Nevada governor signs bill to fund A’s stadium
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Jeff Passan, ESPN
Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo on Thursday signed the bill pledging $380 million in taxpayer money toward a $1.5 billion stadium for the Oakland Athletics to move to Las Vegas, leaving only the approval of Major League Baseball to finalize the first relocation of a franchise in nearly two decades.
SB1, the bill passed by the Nevada legislature during a seven-day special session called for by Lombardo to hammer out a financing package, was approved this week by the state Senate and Assembly after the addition of amendments that called upon the A’s organization to guarantee $2 million annually to the community, among other small concessions.
Lombardo signing the bill was the latest victory for A’s owner John Fisher, who over protests from Oakland fans and politicians had focused efforts in recent months on moving the team from its home since 1968. The last MLB team to move was the Montreal Expos, who in 2005 became the Washington Nationals. The A’s need the support of the other teams, who are expected to rubber-stamp the move in the coming months without the team needing to pay the standard $1 billion relocation fee after commissioner Rob Manfred said he would waive it as long as the organization received public funding to support its stadium efforts.
“I’m excited to officially sign SB1 this afternoon,” Lombardo said in a statement. “This is an incredible opportunity to bring the A’s to Nevada, and this legislation reflects months of negotiations between the team, the state, the county, and the league. Las Vegas’ position as a global sports destination is only growing, and Major League Baseball is another tremendous asset for the city.”
The A’s, whose lease at the dilapidated Oakland Coliseum runs through 2024, are expected to move at latest in 2025 to Las Vegas, a city that before the NHL’s Golden Knights arrived in 2017 didn’t have a major professional sports team. The team hopes the proposed stadium, a 30,000-seat retractable-roof building at the site of the Tropicana hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, would be ready by 2028. Until then, the A’s would play about 30 minutes west, at their AAA affiliate’s 10,000-seat park, before moving into the smallest stadium in MLB.
The A’s move, initiated by Fisher following more than two decades of failed efforts to build a stadium in the Bay Area, prompted Oakland fans to initiate a so-called reverse boycott Tuesday, in which they drew a season-high 27,759 fans, many of whom spent the game chanting for Fisher to “sell the team.”
Fisher, an heir to the Gap clothing fortune who bought the team in 2005, declined comment at the quarterly owners’ meetings in New York this week. Manfred, who spoke derisively about the fans showing up for the reverse boycott, said: “I feel sorry for the fans in Oakland. I do not like this outcome. I understand why they feel the way they do. I think the real question is what is it that Oakland was prepared to do? There is no Oakland offer. They never got to the point where they had a plan to build a stadium at any site. It’s not just John Fisher. … The community has to provide support, and at some point you come to the realization that it’s just not going to happen.”
Oakland mayor Sheng Thao has said previously that the city had $375 million in commitments toward a new stadium. The desire of Fisher and A’s president Dave Kaval to instead pursue a massive, $12 billion development project at Oakland’s Howard Terminal site, a spokesperson for the mayor said in a statement, complicated what could have been a straightforward transaction.
“There was a very concrete proposal under discussion and Oakland had gone above and beyond to clear hurdles, including securing funding for infrastructure, providing an environmental review and working with other agencies to finalize proposals,” the mayor’s statement said. “The reality is the A’s ownership had insisted on a multibillion-dollar, 55-acre project that included a ballpark, residential, commercial and retail space. In Las Vegas, for whatever reason, they seem satisfied with a 9-acre leased ballpark on leased land. If they had proposed a similar project in Oakland, we feel confident a new ballpark would already be under construction.”
Over the last two years, as the A’s received permission from MLB to pursue relocation, Las Vegas emerged as the favorite to land its third major men’s team, after the Knights and the NFL’s Raiders, who also moved from Oakland. Over the last five years, all of Oakland’s pro sports teams — the A’s, Raiders and the NBA’s Warriors — have moved out of the city.
“We will now begin the process with MLB to apply for relocation to Las Vegas,” the A’s said in a statement. “We are excited about Southern Nevada’s dynamic and vibrant professional sports scene, and we look forward to becoming a valued community member through jobs, economic development, and the quality of life and civic pride of a Major League Baseball team.”
The A’s have spent most of the season as the worst team in MLB. Fisher forced the trades of key Oakland players, and after going 60-102 last season, they’re on pace to finish a historically bad 43-119 this season.
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Heather Dinich, Senior College Football Insider
ATLANTA — Following Ohio State‘s fourth straight loss to Michigan, the players had a meeting with coach Ryan Day during which they “really hashed some things out,” quarterback Will Howard said Saturday, a turning point in their season that helped propel the team to Monday’s national championship game against Notre Dame.
