Nevada governor Joe Lombardo's office announced Thursday night that he had signed the bill that will fund a new A's stadium on the Las Vegas strip, but earlier in the day Oakland's mayor had harsh words for MLB commissioner Rob Manfred.
As reported by ESPN, Manfred had said, "I think the real question is what is it that Oakland was prepared to do? There is no Oakland offer. They never got to the point where they had a plan to build a stadium at any site. It's not just [A's owner] John Fisher. ... The community has to provide support, and at some point you come to the realization that it's just not going to happen."
During a live interview with KABC in Los Angeles, Oakland mayor Sheng Thao pushed back on Manfred's comments, saying his explanation of what went down in Oakland is "totally false."
"There was a very concrete proposal under discussion and Oakland had gone above and beyond to clear hurdles, including securing funding for infrastructure, providing an environmental review and working with other agencies to finalize proposals," Thao said.
In a statement to KABC, the mayor's office explained further on why Manfred's characterization was wrong.
"The reality is the A's ownership had insisted on a multibillion-dollar, 55-acre project that included a ballpark, residential, commercial and retail space. In Las Vegas, for whatever reason, they seem satisfied with a 9-acre leased ballpark on leased land. If they had proposed a similar project in Oakland, we feel confident a new ballpark would already be under construction."
Oakland fans have vocally pushed back against moving the franchise to Las Vegas. On Tuesday, A's fans staged a reverse boycott intending to fill the Oakland Coliseum, which has averaged 8,555 fans this season. The game drew 27,759 and created a playoff atmosphere, with chants of "Sell the Team!" reverberating throughout the stadium.
"It was great," Manfred said of the game in question. "It's great to see what is this year almost an average Major League Baseball crowd in the facility for one night. That's a great thing."
But the facility itself is lacking, Manfred said. "The ballpark's not in good shape," he said. "The ballpark is not a major league facility. I've said it repeatedly."
According to ESPN's Joon Lee, the City of Oakland negotiated with the A's to develop a stadium and mixed-use district at Howard Terminal. Thao pulled out of negotiations, believing the city was being used as leverage to get a better deal with Las Vegas. Thao said after the Nevada vote that California's legislature passed three new pieces of legislation to support construction of a new A's ballpark at Howard Terminal.
"The A's have been part of Oakland for more than half a century, and they belong in this city," Thao said in a statement. "There is no city that has worked harder to meet the needs of a team than Oakland."
