Oakland mayor reacts to Athletics’ huge Vegas announcement

Late on Wednesday night, it was announced that the Oakland Athletics were close to a deal to build a new stadium in the Las Vegas area.

The A’s have been in talks with Vegas for years about a possible move. But with Wednesday’s announcement, it now seems far more likely than not that the A’s will end up in Las Vegas.

Understandably, people in Oakland are not happy. That includes Sheng Thao, the Mayor of Oakland.

Shortly after Wednesday’s announcement, Thao issued a statement, shared in a series of tweets by Sarah Ravani of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Thao, who became Mayor in January, following Libby Schaff’s eight-year tenure, expressed her disappointment with the A’s.

Mayor Thao closed her statement by saying that the Howard Terminal negotiations, which had been Oakland’s best chance at keeping the A’s, are being halted.

Bay Area fans were not happy, with either the A’s or the City of Oakland.

The Town deserves better https://t.co/DOsEmkG2WI

— Function Season Is Here (@donachaidh) April 20, 2023

John Fisher is a blight on the Bay Area. https://t.co/A5JcELnZzf

— Kyle, a Madson (@KyleAMadson) April 20, 2023

https://twitter.com/BayAreaData/status/1648917045151670272

What’s particularly notable here is that five years ago, the A’s were one of three professional sports teams in Oakland. By contrast, San Francisco only had one team. Since then, though, the NBA’s Golden State Warriors have moved across the bay to San Francisco, the NFL’s Oakland Raiders moved to Las Vegas, becoming the Las Vegas Raiders and now, the A’s seem to be following them.

[Sarah Ravani, Photo Credit: KPIX on Youtube]