A's relocation bid to Las Vegas gets big victory

On Tuesday night in Oakland, A's fans are going to try a reverse boycott to show ownership and Major League Baseball that they are still passionate about their team.

But on Tuesday afternoon, a big hurdle was cleared in ownership's quest to relocate the team to Las Vegas. The Nevada senate passed a $380 million bill in public funding to help pay for a new stadium on the Las Vegas strip to eventually house the A's. 

The bill now heads to a special 42-person assembly that will vote on it, and if it passes through there, it will go to the desk of Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo who will have a chance to sign it into law. Assuming all of that happens, the A's can then formally apply for relocation with MLB.

There are obviously still some steps that need to be taken, but the fact that the Nevada senate approved the funding is huge and certainly puts the wheels in motion for the A's to find a new home. 

Oakland has already lost one professional sports team—the NFL's Raiders—to Las Vegas in recent years and is now dangerously close to losing a second. With the Raiders already gone, the Golden State Warriors building a new arena in San Francisco and the A's now on the verge of moving, the city of Oakland will have lost all of its pro sports teams over the past few years. 

The Oakland Coliseum has been regarded as one of the worst venues in pro sports for several years now—for both fans and players—and the team has never been able to secure funding for a new park. 

The stadium, ownership's lack of spending on the team and a roster that is producing one of the worst teams in modern baseball history have completely crushed attendance for A's games this season. They are playing in front of average crowds of 8,000, a number that has been cited by ownership as a reason for relocating.

Tuesday's reverse boycott is designed for fans to show they still care and want better ownership and a team worthy of support. The small crowds this season have been filled with signs urging team owner John Fisher to sell the team. There is no indication he has any interest in doing so, especially when another city and state seems willing to help him fund his new stadium.