Featured image credit: Quintin Soloviev/CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED/Edited for size
The Oakland Athletics Major League Baseball team has agreed to pay $45m (£35.6m/€41.2m) to Alameda County for its half of the Oakland Coliseum, as the franchise prepares to leave California for Las Vegas.
The Mercury News has reported that the A’s informed Alameda County’s Board of Supervisors of the team’s intention to “satisfy the obligations” of a 2019 agreement between the two parties.
In April 2019, Alameda County agreed an $85m deal to sell its share of the Coliseum complex to the A’s in a move that granted the franchise a fall-back option if its efforts to develop a new ballpark failed to come to fruition.
At the time, the Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to approve the term sheet for the deal with the A’s for its 50% stake in the Coliseum. The A’s were pursuing potential plans for a new stadium at Oakland’s Howard Terminal but the team has since turned its attention to Las Vegas. Last month, Major League Baseball team owners approved the relocation of the A’s to Las Vegas.
According to The Mercury News, the A’s had sought to delay payment to Alameda County, but the team has now agreed to provide the $45m. The payment has been made even though the A’s may no longer be playing at the Coliseum after the 2024 season.
MLB has said that it is working with the A’s to evaluate multiple options before its planned ballpark opens in Las Vegas in 2028. The $1.5bn, 30,000-seat stadium is due to be built on the Tropicana site on the Las Vegas Strip.
There have been reports that the team could stay in Oakland until 2028 or temporarily play at Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants. The A’s have played in Oakland since 1968.
The A’s will become Las Vegas’ third major league team, alongside the NHL’s Golden Knights and the NFL’s Raiders. The NFL team left Oakland for Nevada just three years ago.
In October, construction manager Mortenson-McCarthy revealed the tentative timeline for the A’s ballpark, with work potentially commencing in April 2025. It is hoped the stadium will be completed in January 2028.
Share this