The
statement by the Commissioner was made at MLB headquarters during the league’s
annual meeting last week. Manfred’s comments were first reported by the Chicago
Tribune with the Commissioner stating that if the MLB were looking to relocate
a team, Las Vegas would be the first city on the list.
Both the Tampa Bay Rays or the Oakland Athletics currently play in stadiums
that are outdated, but the host cities are not interested in providing public
funding to create new venues for gaming.
The MLB,
NFL, NBA and NHL, the four major sports organizations operating in the United
States, have long been opposed to operating in Las Vegas, due to casinos
offering sports betting. This opposition has seemingly fell to the wayside as
the NFL and NHL have both now decided to move into the city.
The NFL will see the Las Vegas Raiders come in to play in 2020 with a new
stadium in the works while the NHL will have a new expansion team, the Vegas
Golden Knights, in operation by next year.