Tag: John Fisher

Oakland A’s relocation podcast with Daniel Dullum: Will A’s dump Tropicana for a third ballpark site?; Will Fisher have financing troubles for stadium?

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The Foutainbleau location insiders say the A’s would consider the 27 acre site over the current ballpark site at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino. The site is close to Circus Circus and Stratosphere on the Las Vegas strip (photo by the Las Vegas Review Journal)

On the Oakland A’s relocation podcast:

#1 Daniel a lot of discussion this past week since the owner approved the Oakland A’s move to Las Vegas where will A’s owner John Fisher get funding for the stadium his share is $1.1 billion. He’s checking out possibilities for a loan from Goldman Sachs and his family as the State of Nevada has approved $380 million in public money for they’re share of the Tropicana ballpark.

#2 If Fisher can’t get the funding outright it more than likely will kill the deal. Bally’s could kick in but at $ 1.5 billion that’s a tall ask and will they end up being the ones being on the hook. Major League Baseball owners could shore up but still that’s a pretty steep bail out for Fisher.

#3 Schools over Stadiums is viewed as a long shot to get some 102,000 signatures on a petition that would put a referendum on the Nov 2024 ballot that would stop the $380 million public funding of the A’s Tropicana ballpark.

#4 The A’s are possibly looking into a third location near the Fountainbleau on the North East end of the strip, it would be near the Stratosphere, and Circus Circus. This third location is 27 acres as opposed to the nine acres the A’s are working with now. With the bigger site will the cost to John Fisher run more than the $1.1 billion he’s looking at with the nine acre Tropicana?

#5 Schools over Stadiums are planning to redo the petition at the advice of the judge who turned the petition language down in the last hearing on Mon Nov 6th. Once they get their consultation done with their legal staff Schools over Stadium will present the petition language to an Nevada appeals court and move forward with getting the 102,000 signatures split up amongst four Nevada districts.

Daniel Dullum does the Oakland A’s relocation podcasts Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: A’s considering modeling Vegas park after Globe Life in Arlington

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Talk of the Oakland A’s modeling their new Las Vegas ballpark after Globe Life Field in Arlington complete with retractable roof. The Las Vegas A’s park is expected to be completed by 2028. (photo from Ballparks of Baseball)

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 Amaury, according to the Las Vegas Review Journal the Oakland A’s are looking at Globe Life Field in Arlington as a blue print for their Tropicana Ball Park. Globe Life was built in 2020 has a full retractable roof and seats 40,000. The A’s last proposal said they would seat 30,000 fans at the Tropicana in Vegas.

#2 A retractable roof at the A’s Vegas ball park most likely will only be opened maybe 10-11 times a season as it gets up to 102-1110 during the summer month of June, July and August. If the A’s have a retractable roof it will be at the cost of $100 million.

#3 Amaury, the A’s if they have the retractable roof will be using the park not only for baseball but for multi purpose events like concerts and public events. The question is can the A’s sell out every event like they say they can for the next 30 years some would say it’s doubtful.

#4 According to Dave Sampson the former Miami Marlins team president who podcasts on the show “Nothing Personal” said that the A’s deal to Vegas is not done yet despite the owners voting 30-0. There are two things that could hold things up John Fisher the team owner still needs to come up with his share of the construction money for the Vegas ballpark. Fisher is hedging his hopes that financing will be from tourism. The Vegas fan base will be too small to support the A’s but visitors from out of town are who the A’s are hanging their hats on.

#5 The question as to where the A’s play after 2024 is still up in the air as the Oakland Coliseum is the best location for the A’s to play 2025-27 in. The A’s have explored minor league parks and Oracle Park in San Francisco as places to go to but still don’t have an answer yet.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s relocation podcast with Daniel Dullum: Commissioner says there wasn’t a viable path to stay in Oakland

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In what should have been a happy moment for Oakland A’s owner John Fisher (pictured) and MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred in announcing unanimous vote to relocate the A’s to Vegas during the whole press conference from Thu Nov 16, 2023 they both looked uncomfortable and were apologetic about to Oakland fans at at times looking guilty (AP News photo)

On the Oakland A’s relocation podcast with Daniel:

#1 Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said there was not a viable path to stay in Oakland even though it was Oakland A’s owner John Fisher and Manfred’s to remain in the Bay Area.

