Major League Baseball (MLB) Commissioner Rob Manfred (65) has supported the Oakland Athletics’ plan to relocate their hometown.
Commissioner Manfred메이저놀이터 said at the owner meeting held in New York on the 25th (Korean time), “I am really sorry for the Oakland fans. But it is unfair for the City of Oakland to criticize Oakland owner John Fisher,” he said. “The Athletics will be a more competitive team in Las Vegas.”
The Athletics team has been using the Oakland Coliseum Stadium for 55 years since 1968. However, the facility was very poor, so we discussed a plan to build a new stadium with the city of Auckland, but we could not find an agreement. Accordingly, the club announced on the 20th that it had agreed with the city of Las Vegas to purchase about 198,296 square meters of land in Las Vegas and build a new openable dome stadium with a capacity of 30,000 to 35,000 seats.
The City of Oakland was disappointed with the Athletics’ decision to relocate. The Associated Press said on the 25th, “The City of Oakland is ‘disappointed that the club did not negotiate with us as real partners. “The club used us to get a better deal with Las Vegas, even though they had no intention of staying in Oakland any longer.”
Commissioner Manfred strongly supported the Athletics club. He said, “Considering the competitive aspect, shouldn’t it be positive? I think Las Vegas offers real revenue growth opportunities.” While construction of the Athletics club’s new soccer field is scheduled to begin next year and be completed in 2027, Commissioner Manfred plans to promote a plan to increase the number of MLB teams from 30 to 32 after the plan to build a new soccer field in Tampa Bay is decided. “Among a few cities, Nashville is also on the list,” he said. “It never occurred to me to expand into Mexico.”