“It was really a truth-telling time,” Howard said at the College Football Playoff media day. “The facts were laid out there. People were challenged. Everyone including myself had to look in the mirror a little bit and say, ‘What can I do better? How can we fix this thing?’ The thing that we clung to was we still have this opportunity out in front of us to right all these wrongs and go play for a national championship and here we are. We’re right where we wanted to be. A lot of people wrote us off, but we really just believed in ourselves.”
The Buckeyes were favored by 21 points against Michigan, the widest point spread for the rivalry since 1978, according to ESPN Research. Since then, they have reeled off three straight playoff wins — against Tennessee, Big Ten champion Oregon and SEC runner-up Texas.
Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly said the team has shown its resiliency over the past few weeks, but had a choice to make.
“They talked through it,” Kelly said. “I think they understood what was presented, what’s ahead of us. I think that’s a big point. When you look at the game against Michigan, it could be one of two things: It could be your tombstone, or it could be a stepping stone, and Ryan and our players turned it into a stepping stone.”
Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said the 13-10 loss to Michigan made the team closer. After the first loss of the season to Oregon, Knowles said, “There were a lot of fingers being pointed at the defense. And the second one, it was kind of the other way.”
“I made a point to say to our guys, ‘Remember what that felt like the first time? You need to go out of your way to pick up your brothers on offense,'” Knowles said. “In a way they did, and it kind of really merged us.”
The Buckeyes are making their sixth national championship game appearance (national championship games began with the inception of the BCS in the 1998 season), but haven’t won one since the 2014 season. Ohio State is 2-3 in national championship games. The Buckeyes are trying to win their first national title under Day, who faced heavy backlash and questions about his job security following the loss to Michigan.
“Every year you learn and you grow,” he said, “trying to be self-aware enough to surround yourself with people who will tell you the truth, hoping to get better, and that’s really all you can do.
“When you go through great moments, you really grab on to the people who are around you, and it’s the same thing when you go through difficult moments,” Day said. “That’s why you build relationships.”
Ohio State has a 6-2 lead in the all-time series and has won six straight. Notre Dame’s last win over Ohio State came in 1936. Knowles said Day never allowed any of the criticism to impact his work or effect the staff.
“It’s not something we talk about because we just try to put our heads down and work,” Knowles said. “But in the end, brothers in arms, you’re happy he is being seen for the quality of person and coach that he is because he does a great job and he cares about the players and is in tune with what’s going on with the staff. The only thing you can do to help is win, so I’m glad we have done that.”
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Paolo Uggetti, ESPN
ATLANTA — After being limited to one catch in Ohio State‘s Cotton Bowl semifinal victory over Texas, freshman phenom Jeremiah Smith gave a warning Saturday in advance of the Buckeyes’ national championship matchup against Notre Dame.
“If you are going to play man [to-man defense] against Ohio State, be ready,” Smith said. “I can’t wait to put on a show.”
Smith, who repeatedly pointed out during his media day availability that the Irish play man-to-man defense “80%” of the time, acknowledged that he relishes when defenses try to stop him with only one defender.
“What [the Irish do] they do very, very well. So for them to change up what they do, would be kind of silly,” Ohio State wide receivers coach Brian Hartline told ESPN. “They’re really, really good players, great players on the outside. And we’re really great players on the outside, too. It’s what you want in a game of this magnitude.”
Following Smith’s best game of the season against Oregon in the Rose Bowl (187 yards and two touchdowns), Texas’ secondary sold out to stop Smith, whose only catch in the Buckeyes’ win was for 3 yards.
“You watch the film — they doubled, tripled me,” Smith said. “It’s frustrating, but being a decoy helped us win the game.”
In his first year at Ohio State, Smith has been a supernova, catching 71 passes for 1,227 yards and 14 touchdowns. Heading into this game, he’s averaging 17.3 yards per catch.
“He’s one of the most talented dudes I’ve been around … you always want to try to get him the ball,” quarterback Will Howard said. “But he can also take out two or three guys at a time [as a decoy], and sometimes that’s a good thing.”
Smith’s performance in the Cotton Bowl was by far his least productive of the season, but it helped to open up opportunities for other skill players such as Carnell Tate (seven catches for 87 yards) and Quinshon Judkins (two receiving touchdowns).
Whether the Irish try to go away from their usual playing style in order to limit Smith or stick to their scheme remains to be seen. Although Smith noted that Notre Dame’s secondary might be the best they have faced all season, he is ready for the challenge.
“If I’ve got to be a decoy in this game, I’ll be a decoy,” Smith said. “All I want to do is win.”
Also, Ohio State star DE JT Tuimoloau, who rolled his ankle against Texas, talked about his health and the injury.
“I feel really good. I feel really good. One thing, our strength coach says you can’t do too much of taking care of your body, so I’m overloaded on take care of everything.”
Tuimoloau said he’s been somewhat limited in practice to nurse the ankle back.
“Me and Coach Day bumped heads; I want to get out there, he wants me to rest, so we met somewhere in the middle.”
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