Oakland A's sign agreement to purchase land for Las Vegas ballpark; mayor 'deeply disappointed'

OAKLAND, Calif. - Major League Baseball's Oakland Athletics on Wednesday announced they have signed a binding agreement to purchase land for a future ballpark in Las Vegas – much to the disappointment of the mayor and others who were promised that the team was "Rooted in Oakland."  The A’s will work with Nevada and Clark County on a public-private partnership to fund the stadium.

Team president Dave Kaval said the A’s hope to break ground by next year and would hope to be move to their new home by 2027. "We realize this is a difficult day for our Oakland fans and community," the A's said in a statement.

The team said the A's have focused on securing a new home for two decades and "and have invested unprecedented time and resources for the past six years to build a ballpark in Oakland."But the team said that the process to "build a new ballpark in Oakland has made little forward progress for some time." The statement claims the organization has made a strong and "sincere" commitment to staying in Oakland and after all this time, the team is "disappointed that we have been unable to achieve our shared vision of a waterfront ballpark." In a statement sent just after midnight on Thursday, Mayor Sheng Thao voiced dismay as well. "I am deeply disappointed that the A’s have chosen not to negotiate with the City of Oakland as a true partner, in a way that respects the long relationship between the fans, the City and the team," she said.

Thao added that Oakland has gone "above and beyond" trying to keep the A's in Oakland.But she said now, "it is clear to me," that the A's have "simply been using this process to try to extract a better deal out of Las Vegas."At this point, Thao said she is "not interested in continuing to play.