A’s, Schools Over Stadiums face off before Nevada Supreme Court

Oral arguments are scheduled Tuesday afternoon in the Nevada Supreme Court between a political action committee and lobbyists for the Oakland Athletics regarding a state law earmarking up to $380 million in public funding for the Major League Baseball team’s proposed $1.5 billion Las Vegas ballpark.

The Supreme Court will hear the arguments regarding a lower court judge’s decision last year to halt a petition referendum that was seeking to bring the A’s public funding, approved last summer as Senate Bill 1, to a public vote. A’s lobbyists Danny Thompson And Thomas Morley filed a lawsuit last year calling the ballot petition misleading, for only containing portions of SB1.

The petition referendum is being promoted by Schools Over Stadiums, a political action committee created by the Nevada State Education Association.

In November, District Judge James Russell ruled in favor of the A’s, stopping the petition efforts. Schools Over Stadiums appealed to the Supreme Court.

If the appeal is successful, Schools Over Stadiums would have until July 8 to gather 102,363 verified signatures of registered Nevada voters who took part in the 2022 general election to place the A’s public financing plan on November’s ballot for a public vote.

The A’s plan to begin construction in April 2025 on the 33,000 fan-capacity stadium, to be located on 9 acres of the 35-acre site of the former Tropicana Las Vegas. Tentative plans call for the Tropicana to be demolished in October and for the site cleared and prepared in the following months to have the land ready for construction next spring.

The A’s plan to begin play in Las Vegas in 2028 and will play their final season in Oakland this year, before playing home games at a Triple-A ballpark in Sacramento in the interim between 2025-2027.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.