This situation is turning into a raging dumpster fire. The Oakland A’s are on the verge of moving to Las Vegas with their hated, infamous owner John Fisher a few steps away from moving the team, yet the Oakland fans are not giving up without a fight.
How has the MLB allowed this situation to deteriorate so badly?
Despite being the joint-third most successful franchise in the 120+ year history of the MLB, the Oakland Athletics have turned into the league’s biggest joke as their reviled owner, John Fisher, has blundered his way through a controversial move out to Las Vegas, leaving the city of Oakland in an uproar as their last sports team is on the verge of moving. And, they have every right to be angry with how Fisher has destroyed this franchise.
I’ve already covered this topic briefly a few months ago now as the announcements came out that the Athletics were officially getting moved and their awful start to the season, yet I really didn’t think this situation would get worse in just a matter of a few months.
Don’t get me wrong, this situation was already worse than when the Hindenburg was the primary advertiser for hot-air balloon travel, but both Fisher and the Athletics’ incompetence has somehow reached a new low.
Not only have the A’s posted a horrible record of 19-51 (2nd worst in the MLB behind the Kansas City Royals…somehow) and haven’t been competitive since the first pitch was thrown on opening day, but John Fisher has totally failed in seamlessly transitioning the Athletics out of Oakland.
Whether its highly contested Las Vegas state bills, fights between Fisher and the city of Oakland representatives, fights over stadium funds and buildings permits, numerous news stories and exposes revealing how painfully idiotic Fisher has managed the A’s throughout his tenure, massive fan protests and constant booing, and a general disdain the league office and owners have had towards this story, the last 2-3 years of the A’s existence has been mired in controversy, strife, and turmoil.
Yet, this is most definitely the worst the situation has ever been with both the Las Vegas State Senate and the State House of Representatives agreeing to FUND the controversial $380M taxpayer funds necessary to build the LV baseball park plan for the Athletics, even though MLB commissioner recently said that he was thinking about imposing a $2.2B expansion fee for all new teams.
And, as everyone knows, any team based in the city of Las Vegas, a city with a GDP of $1.4B (2021), population of 646k (2021), and located in a state (Nevada) with the 13th fastest growing population in the US (2023; 0.99% population growth/year), can generate enough revenue to negate that $2.2B expansion fee tenfold.
Unfortunately, for Athletics fans, not everyone has the wealth or the will to pay a $2.2B expansion fee for the chance of making billions more on top of that, and that’s why their hated owner John Fisher wants to relocate the team from Oakland, a city far less wealthy and flashy than LV, to Las Vegas, rather than paying for an expansion team.
And, even more unfortunately for the Athletics fans, it seems like MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and his league office are totally fine with the tied-3rd most successful franchise in MLB history leaving their Oakland home of 55 years in a state of disarray to capitalize on the Las Vegas market, rather than forcing a new billionaire to put $2.2B in the MLB’s pocket.
Of course, Rob Manfred could still veto the move with the support of the 29 other MLB owners, but it doesn’t seem likely (despite all his false sentiments and crocodile tears for the fans of Oakland) as the relocation has gotten to the point where the signatures of two entities can change the future of the team.
Yes, Fisher just needs the signature of the Las Vegas governor and the “signature” of the MLB to officially relocate the Oakland Athletics to the Las Vegas Athletics.
And all I can really say is how sorry I feel for the fans of Oakland. You don’t deserve the sports torture you’ve received these last few years.
I hope you keep protesting as it has a chance of turning the league’s position sour on the move, but I fear its just a small chance.
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