MLB Commish Threatens to Move Oakland A's to Vegas Over Stadium Lawsuit
MLB Commish Threatens to Move Oakland A's to Vegas ... Over Stadium Lawsuit
The Las Vegas A's?!?
It's possible ... because MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is threatening to move the club if the city of Oakland doesn't drop their lawsuit over the future of their stadium.
The A's currently play at RingCentral Coliseum -- which is widely considered an outdated stadium without cool stuff like modern luxury suites, dope restaurants and other modern amenities.
The A's want to completely renovate the stadium as part of a major upgrade because they believe a new stadium would help with attendance. Oakland's current attendance is among the worst in baseball.
But, here's the problem ... the A's don't own the Coliseum. It's owned by Alameda County and the City of Oakland.
The city recently filed a lawsuit to block the county from selling its share of the Coliseum to the A's so the club could redevelop the 155-acre site to help finance a privately owned ballpark elsewhere in the city, roughly 6 miles away from the current site.
Enter Rob Manfred ... who earlier this week made a veiled threat to move the team to Vegas if Oakland didn't drop their lawsuit.
And now, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf has confirmed Manfred's threat ... saying he did, in fact, tell officials he would consider moving the team.
The next hearing in the lawsuit is set for Nov. 14 -- but Schaaf said on Monday that she's confident about working something out to keep the team in Oakland.
"I've been clear about the path to keeping the A's in Oakland -- build a privately-financed ballpark that's responsible to taxpayers and enhances neighborhood vitality."
If the A's did go to Vegas, they would follow the NFL's Oakland Raiders -- they're set to make the move to Sin City for the 2020 season.