A’s Ask to Play Unusually High Number of Home Games Away from Vegas Per Year

Posted on: June 5, 2024, 10:39h. 

Last updated on: June 5, 2024, 10:56h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas, Restaurants, Las Vegas Myths.

In a newly discovered stipulation in their 30-year non-relocation agreement with Las Vegas, the Oakland Athletics are requesting to play up to eight home games per year away from their proposed baseball stadium.

A rendering of the future A’s ballpark in Las Vegas, affixed with an AI-generated Post-It Note explaining that the team isn’t home at the moment. (Image: Oakland Athletics and Chat GPT)

That’s more than double the number of “neutral-site home games,” as they are called, agreed to by other Major League Baseball clubs in their non-relocation agreements. No more than three were stipulated in the agreements struck to construct the three newest MLB ballparks in Atlanta, Miami, and Arlington, Texas.

Playing eight neutral-site home games would result in projected losses to Las Vegas/Clark County of between $2.6-4 million in incremental tax revenue and between $65-$75 million in incremental spending per year, according to an analysis by The Nevada Independent, which uncovered the stipulation on Tuesday.

A’s President David Kaval told the Independent that holding eight games away from Las Vegas will be necessary to help the newly relocated team attract new players and sponsors.

Foul Ball

Before voting to approve $380 million in public funding for the A’s Vegas stadium last June, members of the Nevada Legislature were told by Applied Analysis, a  Vegas-based economic impact analytics firm hired by the A’s, that the stadium would attract 405K visitors to the Strip each year and generate an additional $36.5 million in tax revenue and $900 million in economic activity.

That estimate was based on the A’s playing 81 home games at the stadium.

Though the A’s have offered no compensation for the lost revenue, Kaval told the Independent that other events, including concerts, could make up the revenue gap while the A’s are away.

According to the Independent, negotiations are ongoing between the A’s and the Las Vegas Stadium Authority, which oversees the operations and oversight of Allegiant Stadium and the planned A’s ballpark, on the terms of the non-relocation agreement, including the number of neutral-site home games.

The Las Vegas Stadium Authority Board is expected to vote on whether to approve the agreement at its July 18 meeting.

The A’s have agreed to play in Sacramento for three years until their new Vegas stadium opens in 2028. The stadium is expected to be built on the site of the Tropicana, which is currently being demolished, though some critics, including Casino.org’s own Vital Vegas blogger Scott Roeben, argue that the stadium will never get constructed due to an obvious lack of financing.