Tag: stadium subsidies

MLB owners meetings begin Tuesday, Oakland mayor requests ‘no’ vote on A’s relocation

The Las Vegas A’s story will complete one more chapter this week, one way or the other.

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The annual MLB owners meetings begin in Arlington, Texas on Tuesday, November 13, and will run for three days. Assuming no gastrointestinal virus rips through them like happened with the canceled GM meetings, anyway. Among the many points under discussion is the Oakland Athletics, and whether they should become the Las Vegas A’s, or whatever it is they’d change their name to if forced.

The city of Oakland hasn’t fully given up on the A’s yet, with the current mayor, Sheng Thao, submitting a letter to 15 of MLB’s owners, asking them to vote no on the relocation of the club. Not all 15 would need to be convinced in order to halt the relocation, either: this kind of move requires 23 of the 30 owners to vote yes. If it does get the required number of votes, you can be sure a revote would be cast to make it seem as if it’s a unanimous decision, but before that false front is presented to the public, earning those 23 yays is the goal.

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Schools Over Stadium loses lawsuit over petition, but plans to start over

Schools Over Stadium has been slowed down, but they aren’t giving up on cutting off the A’s stadium funding in Las Vegas.

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Let’s rewind to September for a moment. The A’s and the state of Nevada pushed ahead with plans for a publicly financed stadium, and the state’s educators pushed back with the filing of a petition meant to cut off said public finances. The plan was to get the petition its required signatures and put it on the ballot in 2024, so that the citizens of Nevada could decide if they wanted their tax dollars to go towards yet another new stadium, or if those funds should instead be put toward anything else. Like, say, the educational system that desperately needed them.

I wrote about that issue at Baseball Prospectus (no subscription required) after speaking with the Nevada State Educators Association:

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Notes: Marlins, A’s stadium board, Brewers’ subsidies

The Marlins want to go cheaper (again), the A’s Las Vegas journey takes its next step, and the Brewers got hundreds of millions of dollars to renovate their stadium.

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Kim Ng left the Marlins last week, and because it happened early on a Monday morning and the team was the first to send out the news, there was little in the way of detail. We know now, though, that the Marlins attempted to hire someone to oversee their general manager after she managed to bring the Marlins record way up and help them to their first full-season postseason slot since the 2003 World Series championship campaign. (You can count 2020, by all means, but realize that if the season had been the length it was supposed to be, that team probably wasn’t playing ball in October.)

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Notes: John Angelos interview, stadium grifting

John Angelos speaking to the media is always a treat, because he’s oblivious, and some notes on things I’ve been up to, as well.

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John Angelos doesn’t do so well with the media. He lacks the savvy needed to actually convince people of his schemes, but he thinks he’s got things under control, so he feels like he’s in a position to speak relatively freely on things like the Orioles and their spending or not spending, how the ballpark lease situation with Baltimore and the state of Maryland is going, and so on. But he always just comes off looking delusional and overconfident, and like he isn’t aware that he’s giving away the game. His recent interview at the New York Times with Tyler Kepner is a wonderful example.

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Educators against the Las Vegas A’s

The A’s stadium is probably happening, but there’s a new hurdle to clear, at least.

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If you’re still holding out hope that the Athletics are stymied in their quest to take up residence in Las Vegas, then you’re not alone. The Nevada State Education Association (NSEA) has formed a political-action committee called “Schools Over Stadiums,” with the aim being pretty clear from that name. From the Los Angeles Times’ story:

[Alexander] Marks said his organization is concerned about the more than 3,000 statewide vacancies for teachers and educational staff and is outraged that a stadium is being presented as a financial benefit for the people of Nevada.

“Our priorities are misguided,” Marks said. “If stadiums were the fix, I don’t know why we wouldn’t build 10 of them.”

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