#2 Daniel, did you find it strange after all the criticism that the Tropicana ballpark got nationwide, that you didn’t hear anyone outside of MLB ownership or the Commissioner’s office say this was a great idea. You have to ask what was the motivating factor for the owners to vote 30-0 to approve the A’s relocation?

#3 A’s president David Kaval said after the vote last week when asked if Fisher is ready to pay his share of the new Las Vegas ballpark. Kaval said that debt and equity would come from the stadium funding legislation.

#4 Kaval also said that the A’s could play their 2025-2027 seasons either at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Las Vegas Ballpark, or at the Oakland Coliseum. Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao the A’s could finish at the Coliseum but they would have to give up their team name and colors and the city would be promised a MLB expansion team.

#5 One motivating factor is Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo saying that Las Vegas is a sports town and having the A’s are an added addition for the Vegas sports scene.

Join Daniel Dullum for the Oakland A’s relocation podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Headline Sports with Charlie O: Will A’s finish up their Bay Area days at Oracle Park in San Francisco?

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Will Oracle Park be a landing place for the Oakland A’s after the 2024 season?, the A’s would not lose a share of Bay Area TV revenue between 2025-27 while the Tropicana Park is being built in Las Vegas (SF Travel file photo)

On Headline Sports with Charlie O:

#1 How crazy will it be to have the San Francisco Giants host the Oakland A’s at Oracle Park in the 2025 through the 2027 seasons while the Tropicana is being built after the Giants would not cede South Bay territorial rights to the A’s.

#2 The A’s know they will not get the cut of Bay Area TV money if they were to play in Nevada or Sacramento and just to go ahead and finish they’re last three season in the Bay Area in San Francisco.

#3 The relationship between the City of Oakland and A’s owner John Fisher and MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is so toxic because of how they got to this place it’s very unlikely the A’s will finish their last three seasons at the Oakland Coliseum.

#4 A’s fans led by the Oakland 68’s have called for a boycott, not a reverse boycott but a full on boycott for no one to show up at the A’s opening day game on Thu Mar 29th at the Coliseum against Cleveland.

#5 There has been some hope that Schools over Stadiums will get it together and get the court to approve their petition to get signed by some 102,000 Nevada residents, put the no public funding for the ballpark on the Nevada ballot for vote in Nov 2024 also Rep Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) and Rep Mark DeSaulnier will introduce the “Moneyball act” a measure that would require Oakland A’s owner John Fisher or any Major League Baseball owner who relocates it’s team 25 miles from it’s former location to compensate their former community or MLB would lose it’s anti trust exemption.

Charlie O does Headline Sports podcasts Sundays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Owners expected to vote yes on moving A’s this week; Could Schools over Stadiums be last hope to block move?

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Don’t expect this rendering of the Oakland A’s ballpark as this was a stop gap rendering last summer after the A’s announced they were moving to Las Vegas in Jun 2023. As of yet the A’s have not submitted a rendering or blue prints for their new Las Vegas ballpark and the MLB owners are voting this week to move the A’s to Vegas without a rendering. (Oakland A’s rendering of Tropicana ballpark location)

By Jerry Feitelberg

Major League Commissioner Rob Manfred sounded positive when talking to the news media saying that he is confident that the move by the Oakland A’s to Las Vegas will be just fine. “Vegas is a different kind of market. I think they’re going to be fine.”

It is expected that the MLB owners will get the anticipated 75% to move the A’s to satisfy one of two teams that Manfred wanted moved or get a new ballpark. The A’s failed for the new ballpark part in Oakland in Manfred’s view and is prepared to move the A’s to the Tropicana Hotel and Casino resort on the Las Vegas strip.

