State Leaders, Oakland A’s Reach Tentative Agreement

The Oakland A’s have been eyeing a move to Las Vegas for over a year due the fact that it’s simply harder to do business in California compared to Nevada. The A’s organization has been subject to a barrage of lawsuits filed against their plans to build a waterfront stadium in Oakland. Multiple sights were scouted, proposals floated, and, as of this morning, state leaders and the Oakland A’s have stepped up to the plate and are ready to play ball.

Today, Governor Joe Lombardo announced a tentative agreement between his office, the A’s organization, Treasurer Zach Conine, and Clark County officials to forward a bill for consideration by the Nevada Legislature that would bring Major League Baseball to the Las Vegas Strip.

“This agreement follows months of negotiations between the state, the county, and the A’s, and I believe it gives us a tremendous opportunity to continue building on the professional sports infrastructure of southern Nevada,” said Governor Joe Lombardo. “Las Vegas is clearly a sports town, and Major League Baseball should be a part of it.”

The tentative agreement is being drafted into legislation that will be introduced in the Nevada Legislature in the coming days to be publicly debated and considered.

The tentative agreement includes the creation of a Sports and Entertainment Improvement District for a planned 30,000-seat, publicly owned, retractable roof stadium located on the southeast corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue. Construction is estimated at $1.5 billion and will create more than 14,000 construction jobs.

“We’re very appreciative of the support from the State of Nevada and Clark County’s leadership,” said A’s President Dave Kaval. “We want to thank Governor Lombardo, the Legislative leadership, the Treasurer, and Clark County Commissioners and staff on the collaborative process. We look forward to advancing this legislation in a responsible way.”

“Clark County has been working diligently to negotiate a deal that will protect the taxpayers of Clark County as well as the finances of Clark County government in our negotiations with stakeholders, and in reviewing this proposal, we believe it is reflective of the prudent financial practices of Clark County,” said Clark County.

As a part of the proposed legislation, the public-private partnership includes public financing constituting less than 25 percent of the cost, making it the third-lowest public share of cost for the 14 Major League Baseball stadiums built this century.

“This tentative agreement minimizes the risk to Nevada taxpayers in the most fiscally responsible manner,” said Treasurer Zach Conine. “I’m also pleased that this project will leverage the most private investment of any baseball stadium in the country.”

With the Nevada Legislature in its final two weeks of session, Legislative leaders said they were happy to finally have a proposal in front of them that could be publicly vetted by their members.

“I am excited that we have finally received the A’s proposal and we are currently reviewing it,” said Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager. “As I have continuously said throughout this process, no commitment will be made until we have both evaluated the official proposal and received input from interested parties, including impacted community members. At the end of the day, any decision will be guided by what is best for Nevadans, our economy, and our communities.”

Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro said the proposal will be given full consideration in the Senate before the end of the session. “Over the time we have remaining during this session, we will give this proposal a thorough vetting to fully explore the opportunity and its impacts on Southern Nevada,” said Cannizzaro.