If the Athletics ultimately relocate from Oakland to Las Vegas as they desire, will they have the ability to extend their lease at the Coliseum until a ballpark in their new home city is ready?
Has the lease extension option even been discussed among involved parties?
That depends on who you ask.
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As The San Francisco Chronicle's Scott Ostler points out, both sides now are saying very different things about whether a lease extension for the A's to play at the Coliseum beyond the 2024 MLB season was brought up during a July meeting between Oakland mayor Sheng Thao and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred.
An MLB spokesperson told the Las Vegas Review-Journal earlier this week that no such extension was talked about by Mayor Thao and Commissioner Manfred before the All-Star Game.
Mayor Thao's office roundly disputed that claim to Ostler on Thursday.
“I think it’s disingenuous and unfortunate,” Mayor Thao’s chief of staff Leigh Hanson told Ostler. “I’m trying to give the benefit of the doubt. We didn’t have the lease agreement in front of us, we were not discussing specific terms, it was a conversation about the mayor’s goals, and the topic of an extension of the Coliseum lease definitely came up. I was in the room.”
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If MLB owners approve the A's relocation to Las Vegas, the team needs to figure out where it will play home games until their new ballpark, projected to open in 2028, is ready. That could be at least three seasons.
There are other options if a Coliseum lease extension can't be agreed to, but even owner John Fisher isn't sure where the A's would play if Oakland isn't on the table beyond 2024.
"Next season will be at the Coliseum," Fisher told NBC Bay Area's Raj Mathai in an exclusive interview on Aug. 24. "Our lease expires there at the end of the year. So we will need a home after that, and we'll be working closely with Major League Baseball. We for sure, will be talking to Oakland about whether there's an opportunity for the A's to continue to play there. And ultimately, it will be Major League Baseball's decision in consult that we will be working closely with to make that decision."
Team president Dave Kaval recently told The Nevada Independent that the three likeliest options beyond 2024 are to remain at the Coliseum, share Oracle Park with the Giants or use Las Vegas Ballpark, the home of Oakland's Triple-A affiliate, the Las Vegas Aviators.
“We don’t have an answer yet,” Kaval told The Nevada Independent. “That’s something that Major League Baseball will ultimately decide.”
All sides need to get on the same page, and that has to happen fast.
