The Oakland Athletics Major League Baseball team is set to meet with city officials to discuss the possibility of extending its lease at the Oakland Coliseum, which expires at the end of the 2024 season.
The team is preparing to move to a new purpose-built stadium in Las Vegas in 2028 and received the green light from MLB to relocate back in November. With the Coliseum lease deal expiring this year, the team would need somewhere to play in the interim.
It was reported last month that the A’s were considering several options for a temporary ballpark, with Sacramento, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Reno and Salt Lake City all mentioned as potential destinations.
However, the A’s could end up staying at the Coliseum after the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the team will meet with officials from the City of Oakland and County of Alameda tomorrow (Thursday).
The report stated that the meeting has been arranged after “ongoing conversations” between the A’s and the City of Oakland. The A’s have played at the Coliseum since 1968 and any decision on the team’s home venue for the 2025 season would need to be made by this July.
MLB has previously said that it is working with the A’s to evaluate multiple options before the new $1.5bn (£1.2bn/€1.4bn), 30,000-seat stadium opens in Las Vegas. The new stadium will be built on the Tropicana site on the Las Vegas Strip.
Plans for the new ballpark appeared to take a major step forward at the end of January after it was announced that Tropicana will close on April 2 ahead of the demolition of the iconic casino-resort.
Earlier this month, however, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman cast doubt over the team’s proposed move to the city, stating that the A’s would be better off staying in Oakland.
The A’s would become Las Vegas’ third major league team, joining the NHL’s Golden Knights and the NFL’s Raiders.
