(KTNV) — A group from the Nevada State Education Association traveled to the Bay Area over the weekend to join Oakland A's fans in a 'reverse boycott' day.
Various groups of A's fans have hosted the boycott days, pushing fans to pack the Oakland Coliseum to show support to keep the team in Oakland throughout the season.
A's fans do not want their favorite baseball team to move to Las Vegas while members of the NSEA — and its political action committee, Schools over Stadiums — don't want public funds used for a new A's ballpark on the Strip.
"We've been working with A's fans," said Chris Daly, deputy executive director of government relations for NSEA. "This interesting relationship developed between teachers and other educators here in Nevada and Oakland A's fans."
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Earlier this year, Nevada lawmakers approved up to $380 million in public monies for a new ballpark, which would go up near the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard, where the Tropicana Las Vegas casino now sits.
While the NSEA is pushing to get a ballot question to voters for the public money spend, it appears that an A's move to Las Vegas is very close to becoming a reality.
With the money for the stadium secured on the Nevada side, the team would need only the approval of Major League Baseball owners and a financing plan in place for a new $1.5 billion ballpark.
Bally's Corporation, owner of the Tropicana, would tear down the aging casino resort at Tropicana and Las Vegas Boulevard to make way for a ballpark that would go on a 9-acre plot of land.
A three-person relocation committee has been appointed by Major League Baseball to study the pending A's move, but officials have been quiet about a timeline for the committee to present its findings.
Still, baseball has a self-imposed deadline of the end of the calendar year for approval of the move.
Daly, who attended Saturday's Giants vs. A's game in Oakland, said a group of Nevada teachers will attend the A's game against Baltimore in Oakland on Aug. 19.
NSEA President Dawn Etcheverry is expected to be in Oakland for a fundraising event Aug. 16. The group hopes to raise $2 million to help fight against the A's move.
