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Oakland A's have not presented 'concrete plan' to Nevada lawmakers; time running out
The Oakland A's move to Las Vegas may not be a sure bet. Tom Vacar reports
OAKLAND, Calif. - The Oakland A's move to Las Vegas may not be a sure bet.
The non-profit news site, the Nevada Independent, reports the A's are running out of time to submit a ballpark proposal to the state.
Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager (D-Las Vegas) told The Nevada Independent in an interview Wednesday that not only had the A’s not presented "concrete" language to lawmakers on the proposed structure of public money for a new stadium, but that terms of the deal should have already been submitted in order to meet tight deadlines on a shrinking legislative calendar. There are 34 days remaining in the state’s 120-day session, which happens every other year.
"If something was going to happen, it really should have been in place last week," Yeager told the Independent. "There hasn't been a concrete plan that's been presented to the Legislature," Yeager said. "And I read in the media too, and it seems like every story talks about it in a different way. So in my mind, until there's some kind of concrete ask, there's really not much to discuss."
Although the governor can order a special session, the Nevada legislature meets every other year and its current session ends next month.
The A's have not yet asked Nevada lawmakers to approve a half billion dollar tax package to help pay for the $1.5 billion ballpark.
Gov. Joe Lombardo’s chief of staff, Ben Kieckhefer told the Independent that the governor was "excited" about the prospect of bringing the A’s to Las Vegas — but added that the team drafting the potential economic incentive and financing plan "has to do their due diligence."
MGM Resorts International CEO Bill Hornbuckle told those on his quarterly conference call that his company was "not a fan of any more tax dollars put into this. We yield [to] the governor's position and assume that this will be done responsibly for the state and ultimately for Clark County."
The team does have a binding agreement to buy land in Las Vegas but are not legally committed to build a ballpark.
The purchase of the land in Vegas came as a surprise to Oakland city officials at the end of April. Both the city and the A's had been negotiating a $1 billion, privately financed ballpark at the the Howard Terminal.
When the Vegas announcement was made out of the blue, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao laid all the blame on the A's and says the team acted in bad faith.
It's unclear now, what will happen if the Vegas deal falls through, and if the A's an repair relations in Oakland.
"Oakland is not interested in being used as leverage with the A's negotiations with Las Vegas. We will not continue discussions under these circumstances," Thao told the public. "Oakland will not be bullied."