A's Latest "Binding Agreement" Leaves Some Question Marks
On Monday morning, the Oakland Athletics and Bally's Corporation announced their binding agreement for the development of the land that currently hosts The Tropicana in Las Vegas. Inside, there are a couple of details that have left some eyebrows raised.
The joint statements says that the new ballpark will "accommodate approximately 30,000 fans." The statement also says that the project expects to welcome more than 2.5 million fans and visitors annually. Just a quick math check on that one shows that the 2.5 million is literally impossible over the course of 81 home games in a 30,000 seat venue. Thirty thousand multiplied by 81 is 2.43 million, and that's if every single game is a sellout. Even with playoff games every year, they'd need 19 home games, which is also literally impossible in the current playoff format. The most they could have would be twelve, and that's if they're the top wild card team (netting three home games), and every series through the World Series goes seven games.
So that's one issue.
Another interesting tidbit that hadn't previously been reported is that Gaming & Leisure Properties Inc. (GLPI) "has agreed to fund up to $175 million towards certain shared improvements within the future development in exchange for a commensurate rent increase."
First off, the A's are getting some extra money kicked in, on top of the reported asking price of $375 million in public assistance. Not sure how they ended up at $375 after the initial public asking price was $500 million for the Wild Wild West site, especially when you incorporate that $175 million is already being kicked in. Again, the math isn't adding up. Shouldn't the asking price be $325 (500-175)?
The other part of this that caught my attention is that the GLPI money is in exchange for a commensurate rent increase. This is pure speculation, but there have been tons of rumors that John Fisher wants to get a ballpark deal done, increasing the value of the franchise, then sell the team. This would signify that this could very well be the plan. He gets money to build his ballpark, then he has someone else pay the increased rent that he's agreed to pay.
In the statement, they were sure to mention that while this is a binding agreement, there are a couple of loop holes after the last "binding agreement" that was announced by the club. The first caveat is that this is all contingent on "the passing of legislation for public financing and related agreements." That's to be expected.
The A's still need to introduce their bill to be voted on, and the expectation is that it will be released this week.
The second is that the A's relocation has to be approved by Major League Baseball. It's hard to imagine that MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred would have pushed this hard for Las Vegas if he didn't feel that the other 29 owners (or at least enough of them) were going to give a "yes" vote. That vote would happen at the Owner's Meetings after the season at the very latest.
The full joint statement can be read here.