Its pretty wild how much Sacramento has been left behind in all this. Once considered the frontrunner way back before Cincinnati, Miami, Nashville, Austin, Charlotte (lol) have been added in the meantime. Maybe even before Atlanta, Minnesota, and LAFC?
1 Like
I agree, I remember reading stories about Sacramento being ‘the next one’ back in the early 2010s. They had consistently sold out/had high attendance figures for the league they were in so it seemed like it was a forgone conclusion.
Also, it’s just kind of crazy the complete 180 degree turn sporting society has done in regards to Las Vegas being a professional sports town. Putting a sports team in Las Vegas was something no one thought would happen but now we have NFL, NHL, and potentially either MLS or MLB. All within the rather short time span of a couple years.
2 Likes
All about the money for MLS and Garber.
Maybe we need a competing pro league. NFL didn’t start as one organization after all.
4 Likes
I feel like a large part of that is how much online sports gambling (like DraftKings) has exploded over the last few years. I always heard the response that the leagues didn’t want teams in Vegas because of the gambling implications, but now nobody really cares because online sports gambling is so prominent.
4 Likes
We attended the Canes vs Knights and it was walking distance from the strip, it was also a full on party and night club before the game!
3 Likes
I believe the MLB is a done deal. A’s reportedly purchased the Tropicana site, south end of strip, next to the airport.
1 Like
My thoughts exactly. I was thinking professional sports leagues didn’t want a Pete Rose-type situation on their hands with their players/coaches and influencing the outcomes of games. However, like most things, society changes and new things become the norm. Correct me if I’m wrong, I believe NFL and DraftKings have a big sponsorship deal. I think Garber quotes having a betting partner too in that interview.
1 Like
Wow, hadn’t heard that one yet…
Poor Oakland, man. Two iconic, long-standing teams lost to Vegas. That city really does seem to be losing its unique distinction from San Francisco.
4 Likes
And San Francisco is losing it to Santa Clara?
1 Like
You know you just described Downtown South, right?
Golden State Warriors moved from Oakland to San Fransico two years ago. They are basically losing all of their pro teams.
3 Likes
Vegas: All your base belong to us.
Seriously though every pro team will have left Oakland. I guess they just don’t have the economic clout to compete with hungrier cities.
Edit: I lived in “Oaktown” for a long time and went to many A’s games, a few Warriors games and a couple Raiders games (not a Raiders fan though lol) so yeah this is sad news to me.
3 Likes
Truly, I think part of it is due to how gentrified Oakland has apparently become. I’ve never been to the Bay Area, so take this opinion with a grain of salt, but my understanding is that Oakland and San Francisco used to be two rather distinct cities with vastly different populations. Oakland, and its teams, were the antithesis of everything that was San Francisco. With those lines becoming increasingly blurred, that same rivalry element just isn’t there anymore, and it probably seems reasonable to just get everyone in the region to start rooting for San Francisco teams.
6 Likes
This is fairly accurate. Oakland was much more blue-collar, but I think the spillover from SF has diluted that a ton.
6 Likes
I’d agree with that. I think that was starting to really take off when I left there for here. More and more people I knew, most of them in high tech, we’re moving to Oakland while working in SF or the peninsula because it was more affordable. Classic gentrification I guess. OTOH there’s a famous quote from Gertrude Stein about Oakland: “there’s no there there.”
5 Likes
I’m an A’s fan so this is definitely a slow motion disaster from my POV.
Most of it is that the Oakland City Council is profoundly dysfunctional and slow to do much of anything, Vegas is shoveling money hand over fist at stadiums, and the owner really doesn’t care where the team is.
The team has great fans, and the ownership spent most of this year actively antagonizing them so as to make the move feel like they had no choice.
2 Likes
Stein was talking about her childhood home! She was always sad people applied it to the whole city.
3 Likes
Things what to do: Cincinnati was able to keep both teams. Things not to do: Oakland lose everything.
TIL the Stein quote has been misinterpreted for decades!
1 Like