Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis voiced his support for the Oakland Athletics possibly relocating to another city on Tuesday, saying that the “government up there is just not capable” of making a deal for a new stadium to happen.
Davis, whose team relocated to Las Vegas in 2020 after playing in Oakland for 45 years (1960 to 1981 and 1995 to 2019), told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the difficulties of getting a new stadium approved in the Bay City are “expected.”
ATHLETICS EXPLORING RELOCATION FROM OAKLAND, MLB RELEASES STATEMENT
“I hate to say it’s expected, but it’s expected,” he said. “It’s what we went through…the government up there, is just not capable of putting a deal together that’s win-win. And that’s all you ever look for is win-win.”
The Raiders facing stadium challenges, left Oakland for Los Angeles for the 1982 season only to return 13 years later with the lure of a new stadium. However, the organization couldn’t get the funding it needed for a state-of-the-art facility to replace the Oakland Alameda Coliseum, now called RingCentral Coliseum.
Davis would pay a record $350 million relocation fee to bring the franchise to Las Vegas but was also given $750 million in taxpayer money to build Allegiant Stadium which totaled $2 billion.
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Like the Raiders, the A’s are looking for an upgrade from RingCentral Coliseum, which is among the oldest stadiums in the league.
Major League Baseball released a statement on Tuesday stating that the current Coliseum site is “not a viable option for the future vision of baseball.”
“MLB is concerned with the rate of progress on the A’s new ballpark effort with local officials and other stakeholders in Oakland,” the baseball organization stated. “The A’s have worked very hard to advance a new ballpark in downtown Oakland for the last four years, investing significant resources while facing multiple roadblocks.”
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“We know they remain deeply committed to succeeding in Oakland, and with two other sports franchises recently leaving the community, their commitment to Oakland is now more important than ever.”
The Athletics were founded in 1901 in Philadelphia and were a charter franchise of the then-new American League. The team moved to Kansas City for the 1955 season, before eventually settling in Oakland for the 1968 season.
Fox News’ Daniel Canova and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
