LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman wants the government and ownership overseeing the Oakland A’s to “listen to their great fans.”
Goodman was interviewed Monday in a podcast by Front Office Sports Today about the Oakland A’s move to Las Vegas as the Tropicana announced its final days of operation.
“I run into people from Oakland all the time [coming for the Raiders], and they want to keep the team,” Goodman said in the podcast. “I think they deserve to have their team.”
In November last year, the A’s move to Las Vegas was unanimously approved by Major League Baseball team owners. It’s the sport’s first relocation since 2005.
Goodman says the A’s plans “don’t make sense.” She says owner Dave Kaval and his team have had many meetings about different sites in the valley to which they’ve turned down before the Tropicana.
“We have entertained them down here,” she said. “They could have possibly had 100 acres in the historic part of town. It’s where all major interstate highways come together, seven access points to it, and it’s an opportunity zone. When they said no, I thought, ‘This doesn’t make sense.’”
In a statement Tuesday following the interview, Goodman says she believes the ownership of the A’s would like to have a new ballpark on the water in Oakland.
However, she says if that should fail, “Las Vegas has shown that it is a spectacular market for major league sports franchises.”
Las Vegas becoming a sports mecca is a milestone for the Goodmans who both pursued sports teams for the valley.
“I want to be clear that I am excited about the prospect of Major League Baseball in Las Vegas,” she said. “And it very well may be that the Las Vegas A’s will become a reality that we will welcome to our city.”
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