MLB report: Oakland A's move to Las Vegas unanimously approved by team owners

The Oakland A's move to Las Vegas was unanimously approved Thursday by Major League Baseball team owners, cementing the sport’s first relocation since 2005.

A 75% vote of the 30 teams was necessary for approval of A’s owner John Fisher’s plan, which was endorsed by commissioner Rob Manfred.

“There was an effort over more than a decade to find a stadium solution in Oakland. It was John Fisher’s preference. It was my preference," Manfred said at a news conference following the vote in Arlington, Texas. “This is a terrible day for fans in Oakland. I understand that and that’s why we’ve always had a policy of doing everything humanly possible to avoid a relocation and truly believe we did that in this case. I think it’s beyond debate that the status quo in Oakland was untenable.”

After years of complaints about the Oakland Coliseum and an inability to negotiate government assistance for a new ballpark in the Bay area, the A’s plan to move to a stadium to be built on the Las Vegas Strip with $380 million in public financing was approved by the Nevada government. The team plans for the ballpark to open in 2028. MLB approved Clark County as its operating territory following the move and Nevada as its television territory.

“I understand that this is an incredibly difficult day for Oakland fans, and I just want to say we gave every effort and did everything we could to try and find a solution there.” Fisher said. “I’m very excited about the opportunity in Vegas. The fans there are terrific."

Players’ association head Tony Clark declined comment on the decision.

The A's lease at the Coliseum runs through 2024, and they will remain next season at the outdated and run-down stadium where they have played since moving to California in 1968. It remains unclear where the team will play after that until a new ballpark opens.

Manfred said the a variety of alternatives are being explored, including possibly of the A’s staying at the Coliseum in the interim period. He said the preference will be to “find an 81-game home” for the team, unlike the unique situation with the Blue Jays in 2021, when pandemic travel restrictions caused MLB to shift home games at the team's spring training facility in Dunedin, Florida, and then its Triple-A ballpark in Buffalo, New York, before going back to Toronto at midseason.

Las Vegas will become the A's fourth city, the most for a MLB team. The A's played in Philadelphia from 1901-54, then moved to Kansas City for 13 seasons before going to California. The new stadium will be the team’s fifth after Columbia Park (1901-08), Shibe Park (1909-54), Memorial Stadium (1955-67) and the Coliseum.

Since the Washington Senators became the Texas Rangers for 1972, the only other team to relocate was the Montreal Expos, who became the Washington Nationals in 2005.

Atlanta to host 2025 All-Star Game

MLB will play its 2025 All-Star Game in Atlanta, four years after moving the event from Truist Park to Denver’s Coors Field over objections to changes in Georgia’s voting rights laws.

Atlanta was awarded the 2021 All-Star Game in May 2019, but MLB moved it in April 2021, just three months before the game was played.

“I made the decision in 2021 to move the event. and I understand, believe me, that people had then and probably still have different views as to the merits of that decision,” Manfred said Thursday during an announcement that followed an owners' meeting.

Next year’s All-Star Game will be at Arlington's Globe Life Field and the 2026 game will be in Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park to mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. — AP