Nevada Governor signs bill to build MLB stadium

RENO, Nevada –

Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo on Thursday signed a US$380 million public funding package to help build a Major League Baseball stadium for the Oakland Athletics on the Las Vegas Strip, while the MLB Commissioner has spent months approval process for the A’s proposed move there.

The first-term Republican governor and former sheriff in Las Vegas said he was pleased to sign the measure that the Democratic-controlled legislature passed Wednesday night after a seven-day special session.

“This is an incredible opportunity to bring the A’s to Nevada,” Lombardo said in a statement from Carson City.

The $1.5 billion stadium with a retractable roof is planned near the homes of the NFL’s Vegas Raiders, who fled Oakland in 2020, and the NHL’s Golden Knights, who won the Stanley Cup this week in their sixth season.

“This legislation reflects months of negotiations between the team, state, county and league,” said Lombardo. “Las Vegas’ position as a global sports destination is only growing, and Major League Baseball is a great asset to the city.”

Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred outlined the review process of the A’s proposed move at a news conference hours earlier at a meeting of owners in New York. With a capacity of 30,000, the stadium would be the smallest in the MLB.

Manfred said the team should submit a relocation request explaining the effort in Oakland and why Las Vegas is a better market. A relocation committee will demarcate the new working area and the television area. It will then make a recommendation to Manfred and the eight-member executive council. The executive council makes a recommendation to all clubs, which must approve the move with at least three-quarters of the vote.

The team said in a statement late Thursday that Nevada governor’s signing of the funding package was “an important step forward in securing a new home for the athletics.”

“We are now beginning the process with MLB to request a move to Las Vegas,” the statement said. “We are excited about Southern Nevada’s dynamic and vibrant professional sports scene, and we look forward to becoming a valued member of the community through jobs, economic development, and the quality of life and civic pride of a major league Baseball team.”

The $380 million in government funding would come primarily from $180 million in transferable tax credits and $120 million in government bonds. Donors have pledged that the creation of a special tax district around the proposed stadium would raise enough money to pay off those bonds and interest. The plan would not raise taxes directly.

The plan had revived the national debate about public funding for private sports clubs. Representatives for A and some Nevada tourism officials have said the measure could help fuel the growing Las Vegas sports scene and act as an economic driver. But a growing chorus of economists and some lawmakers have warned that such a project would bring minimal benefits compared to the hefty public price tag.

Opposition came from both sides of the aisle, especially in northern and rural Nevada hundreds of miles from Las Vegas.

“No change is going to change the fact that we’re giving millions of public dollars to a billionaire,” Reno-based Councilwoman Selena La Rue Hatch, a progressive Democrat, said during Wednesday night’s debate.

“Using taxpayers’ money for pet projects instead of private capital is socialism,” said Republican Senator Ira Hansen of neighboring Sparks.

But backers said Major League Baseball on the Las Vegas Strip will not only create 14,000 construction and permanent jobs, but also build on the excitement surrounding the Raiders, the Golden Knights and the WNBA’s Aces in a city that lacks major professional sports for 2016.

“With the Aces winning a national championship last year and the Golden Knights winning the Stanley Cup last night, it is clear that Las Vegas is clearly becoming the entertainment and sports capital of the world,” said Democratic Assemblyman Shea Backus. from Vegas.