All season long the Oakland Athletics have dominated the headlines with their impending move to Las Vegas. MLB hasn’t had a team relocate since 2005 when the Montreal Expos moved to Washington to become the Nationals. Most recently, the governor of Nevada, Joe Lombardo signed a bill to give the A’s public funding to build their new stadium. While Oakland is far from done with the relocation process, this is a big step in getting Major League Baseball on the strip. However, I believe the Oakland Athletics are going to be failures in Las Vegas.
There Are Better Things to Do in Vegas
Embed from Getty Images
There are better things to do in Vegas than watching a baseball game. One can obviously gamble, see a show, visit a wacky museum, go clubbing, take a helicopter ride somewhere, tour Hoover Dam, ride the high roller, and much more. For most people planning a bachelor or bachelorette trip to Vegas, seeing a baseball game probably isn’t on the list. Vegas has a lot of activities and attractions you can’t see or do at home. Most people in this country can see a baseball game in their home state. If it were me, I’d opt to do something more exotic. I wouldn’t define watching a consistently downtrodden franchise as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
The Worst Team in Baseball Is Coming to Vegas
Embed from Getty Images
What’s being overshadowed is that Sin City would be inheriting the worst team in Major League Baseball. Oakland’s public enemy number one and Athletics owner John Fisher has shown no effort to make the team better. Nobody wants to pay money to see a horrendous product on the field. While the first year may go well due to the curiosity and eagerness of the city, this won’t last forever. Eventually, the newness will fade and unless there is a winner on the field, people will stop caring. This in turn will make it harder to establish a fan base, something that the Rays and Marlins are still struggling to do partially because of all the losing early on.
Intolerably Hot Summers
Embed from Getty Images
During the summertime in Las Vegas, temperatures can get above over 100 degrees. Unless this new stadium has a roof, not many people are going to want to watch a game in that weather. During hot weather days during the summer, crowds are often very sparse at baseball games. I can’t think of anybody who enjoys the sun beating down on them while sitting for over two hours. Unless there is a roof over this stadium, I would expect to see a lot of empty seats.
The NFL’s Raiders Have Struggled Since Leaving Oakland
Embed from Getty Images
The NFL has become the most popular sports league in America compared to other professional sports. Despite having a state-of-the-art stadium, the Raiders attendance has continued to fail. Like the Athletics are trying to do now, the Raiders ditched Oakland for Las Vegas. However, since leaving Oakland, the Raiders attendance has dropped from the top three in the league all the way down to 30th. It’s not uncommon to see more opposing team fans in the stadium. Recently, Raiders owner Mark Davis has been complaining about this issue.
Nevada Is a Transplant and Tourist State
Embed from Getty Images
Just like Florida, Nevada is a transplant and tourist state. This means the state gets new residents and visitors from all over the country. Most of the time when someone moves to a new state, they often bring their fandom for their original team with them. With a good number of the state’s residents being transplanted, it’ll be another obstacle that will make it difficult to establish a true home team following. The Rays deal with this every year when Tropicana Field becomes “Yankee Stadium South” during the Yankees series. I wouldn’t be shocked if we saw a lot more other teams’ fans flood the new Las Vegas ballpark during those games.
The A’s Are Worse off Leaving for Vegas
Embed from Getty Images
Given the state of the Athletics right now and how John Fisher runs the team, I can’t see them having any success in Vegas. With the state of Nevada being primarily a transplant and tourist state, it’ll be hard for them to develop a real fan base. If Johnny Boy had a brain and opened his eyes, he’d recognize he has a loyal fan base and Oakland. While it’s inevitable that MLB will have a team on the strip, if it ends up being Oakland, the A’s won’t be successful at the box office or on the field.
For more on baseball, check out USA Informing and follow Eric on Twitter.
