Getty Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis.
The MLB appears set to make its way to Las Vegas. Oakland Athletics president Dave Kaval told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the team plans to buy land to build a new baseball stadium in the city. The Athletics have been the most obvious choice to move to Las Vegas in recent years and things are finally getting set into motion.
One would think the Raiders would be excited to see their former co-tenants at the Oakland Coliseum join them in Sin City but that might not be the case. Owner Mark Davis has some bad blood with the Athetlics’ ownership team. It’s no secret that the Oakland Coliseum was one of the worst sports venues in the country for the last two decades. That’s a big reason why they lost the Raiders and are likely losing the Athletics.
Though the two teams were closely tied for decades, Davis didn’t hold back when asked for his thoughts about the team coming to Las Vegas.
“I won’t forget what they did to us in Oakland. They squatted on a lease for 10 years and made it impossible for us to build on that stadium,” Davis told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
“They were looking for a stadium. We were looking for a stadium. They didn’t want to build a stadium, and then went ahead and signed a 10-year lease with the city of Oakland and said, ‘We’re the base team.’”
Davis Still Upset About ‘Rooted in Oakland’ Campaign
When the Raiders left Oakland, there were some teams that took the opportunity to throw shade at the team. The San Francisco 49ers had their “Faithful to The Bay” campaign and the Athletics had their “Rooted in Oakland” campaign. Both of those were clearly shots at the Raiders. Davis didn’t take kindly to the Athletics doing that, especially since they are now following the Raiders to Las Vegas.
“They marketed the team as ‘Rooted in Oakland,’ that’s been their mantra through the whole thing,” Davis said. “The slogans they’ve been using have been a slap to the face of the Raiders, and they were trying to win over that type of mentality in the Bay Area. Well, all they did was f*** the Bay Area.”
Dave Kaval describes today as “bittersweet”
Catch the full exclusive local TV interview with @rajmathai on @nbcbayarea at 7 p.m.
Davis Does Not Like a’s Management Group
Athletics owner John Fisher is notoriously frugal. The move to Las Vegas has been extremely lucrative for Davis and should be for the Athletics. However, Davis believes that he may have been able to keep the Raiders in Oakland if it weren’t for Athletics.
“We ended up in Las Vegas, which is absolutely fantastic and couldn’t be better,” Davis said. “But the A’s never gave us a real good chance to stay up in Oakland.”
Davis spent much of his life in Oakland and used to be a fan of the Athletics. Fisher has been the majority owner of the team since 2005 and it appears that Davis’ fandom of the team has waned in the years since. He minced no words about the fact that he’s not a fan of the Athletics ownership.
“I have nothing against the players. I was an A’s fan, way back in the day, Reggie Jackson and all those guys. Reggie’s a good friend,” Davis said. “But not this management group, no.”