The Las Vegas A’s? What we know (and don’t know) about potential move from Oakland
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Jeff PassanESPN
After years of failed attempts to find a new ballpark location that would keep them in Oakland, the Athletics announced Wednesday night that they have signed a binding contract for land in Las Vegas where they intend to build a new ballpark for the team.
The agreement signals that the franchise, which has been in Oakland since its 1968 move from Kansas City, intends to relocate to Vegas in the near future — but there are plenty of questions to answer. What still needs to be figured out ahead of a move? Are there any obstacles that could get in the way? When could the Oakland A’s officially become the Las Vegas A’s — and would they actually keep that nickname in their new home?
Here’s what we know (and don’t know) about the potential move.
So are the A’s officially moving to Las Vegas?
It’s not a done deal. But it almost certainly will be soon. The team’s purchase agreement on a 49-acre parcel of land off the Strip made clear what people around the sport had long speculated: After more than two decades of failures to build a stadium in Oakland and the surrounding area, the A’s are close to becoming the latest major professional sports team to move to Las Vegas — following the NFL’s Raiders, who also relocated from Oakland in 2020.
The shovels to break ground on the new ballpark aren’t quite ready. Some not-insignificant details that involve politics remain. But the A’s are confident, and in an interview with ESPN, team president Dave Kaval said: “This is a massive deal for our franchise and for the whole league.”
What details still need to be figured out?
Only $500 million worth of them. The A’s, who had spent the past two years engaging with Las Vegas and Oakland on what it deemed “parallel paths,” have forked off at Las Vegas. They have pledged $1 billion, as well as cost overages, on a new stadium on the land they bought this week. The project is expected to cost $1.5 billion, leaving half a billion dollars in public funding up to the municipalities involved.
Kaval said the A’s have worked with Clark County, the state Legislature and Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, calling the conversations with the parties “ongoing and positive.” They are using Allegiant Stadium, the home of the Raiders that received $750 million in public dollars, as a proxy.
What’s the timeline for this move?
The Nevada Legislature session ends in July. If the A’s and the government can strike a public-private partnership, the next step will be for the A’s to file for relocation with MLB. If the commissioner’s office approves, the A’s will need a vote by owners to codify the move. If all of this gets done before January, the team can break ground on the new stadium by next year in preparation for the 2027 season.
Of course, the A’s lease in Oakland is up after 2024 — so even if all goes according to plan, where they’ll play in 2025 is currently unclear. Kaval said the A’s have negotiated a deal with the Las Vegas Aviators, their Triple-A affiliate, to potentially use Las Vegas Ballpark for home games starting in 2025. (The Aviators, he added, will remain in Las Vegas, similar to the Minnesota Twins‘ Triple-A affiliate in St. Paul.) Or maybe even earlier, if the A’s and the Coliseum come to an agreement to terminate the lease early. The team also could temporarily extend the lease agreement in Oakland, like the Raiders did before they moved.
Whatever the case, MLB will have a significant say in it, as the league will help shape the interim plan. Commissioner Rob Manfred’s first public comments after the move was announced were positive. “We support the A’s turning their focus on Las Vegas and look forward to them bringing finality to this process by the end of the year,” he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Wednesday.
Why Las Vegas?
It’s not the population or the TV market size — because both of those are far smaller than the metro area from which the A’s are moving. One of the most transient franchises in sports — with moves from Philadelphia to Kansas City to Oakland in the past — the A’s have long sought the shiny new city as a panacea, often for the failings of ownership and management. And there is no shinier city than Vegas.
“When you think about what makes for a successful market, you have to have a strong local fan base,” Kaval said. “The 2.3 million people are rabid sports fans. … That’s one reason we picked the site we picked: It’s easy to get to for locals.”
The stadium and parking will take up only 15 or so acres of the site, Kaval said. The rest of the area can serve as a mixed-use development — perhaps baseball-themed — that encourages locals and tourists to spend time in bars, restaurants and other attractions, a la The Battery in Atlanta.
Kaval said the Raiders were estimated to bring 800,000 extra tourists to the city annually. He suggested the A’s would bring 400,000.
“The secret sauce to Las Vegas is you have the tourists,” he said. “Those people can come in and spend big dollars. You create a business model that’s resilient and powerful.”
