Both markets are not that attractive.
The ongoing saga of where the future Major League Baseball track and field franchise will play, Oakland or Las Vegas, continues. Oakland Athletics, owned by John Fisher, got bad news when Alameda County, California decided it didn’t know if it wanted to be part of a special tax district that would be set up in Athletics Oakland’s proposed waterfront Stadium Village complex. Fisher needs Alameda County on board to help with public funding for its proposed development. Fisher’s athletics business is also conducting studies and is now focusing on groups in the Las Vegas market to see if relocating the franchise to Nevada can work.
There’s a red flag that should affect Fisher and MLB. Will people travel to Las Vegas to see games from other Major League Baseball markets to see their team play the Las Vegas A’s? Dependent on tourism to fill a stadium is not part of the three-legged chair that is needed for economic success. A major league sports owner must receive government support, which may include public funding for stadium construction or tax breaks or incentives, a cable television contract that brings in some of the money, and business support. Major League Sports would rather have customers than fans, as customers are spending money on valet parking, eating at on-site restaurants, buying goods, and willing to spend big bucks on seating, unlike fans who like cheap tickets and prefer to bring their own food and drinks to a game. Fisher didn’t even pick a stadium location in Las Vegas. According to a study by Nielsen, the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose market has the sixth largest Designated Market Area in the United States. Las Vegas is number 40. Oakland has more television and corporate money, Las Vegas would be the MLB’s smallest market and that’s a problem.
Evan Weiner’s books are available on iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191
