Jeff Chiu / AP
Oakland Athletics’ Yusmeiro Petit, bottom center, pitches against the Boston Red Sox during the eighth inning of a baseball game in Oakland, Calif., Saturday, July 3, 2021.
Friday, Feb. 18, 2022 | 2:26 p.m.
The Oakland A’s are one step closer to building a new baseball stadium in the Bay Area, as franchise leaders determine whether or not to relocate the team to Southern Nevada.
The Oakland City Council on Thursday voted 7-2 to certify an environmental impact report for a proposed $12 billion district dubbed the Howard Terminal plan, which includes a $1 billion, 35,000 seat ballpark along a waterfront port. The A’s are leaving the outdated RingCenter Coliseum, where the team has played since 1968 and which is considered the worst stadium in the big leagues.
Moving forward, the franchise and city still need to agree on community benefits and development agreements. Approval from port authorities, harbor commissioners and other jurisdictions that control the waterways would also be needed.
“Tonight’s vote by the City Council was a historic moment for Oakland’s future,” Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said in a statement. “Now that the Final Environmental Impact Report has been certified, the floor is set for negotiating the robust community benefits that our residents demand and deserve, as well as the final development agreement.”
Despite Thursday’s vote following eight hours of discussions, the Athletics are still negotiating with entities in Las Vegas to build a similarly sized ballpark in an effort to bring the team to the valley, A’s President Dave Kaval told the Sun on Friday.
“Time is of the essence,” Kaval said. “We’re already in a situation where we’re probably past time where it needs to be decided and we can’t afford to have any additional delays. And that’s why it’s so important that we have established an effort in Southern Nevada and in Las Vegas to determine if we could actually have a real option there and a site and a partnership with the community to bring Major League Baseball there.”
Kaval posted on Twitter before the meeting, “Howard Terminal or Bust!” and has said previously that the team would likely move elsewhere should the city reject the plan for the Howard Terminal site. Major League Baseball in May gave approval to scout other cities to call home after league and team officials deemed the Coliseum unfit for play.
Kaval has made multiple trips to Las Vegas in recent months and was here as recently as last month to determine possible locations for a new ballpark.
It’s not immediately clear how Thursday’s vote impacts that path in negotiating a potential stadium in Las Vegas. But Kaval said the certification of the environmental impact report was a “necessary step” to continue negotiations with Oakland with the goal to get something done this summer.
“We have a narrow window to see if we can make this happen or not,” Kaval said. “We’ve been working five years on this project in Oakland, and we kind of need to know one way or another if it’s going to happen or not.”
Officials with MLB and the A’s have long pushed for a new ballpark to replace the aging Coliseum in Oakland, especially on account the team’s lease with the Coliseum ends in 2024.
During past visits to Las Vegas, Kaval has said nearly two dozen sites were under consideration, but the team said Friday that the team has narrowed its list of possible sites in Las Vegas to “three or four” options.
“Term sheets have been exchanged and meetings have happened in person and via Zoom,” Kaval said. “And that’s all going to continue until we can get tied into a final site that we would announce."
“All of that is happening at a deliberate pace, a pace that balances the need to make progress with the importance of being thoughtful and smart,” he said
In December, CNBC reported the A’s submitted a bid to build a stadium at the site of the Tropicana hotel, which is owned by Bally’s Corp. Reports have also surfaced that the A’s have expressed interest at sites in Henderson and Summerlin.
“We’ve made a lot of progress there,” Kaval said of Las Vegas. “So that’s still a very viable and real effort, one that we’re spending a lot of time and effort on a daily basis.”