Will they be the Las Vegas A’s — or are we looking at a potential name change?
The A’s name is here to stay, according to Kaval.
“We’ve been around since 1901,” he said. “Charter member of the American League, the Athletics. We’ve already been in three markets. We feel strongly that the A’s are such a powerful brand, it’s something we’re going to continue with the Las Vegas A’s.”
Was this move inevitable?
“Once the league set the deadline of January 2024 to have a binding deal, it really made it an inevitability in some ways,” Kaval said. “It made us get a binding deal on a timeline that wasn’t on offer in Oakland.”
Kaval pointed to $100 million the team spent trying to stay in Oakland. “In spite of all that,” he said, “we’re looking at eight more years before we can open [a new stadium]. It’s impossible to move forward with that with a facility in the Coliseum that’s 10 years past its useful life.”
Oakland council president Nikki Fortunato Bas said the city was in “active negotiations” with the team when the Vegas deal was announced. “Oakland has worked incredibly hard to come to an agreement with the A’s,” she said in a statement. “Our city council created a framework to support a win-win deal to keep the A’s in Oakland.”
While it’s true that public money was more difficult to come by in Oakland than other locations, Las Vegas included, the idea that public funding is necessary to build a stadium is a false premise. Across the Bay, the San Francisco Giants built Oracle Park entirely privately.
A’s owner John Fisher never entertained the idea of a privately built stadium in Oakland. The A’s fans, despite years of on-field success, lost faith. The narrative of inevitability became the reality, and the city of Oakland has lost its last major professional sports team.
“We feel for our fans in Oakland,” Kaval said. “It’s a sad day for the community and our fan base. We’ve been here more than 50 years.”
The A’s have been very bad in recent years. Does this speed up their timeline or boost the budget for putting together a winning team?
Theoretically, sure, but the Athletics have the sport’s lowest payroll this season and have ranked higher than 25th in the majors only once in the last decade, so the idea that suddenly upon the A’s arrival in Las Vegas they’re going to morph into a bigger-budget team is no guarantee. Oakland’s longtime baseball operations chief, Billy Beane, and his successor, David Forst, have done yeoman’s work in keeping the team competitive on a skinflint payroll — they’ve made the playoffs in six of the past dozen years. But Oakland’s dreadful 2022 — and an even worse start this season — speak to the difficulty in that approach.
“Once we get certainty about the timeline of a new building, it allows us to plan,” Kaval said. “Right now, for David Forst and Billy as our senior adviser, there’s too much uncertainty. With the declining revenues, it’s a precarious situation. We need to get by that and have a plan we can work against so we can develop the talent. I have full confidence in our baseball-operations team, and once we get through the relocation process with the league, we can put a plan together.”
There has been no shortage of excitement already this NHL offseason. Following the Florida Panthers‘ second consecutive Stanley Cup championship — and seemingly never-ending celebration — the annual period of roster modification has begun.
The 2025 NHL draft included 224 prospects finding new homes, and the weekend included trades for Noah Dobson, Charlie Coyle and John Gibson. On Monday, a slew of re-signings, and the trade of Mitch Marner, took several big names off the free agent big board.
Below you will find our continuously updated free agency tracker for 2025, featuring a list of every player signed, including average annual value of the contract in most cases. Analysis of the biggest deals can be found here.
Note that the newest deals are on top, denoted by date.
Draft recap: All 224 picks
Grades for all 32 teams
Winners and losers
July 3
The Hurricanes have signed the most coveted free agent left on the board; former Jet Nikolaj Ehlers is heading to Carolina via a six-year, $8.5 million AAV contract.
The Sharks are building an elite young core of skilled players, but the front office is also surrounding them with veterans to show the youngsters the ropes. That latter trend continued Thursday, with San Jose agreeing to terms on a two-year, $6.5 million AAV pact with defenseman Dmitry Orlov.
July 2
One of the most legendary old guys without a Stanley Cup, Brent Burns is joining the Avalanche on a one-year contract to try to fill that gap on his résumé.
Perhaps acknowledging that they will no longer be in the Nikolaj Ehlers business, the Jets added a seasoned middle-six winger instead in Gustav Nyquist, who is agreeing to a one-year, $3.25 million pact.
