stadium Authority," said Steve Hill, the Chief Executive Officer and President, from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. "We think it will be a generous investment, which is $2 million or 1% of ticket revenue, whichever is more. They will also be making contributions to these efforts prior to the stadium opening. That's half a million dollars a year."
Hill said the Las Vegas Stadium Authority is also required to appoint a director to oversee the efforts of the Community Benefit Player Agreement and staff a seven-person oversight committee.
"In this particular case, the seven representatives on that oversight committee are appointed, as outlined in law," Hill said. "The governor will get an appointment. The majority leader and speaker will as well. Clark County will get two and the Stadium Authority will get two as well, including the chair of that committee."
RELATED LINK: Bryce Harper, Bryson Stott, Dexter Fowler, Tom Hanks weigh in on potential A's move
Applied Analysis' Jeremy Aguero did consulting work on the project. However, some lawmakers brought up concerns during the legislative session saying he wasn't transparent in whether he was working for the Oakland A's or the Las Vegas Stadium Authority. However, that conflict of interest could be resolved since the company won't be moving forward with the Stadium Authority.
"Applied Analysis worked for the A's during the legislative session providing analysis. It was, obviously, very helpful in understanding how this deal would work and what the benefit to the public would be," Hill said. "They are going to continue to do that work for the A's because of that and they are going to be stepping away from doing the administrative work here at the Stadium Authority. I'm proposing that that administrative work be subcontracted and brought, what I consider in-house, to the LVCVA."
Hill added the Stadium Authority didn't give the A's any special treatment when comparing the process to bringing other big events to the valley.
"The way we worked to help bring this project and what we feel is, not only a responsible [way], but a pretty spectacular way for this community, we feel like that's our job on a daily basis," Hill said. "We work on all kinds of different events and different venues and that is what we're here and paid to do. We did not receive any compensation from the A's to do that. We did that because we're paid by the public to advance tourism and create a benefit to our community and our state. Applied Analysis certainly did absolutely nothing wrong but received compensation from the A's. Working through the legislative session, they are going to continue to do that and that's why we think that change is appropriate."
In June, Gov. Joe Lombardo signed Senate Bill 1 into law, which would allocate up to $380 million in public funding for a new Major League Baseball ballpark to be built at the Tropicana site on the Las Vegas Strip. Hill said room taxes generated in the new Sports and Innovation District would help cover some of those costs. It's similar to what was put in place to pay for Allegiant Stadium. The stadium continues to generate a lot of revenue for Clark County. For all of fiscal year 2023, the Stadium Authority collected about $60.5 million, which is up about 17.5% from the prior year. The Stadium Authority said that number is likely to go up as additional room tax revenues are reported.
RELATED LINK: A's announce hiring of Allegiant Stadium developer on ballpark project
Stadium Authority officials also provided an update on just how many people are visiting Allegiant Stadium. Over the last year, they said the stadium has hosted 39 public events, 164 private events, and brought in over 1.6 million visitors, which is higher than last year.
"We're proud that the stadium continues to see a lot of visitors and is successful with us and we continue to bring in a variety of events in addition to football," said Adam Feldman, Vice President of Sales and Ticket Operations with the Las Vegas Raiders. "We've had a host of concerts, international concerts and international soccer. We will continue to do that going forward. And then, one of our bigger wins was landing the Final Four for 2028. We continue to look for big, global-scale events. We're in the process of working on a few more foreign customers in the future."
As for the A's, they're planning on honoring the rest of their lease at the Oakland Coliseum, which expires after next season.
RELATED LINK: Oakland mayor isn't ready to concede A's
If the relocation is approved, the Las Vegas stadium wouldn't be open until at least 2028. Owner John Fisher told ESPN he would be open to extending the team's lease at the Coliseum but he's not sure where the team will play after next season. As for the A's, president Dave Kaval told the Stadium Authority, the team is ready to come to the valley.
"We look forward to the league processing that [relocation paperwork] in a really positive fashion, as soon as possible," Kaval said. "We want to have openness, transparency, a lot of communication to ensure we get a great outcome, not only with all the documents but just to ensure that we can have a great community benefits agreement and that the team can enter the market in a really positive way. We're excited to be here. I know we have a lot of work to do in the future but we look forward to working together."
