A's to Las Vegas "Not Finalized"
In an article published on ESPN by the Associated Press, we received a little more clarity into just how the A's were able to stay on revenue sharing, despite the number of loose ends remaining before the move is made official. One of those loose ends continues to be the rumors swirling around that they can't find the financing for the project. Semantics.
Steve Hill, CEO and president of the LV Visitor's Authority and part-time undeclared lobbyist, is quoted in the article. "...that having a framework of an agreement in place was enough to satisfy the league and the union. He said there are multiple steps that still need to be taken before the A's move to Las Vegas is finalized."
Here is the language from the CBA on what the A's needed to get done by Monday in order to stay on revenue sharing. "If by Jan. 15, 2024, the Athletics have not entered into a binding agreement in Oakland or another city to construct a new Major League Baseball facility to host Athletics championship season games, the Athletics shall be fully disqualified from receiving revenue sharing beginning with the 2024 revenue sharing year."
So the A's move is both "not finalized" and "binding." Major League Baseball made the rules, so they can feel free to interpret them however they want. MLB apparently feels that the agreement in place is enough to get it across the finish line. Or maybe it was John Fisher speaking for the first time in 20 years of ownership that did it.
This article was also published the same day as the C&E filings were coming in from Nevada, where at least $98,000 in campaign donations was made to members of the legislature. $67,000 of those donations were to members that voted "yes" on SB1, approving the $380 million in public funds for the A's proposed ballpark. $20,000 was given to two Clark County Commissioners ($10,000 each). $11,000 was donated to nine of the 23 members that voted "no."
It wouldn't be surprising if instead of talking about revenue sharing on Monday, when the deadline was, that this was pushed to Tuesday to correspond with the release of those C&E's. Trying to distract people has been a common theme throughout this relocation process.
Still, the big headline for those that haven't been paying attention to the A's relocation process is that, despite what has been written numerous times over the past nine months, the A's move to Las Vegas is not official, yet. Even with MLB owner's approval.
On top of figuring out financing for their portion of the ballpark, which is roughly $1.12 billion before overruns which Fisher would also be on the hook for, they still need to figure out their contracts with Steve Hill on a community benefits agreement, lease agreement, development agreement, and a non-relocation agreement.
Those four agreements could all be hammered out fairly quickly, but they were supposed to be taken care of by now. What's the holdup?