A’s blasted after releasing statement on Vegas deal

Late on Wednesday night in California, reports came out that the Oakland Athletics were close to a deal that would allow them to build a new stadium in Las Vegas.

Not long after, the A’s issued a statement confirming the news.

The statement, which was shared by Casey Pratt of the Bay Area’s ABC Affiliate, ABC7, confirmed the news. It also attempted to express sympathy with the longtime fans of the A’s in Oakland and the greater Bay Area.

“The A’s have signed a binding agreement to purchase land for a future ballpark in Las Vegas. We realize this is a difficult day for our Oakland fans and community,” the statement said.

It continued, detailing that the hopes of building a new stadium in Oakland hadn’t progressed enough in recent years.

“For more than 20 years, the A’s have focused on securing a new home for the Club, and have invested unprecedented time and resources in the past six years to build a ballpark in Oakland. Even with support from fans, leaders at the city, county, and state level, and throughout the broader community, the process to build a new ballpark in Oakland has made little forward progress for some time. We have made a strong and sincere effort to stay here.”

“We recognize that this is very hard to hear. We are disappointed that we have been unable to achieve our shared vision of a waterfront ballpark. As we shift our focus to Vegas, we will continue to share details about next steps.”

Shortly after the deal with Vegas was announced, Oakland’s mayor, Sheng Thao, issued a statement, accusing the A’s of using the negotiations with Oakland as a way to get a better deal in Vegas.

Despite the team’s claims to the contrary, a lot of people agreed.

https://twitter.com/BenRossTweets/status/1648928472084119553

[Casey Pratt]