‘They’ve got to figure out a way to stay in Oakland,’ Mayor Goodman doubts plans for Athletics move to Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — In a podcast released Tuesday, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman expressed concern over the pending Oakland Athletics move to southern Nevada, citing traffic and location concerns for the would-be baseball stadium planned for the Las Vegas Strip.

In the conversation with Front Office Sports Today, Goodman told podcast host and senior writer Owen Poindexter that the Oakland Athletics move to Las Vegas was ill-advised, saying she believed the team’s management truly wanted to remain in California’s Bay Area.

“I know in the back there both [Athletics’ owner John Fisher and president Dave Kaval’s] minds is ‘If we could just get Oakland to go ahead and build us what we need here because certainly, you have the fan base there.'”

Goodman cited the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix as one of the events causing traffic nightmares in Las Vegas, saying that a ballpark on the site of the Tropicana Las Vegas Casino Resort would just exacerbate the problem.

“To come here and take down an old hotel and put it right at the heart of the Strip and more congestion,” Goodman said. “We have enough congestion right now.”

The mayor supported Athletics fans in Oakland who wish the franchise would stay in the location they’ve called home since 1968.

“I run into people from Oakland all the time; they want to keep the team, and it’s just the government up there,” Goodman said. “I love the people from Oakland, and I think they deserve to have their team. If you want something badly enough, you find a way to get it done.”

Goodman clarified that the shifting plans for where the Athletics would play in Las Vegas were troublesome.

“I keep thinking there’s something wrong here and maybe just waiting it out,” she said. “I’m not sure the funds are there. So, how do you find and make the funds happen? I just know that Mr. Fisher […] needs to listen to the people that are up there. It’s their team.”

Goodman praised the original plan for a 35,000-seat baseball stadium west of the Las Vegas Strip on a 49-acre site at Tropicana Avenue and Dean Martin Drive, north of the Allegiant Stadium. However, she said she had questions when Athletics shifted gears to a location on the Las Vegas Strip.

“When they said no, I thought, this doesn’t make sense. Here’s a great site. They can get a great price on it cause it’s owned by the city,” Goodman said. “They want to get closer to the Strip with all the congestion and everything. And I thought, this does not make sense and so why is it happening? And then I thought, well because they really want to stay in Oakland. They want to be on the water. They have that magnificent dream.”

Goodman didn’t mince words when asked if it was a good idea for the Athletics franchise to move to the current site of the Tropicana Las Vegas Casino Resort.

“I personally think they’ve got to figure out a way to stay in Oakland and make their dream come true,” she said.

On Tuesday, Mayor Goodman issued a statement on X, saying, “I want to be clear that I am excited about the prospect of Major League Baseball in Las Vegas, and it very well may be that the Las Vegas A’s will become a reality that we will welcome to our city.

“On Feb. 5, 2024, I was interviewed for the Front Office Sports podcast. It was one of many interviews about the rise of major league sports in Las Vegas, and how this weekend’s Super Bowl is a milestone in my and former Mayor Oscar Goodman’s pursuit of sports teams for Las Vegas. We discussed several topics, including the Oakland A’s for about seven minutes, and I mentioned the passionate fans of Oakland who often visit our city to cheer on the Raiders. My points included that it is my belief that in their perfect world the ownership of the A’s would like to have a new ballpark on the water in Oakland and that the ownership and government there should listen to their great fans and try to make that dream come true.

“Should that fail, Las Vegas has shown that it is a spectacular market for major league sports franchises.”

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