Skip to content

Why Athletics’ management missed the Las Vegas stadium hearing

Report: Why Fisher, Kaval skipped latest Vegas stadium hearing originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea

Monday was a big day for the Athletics and their hopes of moving to Las Vegas, but the team’s top brass were nowhere to be found.

A’s owner Dave Fisher and president Dave Kaval did not attend the Memorial Day hearing, during which Nevada legislators heard the franchise’s official pitch for a new Las Vegas ballpark for the first and only time.

So, why weren’t they there?

“Today was not the day for a dog and pony show,” an unnamed A’s representative told The Nevada Independent of management’s whereabouts.

The team brought three Nevadans to present on Monday, although Kaval and Fisher are expected to be in Carson City later this week to meet with lawmakers, The Nevada Independent reported.

The duo missed out on an eventful hearing in front of a joint committee of Nevada senators and assembly members. They had plenty of questions about the legislation, Nevada Senate Bill 509, which would provide up to $380 million in public funding for a $1.5 billion Las Vegas ballpark along The Strip if approved.

One lawmaker compared the A’s request for public funding to the NHL’s Las Vegas Golden Knights, whose arena didn’t cost voters a dime, and another said at the beginning of the hearing their answer was “almost a hell no.”

RELATED: Nevada lawmakers shockingly watch Knights game during A’s hearing

While A’s fans don’t yet know where legislators stand on the bill, it will likely be passed by the joint committee and then go to both the Assembly and the Senate for a vote. Then, it would land on Gov. Joe Lombardo’s desk to be signed.

Should that happen, Fisher and Kaval most certainly would be in attendance.