Oakland A’s Prez Resigns, Raising Questions About Las Vegas Move

Dave Kaval, the public face of the Oakland Athletics’ relocation to Las Vegas, announced his resignation as team president on Friday.

Kaval, who has led the team for eight years, will exit on Dec. 31. In a statement released by Major League Baseball, he said: “I will be staying in California to explore new opportunities at the crossroads of business and government.”

Kaval will be temporarily replaced by Sandy Dean, a longtime business partner of team owner John Fisher and his family, when the search for a new president begins next year.

“We are grateful for Dave’s contributions and leadership over the last eight years,” Fisher said in the MLB statement. “He guided our organization through a period of significant transition, and we sincerely thank him for his unwavering commitment to the team.”

Kaval was the A’s rep who attended public hearings in Las Vegas and lobbied Nevada legislators last year to help secure $380 million for a $1.75 billion stadium that the A’s say they will build on the site of the imploded Tropicana. (The projected cost jumped $250 million earlier this month.)

The announcement of Kaval’s resignation comes after the team cleared most of the final contractual and political hurdles toward that goal. Earlier this month, the Las Vegas Stadium Authority approved leave, non-relocation and development documents. A development agreement with Clark County remains to be worked out.

Until the new stadium supposedly opens in time for the 2028 MLB season, the A’s play in a minor-league ballpark in Sacramento.

Questions Raised

Though the documents submitted to the Stadium Authority earlier this month supposedly included a commitment from Fisher to spending more than $1 billion of his family’s personal finances toward the new ballpark, many A’s fans and Las Vegas insiders still doubt it will happen, and are questioning the optics of Kaval’s resignation.

Following news of Kaval’s resignation, Casino.org’s own Vital Vegas, a leading skeptic of the Las Vegas deal ever since it was announced in April 2023, wrote this scathing summary of the situation. 

“Kaval is bailing before the whole charade implodes like the Tropicana,” Roeben wrote. “He’s distancing himself before the deal inevitably falls through, a stink that will stick to everyone involved when the shit hits the fan.

“The A’s have zero investors, and have only managed to scrounge up a $300 million bank loan for a project that is likely to cost $2 billion or more.”