There has been a lot written about the A's potential move to Las Vegas over the course of 2023, and the relocation has been discussed from numerous angles. Arizona Diamondbacks' closer and Las Vegas native Paul Sewald was recently on Foul Territory and he brought up something that hasn't been talked about much, but which I personally saw as the biggest takeaway from the entire discussion.
Most people focused on the headline from this interview which many places quoted as, "Vegas doesn't want the A's" which was technically said, but in context Sewald was actually talking about the A's name. He thinks the team should re-brand before heading to Las Vegas. That's a pretty big distinction.
The big thing that Sewald mentioned came up when he was asked about the A's branding, but it's not the piece that everyone latched on to. "I don't know [John Fisher's] spending plan, but they're probably not going to spend a bunch of money to bring in these guys. So you're just going to see guys that you see over at the Aviators stadium right here."
The Las Vegas Aviators are the A's Triple-A affiliate that is roughly a 25 minute drive from where the proposed ballpark at the Tropicana site.
"Why would I pay all this money to go to a Major League game when I'm essentially seeing the same product I saw at the Aviators stadium last year?"
The reason that this point hits so hard with the A's plans is because after 30 MLB owners voted to approve relocation, team president Dave Kaval spent a decent amount of time talking about how many suites the new ballpark would have and how much money the Raiders and Golden Knights make in Las Vegas despite not having lower capacity in their venues.
The way to get more money out of people without having a large capacity is to charge the fans more money.
To Sewald's point, that plan may not work out well for the A's if they're not spending money to lure top-tier, attraction-level free agents. If the team continues to build teams the way that they have been for the past two decades, then local fans could go to Las Vegas Ballpark and watch a Triple-A team for a lot less money.
As we talked about a few days ago, the Los Angeles Dodgers will also be huge competitors for the A's in Las Vegas, because most of the residents already cheer for the Dodgers. If John Fisher has the Dodgers spending more than any other team two hours away, and his own Triple-A affiliate has his stars of tomorrow, then he's going to be in a bind to make people spend money where he wants them to.
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