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The A's will play their final season at the
Oakland Coliseum in 2024 and said they will work with MLB to
identify "interim" locations to compete before opening a new
ballpark on the Las Vegas Strip in 2028.
"We are excited to begin this next chapter in Las Vegas," owner
John Fisher said in a statement.
"I want to thank the Las Vegas and Nevada community for
welcoming us. We will continue to work hard to bring home more
championships for our fans and for our new home in Vegas."
The move adds to Las Vegas' credentials as a new sports hub
after the recent additions of NHL expansion team Golden Knights
and the relocated NFL's Raiders and WNBA's Aces, and as Sin City
prepares to host its first F1 race in 41 years this weekend.
Social media images showed Las Vegas' "Sphere" structure lit up
in the A's logo and the word "Welcome" on Thursday.
The vote officially sets into motion the first MLB club
relocation since the Montreal Expos moved to Washington, D.C.,
in 2005 and became known as the Nationals.
It also marks a moment of heartbreak for the team's Oakland
fans, many of whom had rallied to have their club stay put.
Fisher previously said he was unable to strike a deal with city
officials to build a new stadium as the much-maligned Oakland
Coliseum, which the A's once shared with the Raiders, developed
a widely held reputation as MLB's worst ballpark.
"Today marks a significant moment for our franchise, and it's
met with mixed emotions - sadness for this change and excitement
for our future," said Fisher.
"I know this is a hard day for our fans in Oakland."
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in televised remarks that
everything "humanly possible" was done to avoid a relocation but
that there was "never a deal in Oakland."
"I know this is a terrible day for fans in Oakland," he said. "I
understand that."
(Reporting by Steve Keating and Rory Carroll in Las Vegas;
Writing by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Frank Pingue and
Muralikumar Anantharaman)
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