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Oakland A’s Start Flirting With Rio, Tropicana Again: Report

By Shawn Tempesta May 9th

OK, at this point it is getting ridiculous. The Oakland A’s have a binding agreement to buy a nearly 50 acre swath of land at Tropicana and Dean Martin. The land, formerly the site of Wild Wild West, was to be the home of the yet to be finalized (or even visualized) new stadium for the Las Vegas Athletics. But according to a new report from The Nevada Independent… not so fast.

The plan to bring the team to Las Vegas hinges upon a $500,000,000 public handout that has yet to materialize. Governor Joe Lombardo is working on a bill that could help facilitate the Major League Baseball pickup, but time is running out in Carson City to get a deal done. That has the A’s scrambling.

What are the Oakland A’s doing now…

You may remember that while the Athletics paid untold millions for the land owned by Station Casinos, they were offered 22 acres of land from the Rio for $1. That’s right, a buck. Weird that they would deny such an incredible offer while also begging for half a billion dollars, but here we are.

So, given the fact the team has kind of committed to the premise of coming to Las Vegas, they are scrambling according to this new article. The team has reportedly started talking with the Rio once again, along with the owners of the land where the Tropicana is. Talks with the Las Vegas Festival Grounds at Las Vegas Boulevard and Sahara are not heating up again, however.

The A’s are hoping for a “stadium district” that would allow the team to not only avoid paying property tax, but scrape up the taxes from all the improvement that would come around the footprint of the stadium for several years. That would make the stadium “publicly owned”. It would also have a penalty in the deal if the team were to up and leave before 30 years.

Makes you wonder what Station Casinos thinks about all of this. After all, their land deal is supposedly a “binding agreement”… and we know what Las Vegas casinos do to people who don’t pay their debts. Just saying.

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Dear Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf: Top 10 Reasons Why Las Vegas Is Better Than Oakland

We understand why Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf may be a little upset.

The city lost two major sports team, and potentially a third one, to the “gross desert” of Las Vegas.

In an interview with ABC7, a local news station in the Bay Area, Schaaf divulged her unfiltered feelings about Vegas, and let’s just say that Sin City locals are not too happy about her comments.

“You’ve got to be much more environmentally focused when you are developing on the precious California coastline than in the gross desert of Las Vegas,” Schaaf said to ABC7 regarding the Oakland Athletics’ potential relocation to our city (#FreeTheAs).

After this interview, social media ignited with comebacks from Vegas residents, who shared many memes, humorous posts and sassy responses to the mayor’s comment.

We also feel the need to defend our city. Vegas is many things, but we definitely won’t tolerate slander from California. Here are top ten reasons why Vegas is better than Oakland.

 

  • 1) TAXES

    California state taxes are 12.3% for athletes. Along with that, Oakland has an income tax rate of 9.3%. With 81 home games, each player is taxed at that rate. By just moving to Las Vegas, each player is giving himself a 21.6% pay raise! #FreeTheAs.

  • 2) Oakland Is Still Oakland

    Have you seen Oakland besides the “coast?” It reminds us of Kale and Sadness. Not necessarily in that order.

  • 3) Your Sports Teams Prefer The "Gross Desert"

    Since the Raiders left Oakland (twice we might add), and the Golden State Warriors also deserted Oak Town; we’re sure that the A’s feel like leftover outcasts of a sporting community gone wrong. 

  • 4) Crime Rate

    According to Roadsnacks.net, Oakland is the fifth most dangerous city in the U.S., and the most dangerous city in California based on F.B.I. Statistics on Violent Crimes Per Capita. 

  • 5) Oakland Feels Like Ohio

    Someone from our office, who’s from Toledo, Ohio, said he’s been to Oakland once. However, he couldn’t tell much of a difference between Toledo and Oakland other than the people in Oakland were much angrier. 

  • 6) The Best Part Of Oakland? Underwater

    Oakland is in the Bay Area. Let’s face facts…the best part of Oakland is underwater. And this could be a legitimate future for the city. According to the New York Times, the Bay Area is sinking and meeting the rising sea level! Researchers suggest that by 2100, a great portion of the region will be submerged, flooded or damaged due to rising sea levels. 

    Port of Oakland

    [CINEVIV PICTURES] via Getty Images

  • 7) Mayor Goodman > Mayor Schaaf

    Our mayor kicks your mayor’s butt! With that being said, as Las Vegans, we are not going to take Schaaf‘s comments lying down, and neither is Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman. Put politics aside for a minute because Mayor Goodman for sure protected our own here and even threw a whole lot of shade while doing it too!

  • 8) Cost of Living

    Yes, the cost of living in Las Vegas has increased. But according to www.bestplaces.net, if you made $134,000 in Oakland, you will only need to make $80,000 in Las Vegas to live comparably. No wonder everyone is deserting Oakland. Why pay $64,000 more a year to live in the 5th most dangerous city in the U.S.?

  • 9) People From Oakland Visit Vegas To Get A Break From Cali

    Let’s face it. With all the tourists that come to Vegas from Oakland each year…this is where Oakland comes to be cool. As we all know, no one ever brags about being from Oakland…at least not in this millennium!

  • 10) If you are from Oakland, you might as well move with A’s

    According to an article by KQED, a public radio station in the Bay Area, people are fleeing that dilapidated place.

    Look at comment #2.. “I’m looking very hard at moving to Nevada!”

    Most people recognize that Nevada and Las Vegas are superior in every way!

    Leaving the Bay Area: Where People Are Going and Why | KQED

    Of the more than 200 respondents, 187 pointed to high home prices, the cost of living, traffic and homelessness as the top reasons they were considering a move. According to the real estate website Zillow, the median home value in San Francisco is $1,334,800; $1,080,300 in San Jose; and $757,700 in Oakland.

     

  • #NotSoGross: We're Proud To Be From The City Of Sin!

  • Mayor Schaaf Tried To Come For Vegas But. . .

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