Oakland A’s Looking for a New Home Again, but Not in Las Vegas

Posted on: January 20, 2024, 11:28h. 

Last updated on: January 20, 2024, 04:22h.

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

The Oakland A’s are looking for a new home again — but not because they’re ditching their plan to relocate to Las Vegas.

A’s execs this week toured the site of a new baseball stadium under construction in South Jordan, Utah for the Salt Lake Bees, the Los Angeles Angels’ AAA affiliate. If that stadium opens on schedule in 2025, it could host the A’s for all 81 home games of their 2025-27 seasons.

This rendering shows the stadium currently being built for the Salt Lake Bees minor-league baseball team in South Jordan, Utah. Part of a mixed-use development called Downtown Daybreak, it’s of several options being considered by the Oakland A’s, who need a new home until their Las Vegas stadium is ready for them in 2028. (Image: Larry H. Miller Company)

The’s Athletics’ new $1.5B ballpark on the current site of the Tropicana Hotel won’t be ready until at least 2028, and the team’s lease with the Oakland Coliseum expires this year.

“We hosted team officials on Thursday, and demonstrated we can accommodate their ballpark needs,” read a statement on Friday from Steve Starks, CEO of the Larry H. Miller Company, which owns the Bees and is building the new stadium. “Our organization and the state are excited and able to welcome the Athletics until their new stadium in Las Vegas is completed.”

A’s officials toured the construction of the new Salt Lake Bees stadium this week, where developers promise to expand the size of the stadium from 7,000 seats to 11,000 if the A’s pull the trigger. (Image: Salt Lake Tribune)

It was originally thought that the A’s would wait out their new stadium’s construction by sharing the Las Vegas Ballpark in Summerlin with their own Triple-A team, the Las Vegas Aviators.

That option is still on reportedly on the table, as are others. They include a move to the San Francisco Giants’ Oracle Park, the Reno Aces’ Greater Nevada Field, or the Sacramento River Cats’ Sutter Health Park — the last of which A’s officials also reportedly toured on Thursday.

However, all of these options would require the A’s to share a stadium with another ballclub, a recipe for scheduling headaches.

No Double Playing

If the team were to temporarily move to Utah, Starks said, the Bees would stay in their current home (the 14.5K-seat Smith’s Ballpark) while the A’s have the run of the new stadium.

“Our unique, two-stadium solution would ensure that baseball stays in the Salt Lake market as the Salt Lake Bees return to Smith’s Ballpark for additional seasons,” Starks’ statement read.

Though plans originally called for the new Bees stadium to seat only 7.5K, the Larry H. Miller Company said that it would add temporary structures that raise the capacity to 11K — and would deck the stadium out in A’s colors to boot.

“This new ballpark will support the A’s needs and has been the focus of their interest,” Starks said.

The A’s could also decide to extend their lease at the Oakland Coliseum. However, at this point, that option might feel like a married couple continuing to live together after an acrimonious divorce.

Whatever the A’s decide, they need to do it before July, which is when MLB draws up its schedule for the 2025 season.