The A’s who have been in Oakland since 1968 have won four World Championships there. There was no saving grace that would have convinced the Commissioner that the A’s home should remain in Oakland. Amongst his complaints were the Oakland Coliseum is far outdated and when the sewage backed up and possums were making their home in the press box Manfred was at the end of his rope.

Manfred mentioned that Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao didn’t get anything resolved when she took office and MLB and the A’s had no other choice but to move the team to Vegas. Shao countered by saying that the City of Oakland was within striking distance of a deal with the A’s and Fisher just got up and walked away from a Howard Terminal ballpark deal.

Manfred gave a time limit to the City of Oakland to fix the Coliseum and when that didn’t meet his satisfaction he and A’s owner John Fisher started to research the Las Vegas market. Once they found a few viable location at the Rio and the Tropicana on the Vegas strip they had announced they’re intention of moving to the Rio and later the Tropicana.

The State of Nevada Legislation approved the $380 million in public funds last June and the A’s and MLB fast forward are confident that the owners will pass the A’s relocation request to Las Vegas this week in Arlington. If the owners vote to move the team as expected happens the last hurdle could be Schools over Stadiums who sought to have a petition put together for Nevada residents in four districts to sign.

Schools over Stadiums needs over Stadiums to get over 102,000 signatures approved by the Nevada voter registration to move the referendum on the ballot if approved by the voters in the November 2024 election the referendum would be put on the ballot in an attempt to stop the public funding for the A’s ballpark.

Although some owners for different reasons may not be excited about the A’s leaving the sixth largest media market in baseball to the 40th and smallest market with the smallest ballpark in MLB. Most likely they will as a group will vote for the move as they want to show they are all together as a business group. Also the Kansas City Royals are looking to move and build a brand new stadium in downtown Kansas City and the Milwaukee Brewers are getting $545 million from the state of Wisconsin. Any vote that would involve the owners they want show they are in unison as a group.

There is a lot at work that will have Schools over Stadiums on their heels, the unions in Vegas are very strong on bringing the A’s to the strip because of more job creation. The Culinary union is considered the strongest union in Las Vegas and are heavily behind the effort to move the A’s to Las Vegas. Other unions in Nevada are also on the push for the A’s to come to Vegas because of job growth.

Schools over Stadiums is seen as probably the last chance that Oakland has to try and block the team from moving to Vegas. After a hearing on Mon Nov 6th a Nevada District Court Judge ruled that the language in the petition for Schools over Stadiums needed to be cleaned before Schools over Stadiums can circulate the petition. After the judge disallowed the petition he advised Schools over Stadiums that they could appeal the ruling and they have enough time to get the language fixed as the petition must be ready before the June 2024 deadline to be submitted.

Manfred did pardon Fisher from paying a relocation fee which might be a long shot reason for owners to vote no on the relocation. Owners already are aware that the A’s have received revenue sharing for years and now they’re going to wave the relocation fee. That and the A’s have not produced an updated rendering and blue print, a financial plan for the park, and where is John Fisher’s part to pay for the ball park? These are issues still on the table that need to be addressed and the vote is supposed to be taken this week.

Manfred is waiting for the Tampa Bay Rays and A’s to get their new stadium issues in order and once everything is in place he will consider expansion for one team in the east and west. On that list for expansion mentioned Portland and Salt Lake City in the west and Charlotte and Nashville in the east.

Jerry Feitelberg is a Oakland A’s beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s relocation podcast with Daniel Dullum: Mayor’s gift boxes and letter an attempt to sway MLB owners; It boils down to MLB owners vote Nov 14th

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One of the boxes that displays a post card on of Oakland and a Los Angeles Angels baseball card of Angels owner Arte Moreno that will be mailed out to Moreno. Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao included a letter letting 15 of the 30 owners know that Oakland has the funding and the infrastructure plan to build at Howard Terminal in Oakland and to vote no on the A’s relocation. (AP News photo)

On the Oakland A’s relocation podcast with Daniel:

#1 Daniel, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao met with the City Council, and the Port of Oakland leadership and who City Chamber of Oakland A’s fans and media last Tuesday to present to MLB and those watching that the A’s belong in Oakland. This most likely was a last ditch effort to try and convince the owners not to move the team to Las Vegas.

