Oakland Athletics buy votes from Nevada legislature, keep revenue sharing handouts

As reported by the AP Press, Steve Hill of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority stated "having a framework of an agreement in place was enough to satisfy the league and the union", in regard to the Oakland Athletics' need for a binding agreement to secure revenue sharing payouts in 2024 and beyond.

This claim, though seemingly dubious, was confirmed by Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association. "[they] have already agreed that there is a commitment and the structure in place for the A’s to move to Las Vegas and have agreed to that they met the requirements...".

This is a spineless decision made to ensure the continuation of corporate welfare payouts to a negligent ownership group. The Athletics have received the go-ahead from the 29 other MLB owners to proceed with the relocation process.

However, based on the information we have available, they do not have a "binding agreement in Oakland or another city to construct a new Major League Baseball facility to host Athletics championship season games", as the MLB collective bargaining agreement requires.

There are no ballpark renderings, there is no evidence that John Fisher has been able to secure his portion of the financing required for the project, and there is no certainty that they will receive the $380 million granted to them by the state of Nevada for the project.

Despite those facts, MLB and the players union have decided to bend the rules, that they specifically put in place, to enable Fisher to continue this charade. It's pathetic. The entire relocation process has been a sham, and anyone paying attention can see that.

Athletics pay off Nevada legislators for 'yes' votes on SB 1

It's recently come to light that the Athletics have paid off the Nevada legislature for voting yes on SB 1. As reported, the A's have paid out at least $98k to Nevada lawmakers in an attempt to buy their votes for the approval of the $380 million public funding package. Jason Burke of Inside the A's has all the details.

In total, 40 of the 61 legislators and county commissioners received a payout from the A's. Some received as much as $10k, while many received $1k. If anyone was still questioning how the A's got the approval for the SB 1 package, there you go. They bought the votes.

There are still a number of things that could go wrong and either delay or suspend the A's attempts at relocation. We'll have to wait to see how the next few months play out, as there's too many unanswered questions at this time.

As far as stadium renderings go, it was reported that the Athletics may choose to release their plans during the Spring Training event in Las Vegas between March 8-9. Additionally, as reported by Howard Stultz of the Nevada Independent, the Athletics were initially planning on a stadium with a retractable roof. However, the size of the plot of land they have isn't big enough for it, so they've reportedly moved on to a fixed-dome unit with some large windows. Any designs that the A's do have are not publicly available, and it's unlikely that they're finished.

It feels like this escapade gets messier every day, and it doesn't feel like there's much hope that it's going to change for the better.