The Oakland Athletics move to Las Vegas cleared its biggest hurdle on June 14, paving the way for the team to relocate to a new 30,000-seat stadium on Las Vegas Boulevard. The Nevada Legislature voted 25-15 to approve partial public funding ($380 million) of the $1.5 billion facility.

The debate in the state assembly focused on whether or not the publicly-funded sports venues offer a positive return in terms of tax dollars generated and increased business opportunities. Evan Drellich quoted the legislators’ competing points of view in an article in The Athletic.

“As a representative of northern Nevada, this is what I see: I see approximately 15,000 good-paying jobs during construction in Clark County. I also see 8,000 good-paying jobs that will be during the operation of the stadium in Clark County,” said a member of the assembly, Rich DeLong.

“No amount of amendments are going to change the fact that we are giving millions of public dollars to a billionaire,” said state assemblywoman Selena La Rue Hatch. “And no amount of spin or changing of the numbers will change the fact that we are giving $36 million a year in public funds in exchange for maybe $2 million in in-kind donations. That math doesn’t add up to me.”

Nevada Governor, Joe Lombardo, signed the bill on June 15, approving the funding. The timing of the legislature’s vote in Nevada is ironic, as on June 13, A’s supporters organized a “reverse boycott”, where fans were encouraged to go to the Oakland Coliseum and chant, “Sell the team!” The fans responded, with over 27,000 showing up, chanting and holding signs. While the chant was at its loudest, the As broadcasters nervously told lengthy stories on air about cotton candy.

The A’s move is not final at this point,  even though Lombardo has signed the bill. Commissioner Rob Manfred held a press conference on June 15 after owners’ meetings in New York. His comments were captured in an article in The Athletic.

They have to submit an application, there are pretty rigorous requirements about the application: you have to talk about the market you’re leaving, the efforts you’ve made there; the markets you want to go to, why it’s better. It then goes to a relocation committee that has to review the application and make recommendations on things like operating territory, home television territory. That recommendation comes to me, goes to the executive council, they ultimately make recommendations to the clubs, and then there has to be a three-quarter vote.

Manfred also pointed out that there likely will not be a relocation fee for the A’s to pay.

The relocation fee, the ultimate decision, will be made in the process that I described a moment ago. I’ve been clear with the owners: in the context where you have an owner who’s making a billion-dollar private commitment moving to a market where they receive public funding, for baseball to step in and have a relocation fee, I don’t see that as a realistic possibility.

Manfred Talks Pride Events In MLB

During his session with the media on June 15, Manfred talked about MLB’s stance on requiring teams to hold Pride events. He said that the decision would be up to individual teams and would not be centrally driven. Here is Chelsea Janes from The Washington Post on Twitter:

The Texas Rangers are the only MLB team not to have a Pride event scheduled this season. The Mets will have Pride Night on June 16 when they host the St. Louis Cardinals at Citi Field.

Manfred on “Sticky Stuff” Protocol

The Mets lost Drew Smith for ten games when the umpires determined that his hands were too sticky before he there a pitch in the Mets’ game against the Yankees on June 13. Earlier this season, Max Scherzer was suspended for ten games for the same reason. There is no objective standard for the enforcement of the “sticky stuff” rule, and it’s up to the umpires’ judgment.

Manfred thinks the status quo on that particular rule is fine.

Smith and Scherzer join Hector Santiago of the Mariners, Domingo Germán of the Yankees, and Caleb Smith of the Diamondbacks as pitchers to be suspended for sticky stuff since the rule was implemented in 2021.