A’s zeroing in on possible Vegas ballpark sites

A’s officials aim to narrow their list of sites for a potential new stadium in the Las Vegas area to a few finalists by early November, soon after baseball’s postseason ends, team president Dave Kaval said Friday.

Team officials made another trip to the Las Vegas area this week, their sixth since MLB gave permission for the A’s to explore relocation while also pursuing a new ballpark in Oakland. Kaval said the trip included meetings with Clark County commissioners, local unions and the Mayor of Henderson, Debra March.

The A’s have looked at up to 20 sites that could potentially house a major-league ballpark in Southern Nevada, including near the resort corridor and in locales like Henderson and Summerlin, Kaval has said.

The team has commissioned studies on market feasibility, by consulting firm Legends, and parking and transportation, by Kimley-Horn, to gauge the viability of sites. Kaval said the A’s expect results of both studies around mid-October.

“That will allow us to cut probably to a final maybe three sites, something like that, probably in early November, right after the baseball postseason,” Kaval said by phone Friday.

“We started with 20-some sites and it’s slowly been working its way down. Certain sites may not work because of logistics or timing or encumbrances, or you might not be able to purchase them, or whatever it ends up being. We just have a very thoughtful and deliberate process to get some finalists.”

Kaval said the “majority” of sites are in Clark County but “the different locations bring different pros and cons when it comes to market segmentation and getting in and out easily, especially for 81 games.”

In Oakland, the A’s have proposed a $12 billion development project that includes a privately financed $1 billion ballpark at Howard Terminal. Oakland’s City Council voted July 20 to approve a non-binding term sheet for the project which did not mirror the A’s proposal; the sides are in ongoing negotiations.

The city of Oakland has asked Alameda County to help fund the project by opting into a tax district. The county said it will not vote on the issue in September, citing lack of certainty over the proposal in the absence of an agreement on terms.

Kaval said he met with city of Oakland officials on Friday “working toward really understanding where the county is and whether or not they’re going to participate in the financing, which is really critical for the city’s offer.”

He said the sides are “pushing all the different processes forward to try to get to some type of actual binding agreement that’s near.”