Defenseman Alexander Alexeyev has switched sides in the Capitals-Penguins rivalry! He’ll patrol the blue line in Pittsburgh next season, thanks to a one-year, $775,000 deal.
The Pius Suter Derby is over. The veteran forward will be plying his trade for the Blues, inking a two-year, $4 million AAV pact with the club.
The big addition for the Golden Knights this offseason was Mitch Marner, but they’re making depth moves too, including signing defenseman Kaedan Korczak to a four-year, $3.25 million AAV contract.
Winnipeg: Cold in the winter. Detroit: Slightly less cold in the winter. Mason Appleton is about to find out after signing a two-year, $2.9 million AAV contract.
The Devils saw enough out of Cody Glass during the 2024-25 season to re-sign him. His new deal is for two years, $2.5 million AAV.
Salmon Arm, British Columbia, native Curtis Lazar is headed back to Western Canada, agreeing to terms on a one-year, $775,000 contract with the Oilers.
Veteran winger Anthony Mantha has made the rounds in recent seasons, and his next NHL home is in Pittsburgh, inking a one-year, $2.5 million pact.
July 1
After a brief stint for an American-based team, Andrew Mangiapane is back in Western Canada, inking a two-year, $3.6 million AAV deal with the Oilers.
Forward Justin Brazeau has chosen the Penguins as his next NHL destination, inking a two-year, $1.5 million AAV contract.
The Devils continued adding to their forward depth, adding veteran scoring winger Evgenii Dadonov via a one-year, $1 million deal.
The July 1 goalie rush continues. The Mammoth are the latest team to make an addition in the crease, inking Stanley Cup champion Vitek Vanecek via a one-year, $1.5 million deal.
Offensive defenseman John Klingberg is headed to San Jose, agreeing to terms on a one-year, $4 million pact with the Sharks.
One of the top remaining free agents available, veteran forward Mikael Granlund has landed with the Ducks on a three-year deal.
Veteran bottom-six forward Lars Eller has chosen the Senators as his next team, agreeing to terms on a one-year, $1.25 million deal.
The Penguins have extended their business relationships with Philip Tomasino (one year, $1.75 million) and Connor Dewar (one year, $1.1 million).
As part of the effort to retake the title of Florida’s best hockey team, the Lightning have inked Pontus Holmberg to a two-year, $1.55 million AAV contract.
The Wild have added Nico Sturm. The former Panther has signed a two-year, $2 million AAV contract.
The Sabres have entered the chat! The club’s first big deal of the day is inking goaltender Alex Lyon to a two-year, $1.5 million AAV contract.
The Kraken add to their goaltending depth, adding former Stanley Cup winner Matt Murray on a one-year, $1 million contract.
The Islanders had themselves a great draft weekend, and they continue the momentum in free agency, adding veteran forward Jonathan Drouin on a two-year, $4 million AAV deal.
The Stars are on the board. Hours after announcing the official hiring of Glen Gulutzan as the club’s new head coach, the Stars have brought back forward Radek Faksa on a two-year, $3 million AAV contract.
Earlier on Tuesday the Kings lost defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov to the Rangers. To help fill that blue-line gap, they signed Cody Ceci (four years, $4.5 million AAV) and Brian Dumoulin (three years, $4 million AAV). They also signed goaltender Anton Forsberg for two years, $2.25 million AAV.
Defenseman Nick Perbix has thus far only known NHL life as a member of the Lightning. He’ll head to Nashville next, agreeing to a two-year, $2.75 million AAV deal with the Predators.
The Panthers have gone to the veteran defenseman well again, signing Jeff Petry to a one-year, $775,000 contract.
Fresh off a Stanley Cup with the Panthers, defenseman Nate Schmidt is joining the Mammoth by way of a three-year, $3.5 million AAV contract.
The NHL career of James van Riemsdyk will continue, as he has agreed to terms with the Red Wings on a one-year, $1 million deal. Separately, the Wings added Jacob Bernard-Docker on a one-year, $875,000 contract.
The Bruins add to their depth, agreeing to terms with Sean Kuraly on a two-year, $1.85 million AAV pact.
Another key member of the Panthers’ championship roster is returning. Veteran forward Tomas Nosek has agreed to a one-year deal.
