A big vote is happening Thursday in Arlington, Texas where Major League Baseball owners are expected to make a decision on the Oakland A's plans to relocate to Las Vegas.
A group of fans flew all the way there to tell the owners to vote against it and that led to an unexpected meeting with the owner of the team.
Jared Isham, Gabriel Cullen, and Jorge were all there hoping to persuade voters. The Athletics reported MLB owners are expected to approve the move, and Isham agrees.
“It looked like there was compassion and regret and apology in their eyes when they would say, ‘I’m so sorry guys,’” said the A’s fan.
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As the three of them sat in the hotel lobby where the meetings were taking place, owner John Fisher walked up to them thanking them for making the trip.
“And then we got into about a 10 minute conversation with him,” said Cullen.
During the conversation, they expressed the pain of the city on the brink of losing another professional team.
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“We felt like we got at least through to him about how much this hurt us and I think his reaction was, ‘well it hurts me too,’” said Cullen.
But former A's executive Andy Dolich says the A’s still have a lot of work ahead of them.
“Major League Baseball puts their stamp on it. That doesn’t mean there’s going to be any first pitches at their dome in 2028,” he said.
That includes a proposed referendum and lawsuit by Nevada's teacher union, challenging the state-approved public spending package to pay for the Vegas ballpark.
“Our Nevada priorities are misguided when we’re trying to put stadiums over schools, when we should be putting schools over stadiums,” said Alex Marks of the Nevada State Education Association.
And it’s why fans like Isham are still staying hopeful the team could remain in Oakland.
“If I got a small sliver of a chance, I’ll still think there’s still a chance,” he said.