#2 Thao, City Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan, the Port, and fans had a chance to speak and sell the idea of why the owners who are considering voting yes on moving the A’s to Vegas should change their vote.

#3 The biggest push at the Tuesday meeting was the City of Oakland has a plan in place for infrastructure that would accommodate retail, hotels and the ballpark. Mayor Thao said she is ready to pick up the phone if and when A’s owner John Fisher is willing to talk about coming back to the table.

#4 The owners since this whole relocation idea from the A’s went down last June have been air tight silent about where this will go. There has been speculation that a few teams could vote no because this would be a conflict with their marketing and broadcasting that was previously going into the Las Vegas market.

#5 It does boil down to the owners vote which is expected to take place between Nov 14-16 in Arlington Texas. One caveat that might set the relocation back is the idea of moving a sixth market team to the smallest MLB TV market with the smallest ballpark in the majors. Will this be a factor that could also bring some more no votes?

Join Daniel Dullum for the Oakland A’s relocation podcasts Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: Oakland Mayor hoping to sway owners vote with A’s resolution; Schools over Stadiums to appeal Judge’s ruling

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Howard Terminal rendering. Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, City Council, and the Port put on a presentation on Tuesday that City Hall hopes to sway some of the MLB owners to vote no on an A’s relocation (Rendering of Howard Terminal from the Oakland Athletics)

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 Amaury, among the Mayor and the City Council goals in adopting a resolution at City Hall. Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and the City Council are showed the infrastructure of Howard Terminal, the benefits of having a park at the Terminal and something on the drawing board that might change the MLB owners vote. After today’s meeting do you see owner changing they’re minds and giving the A’s a chance to build at Howard Terminal?

#2 Amaury, the odds are starting to dim and Mayor Thao is hoping for a ninth inning rally to stay in the hunt to persuade the owners vote. Thao says that the city does have a plan and budget to build at Howard Terminal but the A’s walked away. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said Oakland had no deal hence Manfred and the A’s are ready to open for business in Las Vegas.

#3 Nevada District Judge James Todd Russell ruled in favor of Oakland A’s lobbyists Danny Thompson and Thomas Morely who took Schools over Stadiums to Monday’s court hearing in District court to throw out Schools over Stadiums attempt to put a referendum on the Nov 2024 ballot to stop public funding for a Las Vegas A’s ballpark and that funds should be used to support schools.

#4 Judge Russell said that Schools over Stadiums would have to refile their petition and that Schools over Stadiums would need to use the full text of SB1 or appeal the case to a higher court.

#5 Thompson and Morely didn’t respond to media inquiries for comments. Schools over Stadiums spokesman Alexander Marks made it clear that they will appeal saying the decision was disappointing but not uncommon adding that Schools over Stadiums plans to refile the referendum and that there is plenty of time to refile as the signature deadline is June of 2024.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead radio voice on the Oakland A’s Spanish radio network on 1010 KIQI San Francisco and 990 KATD Pittsburg and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s relocation podcast with Daniel Dullum: Mayor Thao has been silent on A’s relocation since July; No mention of A’s in state of city speech on Tuesday

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Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao speaks at the state of city of Oakland address on Tue Oct 17, 2023. Thao did not address the Oakland A’s relocation at the address and has been pretty much silent on the A’s move to Las Vegas since the MLB All Star break in July (photo from oaklandside.org)

On the Oakland A’s relocation podcast with Daniel:

#1 Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao for the most part has not said a word regarding the A’s move since her journey from last July’s All Star game. Mayor Thao flew to Seattle with an Oakland delegation to present MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred with 30 books showing that the City of Oakland was in the middle of negotiations for the Howard Terminal ballpark when the A’s broke off talks to announce they had a binding deal in Las Vegas.

#2 Manfred did have some stinging comments back in September saying that if Thao was close to a deal why didn’t she throw $100 million on the table. Thao said the deal for Howard Terminal was ten percent of the way there but Manfred said the deal wasn’t even close.

