LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Oakland A's are one step closer to playing ball in Las Vegas.
If all goes according to plan, Las Vegas will be hosting Major League Baseball games four years from today.
That's because the Oakland A's say they have an agreement in place on a deal to buy land just west of the Strip to build a new climate-controlled ballpark.
"Forty-nine acres right across the I-15 from T-Mobile, right near Allegiant," said Dave Kaval, the president of the Oakland A's. "Right north of there for a future home for the Oakland A's."
Kaval was in Las Vegas Wednesday finalizing the deal where the team will buy the land from Red Rock Resorts.
Kaval said he knew it wouldn't be an open-air ballpark.
"We've been in Las Vegas in the summer. It's got to be climate-controlled," Kaval said. "We're looking at options to have it partially retractable, which I think will be pretty exciting."
The news has sports fans and the valley baseball community buzzing.
"If you look at the Triple-A team, they're supporting it out there," Wayne Kirby, Las Vegas resident and New York Mets coach, said. "I think it'd be a good fit."
The Las Vegas Aviators, the Triple-A affiliate of the A's, play about 20 minutes away from where the new venue would be built.
Kaval said the two teams could co-exist but there's also the question about where the A's would play until the new ballpark is built.
The team's lease at the aging Oakland Coliseum is up after 2024.
As the A's move forward with their Vegas plans, there's also the apparent future "ex", the City of Oakland.
Mayor Sheng Thao is not happy about how the Las Vegas land deal went down.
The city and team had been in negotiations over a waterfront ballpark in Oakland.
However, that possibility now seems all but dead.
"It is disrespectful to our residents and our fans to string the city along this way," Thao said during a press conference Thursday morning.
The proposed Las Vegas ballpark is expected to cost around $1.5 billion.
The A's said they're willing to put in $1 billion but state lawmakers will now have to figure out how to foot the bill to cover the rest of the cost.
