With the Athletics and the city of Oakland seemingly at odds over funding for a new stadium to replace the laughably outdated Coliseum, the A’s have begun researching relocation options including Las Vegas and Portland. According to Oregonian columnist John Canzano, A’s owner John Fisher along with team executives David Kaval, Billy Beane and Sandy Dean will visit Portland next month as part of a “fact-finding mission.” That same contingent is visiting Vegas this week.
Portland hasn’t had a professional baseball team in town since the Portland Beavers, former Triple-A club of the San Diego Padres, closed shop in 2010. The Hillsboro Hops, High-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, play 15 miles west of the city. The Portland Diamond Project, an initiative bankrolled in part by Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and his wife Ciara, has been trying to bring major-league baseball to Portland for years, eagerly monitoring the A’s situation in Oakland while rendering concepts for a proposed stadium at Terminal 2 in the city’s port district.
While Las Vegas is seen as the likely favorite to land the Athletics if they leave the Bay Area (skeptics have been quick to dismiss their relocation threat as a shameless leverage play by A’s ownership), Portland has a few factors working in its favor. Of the two, Portland is the larger television market (21st compared to 39th for Sin City) and only has one club within its “broadcast territory” (the Mariners) compared to Vegas’ six (Angels, A’s, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Giants and Padres). With so many other entertainment options available in Vegas, the A’s, who would surely be third in the city’s sports pecking order behind the Raiders and Golden Knights, could easily get lost in the shuffle. Las Vegas’ oppressive heat (summer temperatures can rise into the 110s) would also pose challenges, likely requiring the team to adopt an indoor facility.
The last MLB team to relocate were the Montreal Expos, who rebranded as the Washington Nationals in 2005.
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