After completing the 2024-25 season with the Jets, veteran forward Brandon Tanev is sticking in the Central Division, but heading to Utah by way of a three-year, $2.5 million AAV deal.
Take another goalie’s name off the big board! Kaapo Kahkonen has agreed to terms with the Canadiens on a one-year deal worth $1.15 million. In a separate deal, the club also signed forward Sammy Blais.
The winner of the 2020 Hobey Baker Award as the top player in NCAA men’s hockey, defenseman Scott Perunovich has signed a one-year deal with the Mammoth.
In need of some backup goaltending depth, the Islanders agreed to terms with “Big Save” Dave Rittich on a one-year deal.
Diminutive, versatile forward Kailer Yamamoto is the latest player added by the Mammoth, by way of a one-year, $775,000 pact.
Veteran center Nick Bjugstad has made his decision: He’s joining the Blues by way of a two-year contract.
Veteran defenseman Ryan Lindgren finished the 2024-25 season with the Avalanche, and he’ll head northwest for his next NHL home, agreeing to terms on a four-year, $4.5 million AAV contract.
The Senators haven’t been able to lure any new free agents to the club yet, but their re-signing game remains strong. After re-upping with Claude Giroux, the Sens also continued their business relationship with Nick Cousins via a one-year, $825,000 pact.
Sure to be a fan favorite in Beantown, veteran forward Tanner Jeannot has agreed to terms on a five-year contract with the Bruins, with a $3.4 million AAV.
A sixth-round pick in the 2016 draft, winger Michael Pezzetta is going from Montreal to Toronto via a two-year, $787,500 AAV contract.
Connor Brown impressed a lot of viewers with inspired play during the Oilers’ run to the Stanley Cup Final. Now, he’ll bring that energy to the Devils, who have signed him to a four-year, $3 million AAV contract.
The defenseman market is one key player smaller, as the Rangers have agreed to terms with Vladislav Gavrikov on a seven-year, $7 million AAV contract.
One of the top goaltending options available is off the board, with Dan Vladar joining the Flyers via a two-year, $3.35 million AAV contract.
Veteran feisty forward Corey Perry is switching sides in the Oilers-Kings rivalry, agreeing to terms on a one-year deal with salary and bonuses worth $3.5 million. Separately, the Kings also signed veteran forward Joel Armia to a two-year deal with a $2.5 million AAV.
One of the top available free agents has made a decision … and he’ll be re-signing. Brock Boeser is back with the Canucks by way of a seven-year, $7.3 million AAV contract.
Parker Kelly will continue his career with the Avalanche, agreeing to terms on a four-year contract with a $1.7 million AAV.
Veteran forward Colin Blackwell will be returning to the Stars, agreeing to terms on a two-year deal with a $775,000 AAV.
Christian Dvorak has moved on from the Canadiens, agreeing to a one-year, $5.4 million contract with the Flyers.
Noah Juulsen, welcome to Philly! The Flyers have inked the 28-year-old defenseman to a one-year, $900,000 deal.
Defenseman Ryan Johnson is sticking with the Sabres, agreeing to terms on a three-year deal with a $775,000 AAV.
The top-rated goaltender slated to hit free agency this offseason will not make it to market; Jake Allen is back with the Devils via a five-year contract with a $1.8 million AAV.
Veteran offensive defenseman Tony DeAngelo will be back with the Islanders for 2025-26, agreeing to terms on a one-year, $1.75 million contract.
June 30
The Red Wings will be continuing their relationship with veteran forward Patrick Kane, inking a one-year, $3 million extension.
The band is getting back together. After re-upping with Sam Bennett last week, the Panthers re-signed both Aaron Ekblad and Brad Marchand on Monday.
Rumors of a Mitch Marner trade popped up during draft weekend, and they came to fruition Monday, as the Maple Leafs inked Marner to an eight-year, $12 million average annual value extension, then traded him to the Golden Knights for Nicolas Roy.
The Oilers will not be allowing one of their promising young players to leave via offer sheet, as they signed restricted free agent defenseman Evan Bouchard to a four-year, $10.5 million AAV contract.
Veteran defenseman Ivan Provorov would have been one of the most sought-after blueliners on the free agent market. Instead, he’ll be back with the Blue Jackets for the foreseeable future, agreeing to a seven-year, $8.5 million AAV deal.
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