Las Vegas Mayor Throws Shade on A’s Move, Doubts Funds Are There

In a podcast uploaded on Tuesday, the mayor of Las Vegas cast serious doubt on the Oakland Athletics’ plan to relocate to Las Vegas.

“I keep thinking there’s something wrong here, and maybe they’re just waiting it out,” Carolyn Goodman told Front Office Sports Today. “I’m not sure the funds are there. So, how do you find and make the funds happen?”

The outgoing and outspoken mayor said she’s troubled by the location chosen by the A’s, the site of the soon-to-be-demolished Tropicana, a vintage Vegas icon.

To come here and take down an old hotel and put it right at the heart of the Strip and more congestion?” she said. “We have enough congestion right now.”

Goodman said she much preferred the Athletics’ first choice of stadium site: 49 acres centered on Red Rock Casino’s demolished Wild Wild West Gambling Hall & Hotel. That was also slated as the original site for Allegiant Stadium.

When they said no, I thought, this doesn’t make sense,” she said. “Here’s a great site. They want to get closer to the Strip with all the congestion and everything. And I thought, this does not make sense and so why is it happening?”

It needs to be noted that the mayor of the city of Las Vegas has no authority over the Las Vegas Strip, the entirety of which is not included in the city. Nor does the current mayor need to approve any decisions affecting the Oakland A’s or Tropicana’s current owner, Bally’s Corp., which plans to demolish the Tropicana in the coming months.

However, three casinos owned by Red Rock Casinos — Palace Station, Wildfire Fremont, and Wildfire Rancho — do operate in the city of Las Vegas.

Do They Even Want to Come Here?

More than any particular location in Las Vegas, however, Goodman claims she objects to the ballclub’s heart apparently not being into the move.

“I know in the back of both of their [Athletics’ owner John Fisher and president Dave Kaval’s] minds is ‘If we could just get Oakland to go ahead and build us what we need here because certainly, you have the fan base there.’ I run into people from Oakland all the time; they want to keep the team, and it’s just the government up there,” Goodman continued. “I love the people from Oakland, and I think they deserve to have their team.

I personally think they’ve got to figure out a way to stay in Oakland and make their dream come true.”

On Tuesday, Mayor Goodman issued a statement on Twitter, which was a blatant attempt at damage control for this unfiltered interview.

“I want to be clear that I am excited about the prospect of Major League Baseball in Las Vegas, and it very well may be that the Las Vegas A’s will become a reality that we will welcome to our city,” she wrote.