Reps. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., and Mark DeSaulnier, D-Calif., announced the introduction of the “Moneyball Act” on Wednesday, and it’s a direct shot at Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher.
Fisher is set on relocating his team to Las Vegas, and the Nevada Senate put that in motion Tuesday when it approved to help fund Fisher’s new stadium in Sin City with $380 million in public tax money.
However, Lee and DeSaulnier believe Fisher will need to pay a premium for relocating.
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Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call Inc. via Getty Images)
The Moneyball Act is described as “legislation that would require the owners of any professional baseball club seeking to relocate to compensate the state and local authorities they move away from. If the owners do not oblige, then Major League Baseball would be subject to the antitrust laws they have been exempt from for over a century.”
Lee also sent a letter to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred.
“The City of Oakland and Alameda County have been home to the A’s for five and half decades,” Lee wrote. “Multiple generations of Oaklanders have grown up identifying with the team’s dogged efforts and hard-earned triumphs. The A’s organization adds significant tangible economic benefit to our region, including numerous good paying jobs at Oakland Coliseum. But as important is the sense of unique shared cultural identity that surrounds the team and its local fanbase (sic).”
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“MLB’s continued active encouragement of the A’s abandonment of Oakland and the East Bay runs counter the rationale supporting MLB’s century-old exemption from federal anti-trust law. I ask you to reconsider efforts to subsidize or otherwise encourage the relocation of the Oakland A’s out of the East Bay.”
With this act, Lee wants it so “no city and community is left behind when billionaires decide that lining their own pockets is more important than the community that supports them.”
DeSaulnier added, “I am proud to introduce this bill with Congresswoman Lee on behalf of the East Bay and communities across the country that stand to lose out as a result of corporate greed in sports.”
Oakland Athletics fans received free T-shirts labeled “SELL” prior to a “reverse boycott” game against the Tampa Bay Rays at RingCentral Coliseum on June 13, 2023, in Oakland, California. (Brandon Vallance/Getty Images)
A’s fans want the team to stay, but it’s almost a certainty that Fisher is going to get what he wants. Fans ran a “reverse boycott” on Tuesday night at Oakland Coliseum, packing the stadium to show Fisher the fan base is still there – they just want him to sell the team so that it can stay in Oakland.
The A’s ended up defeating the MLB-best Tampa Bay Rays that night, moving their win streak to seven straight games.
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But Fisher, who employs the league’s lowest payroll at $60 million, has his Las Vegas plan in motion right now.
A 42-person Nevada Assembly now needs to vote to approve the $380 million funds from the state, so Gov. Joe Lombardo, who has been a proponent for bringing a MLB franchise to Vegas to join the NFL’s Raiders and NHL’s Golden Knights (who just won the Stanley Cup on Tuesday night), can sign off on it.
A general view of the game between the Oakland Athletics and the Cincinnati Reds at RingCentral Coliseum on April 30, 2023, in Oakland, California. (Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
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The A’s have been in Oakland since 1968, as they began in Philadelphia in 1901 before moving to Kansas City in 1955.
