A’s Gave $87K to Lawmakers Who Voted to Publicly Fund Vegas Move

Posted on: January 18, 2024, 01:36h. 

Last updated on: January 24, 2024, 04:40h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas.

In June, the Nevada Senate approved SB1, which allocated $380M in public financing to construct a $1.5B baseball stadium for the Oakland A’s on the Las Vegas Strip.

Oakland A's baseball cap
AI renders an Oakland A’s baseball cap dispensing cash. (Image: ChatGPT)

Apparently, the A’s gave some of that money back. Not to the public, but to the campaigns of the individual politicians who voted “yes” on the bill.

Wednesday was the deadline for campaign financing disclosures from Nevada politicians running for office again in 2024. Those disclosures, posted by the Nevada Secretary of State website, revealed that most of those who voted “yes” on SB1 received a donation from the A’s in October or November of last year.

Of the 38 “yes” voters, 30 received at least $1,000 in campaign contributions.

Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager (D-Las Vegas) and Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro (D-Las Vegas) were the top recipients, each receiving the maximum allowed contribution of $10K from the team. Assembly Minority Leader Phillip P.K. O’Neill (R-Carson City) and Majority Leader Sandra Jauregui (D-Las Vegas), received $5,000 each, as did Budget Committee Chair Sen. Marilyn Dondero Loop (D-Las Vegas).

Play Ball & We Will Reward You

In total, it appears that the A’s donated $67K to legislators who voted to publicly fund their stadium, and another $20K to Clark County Commissioners William McCurdy II and Michael Naft.

These legal contributions are an obvious way to thank legislators after the fact for their support. But they also send a message: vote yes on what we want in the future, and you will be personally rewarded.

Sooner or later, the A’s are likely to return to the state with proposals for additional funding and other matters.

In fairness to the A’s, they also contributed between $1K-$2K to nine of the 23 legislators who voted “no” on SB1. Those contributions totaled a meager $11K, but they did occur.

Notably, however, the A’s made no contributions to the handful of senators and Assembly members who aggressively opposed the bill.

Some politicians missed the deadline and are expected to file their disclosures by the end of this month.