#3 Manfred did have a working relationship with former Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf but after Schaaf’s term was up and Thao took over as new mayor A’s owner John Fisher and Manfred said that they couldn’t get anything going with Thao hence turning their attention to Las Vegas.

#4 There are some theories why various teams might vote no to an A’s relocation, the Angels, Dodgers, Padres, and Diamondbacks beam their broadcast signals, stream, and market their brand in Las Vegas that would all go away if the A’s make Vegas their home base, the Mariners could object being the only AL team in the Northwest and that would put them geographically alone with the nearest American League in Anaheim and you guessed it Las Vegas.

#5 Another objection going into the owners vote in November is the A’s would be moving into the smallest TV market and have the smallest capacity of all the ballpark in MLB. The A’s could very well be the number four team behind the Aces, Raiders, Knights, and drop to fifth if an NBA franchise moves into town.

Join Daniel Dullum for the Oakland A’s relocation podcast with inside analysis and updates on the A’s relocation and MLB owners relocation vote Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s relocation podcast with Daniel Dullum: Warrior owner Lacob knows he can’t buy what’s not for sale

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There is zero chance that Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob can buy the Oakland A’s as A’s owner John Fisher is keeping the team and moving them to Las Vegas (AP file photo)

On the Oakland A’s relocation podcast with Daniel:

#1 Daniel, Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob confirms that he still has a standing offer to buy the Oakland A’s and that he’s very interested in purchasing the team.

#2 When A’s owner John Fisher decided it wasn’t going to work in Oakland anymore he’s headed to Vegas but Lacob said he would interested in buying the team. However Lacob said you have to have someone who wants to sell something to be interested in buying it.

#3 Lacob, did make an attempt to buy the A’s when former A’s owners Steve Schott and Ken Hoffman put the team up for sale only to sell it to Lew Wolf who just so happened to be a sorority brother of former MLB Commissioner Bud Selig at the time.

#4 Lacob’s dream at the time was to build a new park at the current Oakland Coliseum location and build a baseball village around it. Now with Fisher owning half the Coliseum property and moving the team to Vegas it’s looking tougher to save the A’s.

#5 Fisher know he will increase the value of the team by moving it to Las Vegas and having the A’s play at the Tropicana on the strip. The only thing that will stop him now is if the MLB owners vote no. Otherwise any hope to keep the A’s in Oakland looks almost like no chance.

Join Daniel Dullum for the Oakland A’s relocation podcasts Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Daniel Dullum: Will MLB owners relocate A’s in mid November relocation vote?

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New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner will be one of the 30 owners to vote on the Oakland A’s relocation in mid November. Sources say Steinbrenner is not too favorable to the A’s leaving a big TV market for the smallest TV market in MLB. Will the other owners feel the same way? (AP file photo)

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Daniel Dullum:

#1 Thursday MLB owners have decided to vote on the future of the Oakland A’s and their relocation to the Las Vegas Tropicana location. They have decided to hold the vote in mid November.

#2 Daniel, talk about the first step of the process with the MLB owners three man committee Milwaukee Brewers chairman Mark Attanasio, who is chairing the committee, Philadelphia Phillies CEO John Middleton and Kansas City Royals CEO John Sherman. They will be reviewing the A’s application and will send it for review to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred.

#3 After Manfred reviews the application he will send it to an MLB eight man executive council with his recommendation. The eight man council will be reviewing the environmental impact reports, the financial benefits, the TV market, the funding of the park, and weigh the benefits of moving to Las Vegas and moving out of Oakland.

#4 After the eight man council review the application they will then send it to the 30 Major League teams where the owner of each team will vote on the A’s relocation. The A’s need 75% of the vote in order to move the team to Las Vegas.

#5 Taking all things into consideration Daniel with what’s in front of the three steps at MLB to make this happen do you see any outside chance that MLB can get at least eight MLB teams to say no and get on board against the relocation? The minimum that would stop the move of the A’s.

Daniel Dullum does the Oakland A’s podcasts Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com