Major League Baseball owners approved the relocation of the Oakland Athletics to Las Vegas in a vote Thursday morning at their fall meeting in Arlington, Texas, multiple outlets reported.
The vote reportedly was unanimous. The measure required approval from 23 of the 30 owners.
The A’s will become just the third team in more than 50 years to relocate.
The Montreal Expos were the most recent team to pull up stakes, moving to Washington and rebranding as the Nationals in 2005. Prior to that, the Washington Senators moved to Arlington and became the Texas Rangers in 1972.
A’s owner John Fisher announced his plan to move to Las Vegas after being unable to come to terms with officials in Oakland to build a new ballpark. Plans are in place in Nevada for a $1.5 billion stadium on the Las Vegas Strip.
The team’s lease in Oakland runs through the 2024 season but the new stadium won’t be ready for occupancy until 2028, leaving the A’s as nomads for three seasons. USA Today reported Thursday that the team is expected to play in multiple sites, include Oracle Park in San Francisco, the home of the Giants, and in the Athletics’ Triple-A facility in Summerlin, Nev.
The Athletics franchise was founded in Philadelphia in 1901 and moved to Kansas City in 1955. The A’s have played in Oakland since 1968 in a ballpark that is now the fifth oldest in the majors.
The A’s won four World Series titles in Oakland — 1972 through 1974 and 1989. The team finished 50-112 in 2023, its worst record since a 36-117-1 campaign in Philadelphia in 1916.
–Field Level Media
