Angels Division Rival Athletics Officially Move to Las Vegas
One of the biggest questions of the 2023 MLB season finally has an answer. The Los Angeles Angels division rival, the Oakland Athletics, have officially been approved to relocate to Las Vegas.
The news broke earlier today from Bob Nightengale of USA Today as he reported that the vote was unanimous amongst all 30 MLB owners.
Nightendale later went on to report that MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred called this a great day for Las Vegas but also a difficult day for Oakland A's fans.
Over the last four years, the city of Oakland has taken blows left and right as the Golden State Warriors left the Oakland Arena in 2019 to move into the Chase Center located in the heart of San Francisco. In 2020, the Raiders left town to move to Vegas as well and now play in Allegiant Stadium.
The A's will be the final team to leave Oakland and leave them without a professional sports team for the first time since 1960 when the Raiders made their debut.
The move to relocate to Las Vegas was often speculated as the potential destination for the A's as the Oakland Coliseum has desperately needed modern renovations to stay afloat.
Since the Raiders left, Oakland fans have begged and pleaded with owner John Fisher to keep the team in the city and renovate the stadium, but an attempt to do so was never made.
During the 2023 season, A's fans have constantly protested the potential relocation of the team by creating reverse boycott nights where fans would come to the games and fill the stadium during games.
Often during these games, viewers at home would eventually hear fans start "Sell the Team" chants in hopes that Fisher would indeed listen and sell the team to someone else.
On April 19. the team announced they had purchased land in Las Vegas and will build the new ballpark along the Las Vegas Strip and what is the current site of the Tropicana hotel.
