Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher’s attempt to move the baseball team to Las Vegas, Nevada, had apparently netted him a promise of $600 million in public funding for a new stadium from state lawmakers. he didn’t need it.
But if Fisher was hoping for a fresh start in Las Vegas, he could be in for a big surprise.
A Emerson College survey found that only 32 percent of respondents reacted favorably to putting tax dollars toward building a new baseball stadium for the Athletics. A formidable 52% voted opposition.
Fisher’s campaign to negotiate an exorbitant deal with Nevada lawmakers is yet another potential example of taxpayer-subsidized stadiums, an unpalatable deal that has become so commonplace it’s easy to lose track.
The result of this survey, however, reminds us that not everyone agrees with this corporate welfare. Just last week, Kansas City taxpayers rejected a sales tax on the renovation of a football stadium and the construction of a new baseball stadium, even as the owners of those teams threatened to move if the initiative failed.
Athletics ownership, however, overcame those ultimatums. The team recently moved to Sacramentowhere they will remain at least until the end of the 2027 season.
The decision to leave Oakland came after many years of tension between Fisher and the city. The main catalyst was the infamous Coliseum stadium, which had hosted the Athletics since 1968.
The obsolete arena is generally considered between the worst stages in professional baseball and passed All: sewer problems, feral cats, dead mice in soda fountains, cat feces, moth infestations and broken seats. The list goes on.
But attempts to replace it were in vain. Fisher’s demand that the public shell out more than $855 million for infrastructure and development around a new baseball field—Fisher it is worth $3.1 billionamong other things, it was one of the many reasons he had a falling out with the city.
Many fans also blamed Fisher’s incompetence for the team’s failures, and they made it clear with the numbers: As of 2022, the Athletics have recorded the lower average presence among all Major League Baseball teams, with just 10,275 per game in 2023.
Fisher doesn’t have the support of all his players either. Trevor May, a former reliever who retired as a major leaguer, continued a tear against Fisher during his retirement announcement, calling him a “greedy prick”.
The owner’s pursuit of public funds is yet another attempt to get taxpayers to support a private business and perhaps compensate for its mismanagement. Fisher now wants to bring these problems to Las Vegas. The Emerson College poll suggests voters aren’t buying it.