Watch Raj Mathai's conversation with Dave Kaval in the video player above.
Oakland A's President Dave Kaval spoke Thursday with NBC Bay Area's Raj Mathai about the team's stadium site deal in Las Vegas.
"We've been working almost 20 years as an organization to find a permanent home for the A's," Kaval said. "It's been a very long saga. We have a deadline for Major League Baseball of January of next year. We really are at the point where we needed to find a path that we could achieve success on that timeline. That's why we moved forward with the land purchase in Las Vegas this week and are moving forward with the relocation process with them at that time."
"We put so much into our waterfront vision and to not have success based on all the investment is disappointing," Kaval continued. "But at the same time, we have a new path and we're charting a course in Las Vegas and that's why we're turning our attention to getting the final pieces in place there and getting an approval before the league deadline of January of 24."
Kaval said the team finalized a deal last week to buy a 49-acre site where the A’s plan to build the stadium close to the Las Vegas Strip with a seating capacity of 30,000 to 35,000.
The A’s will work with Nevada and Clark County on a public-private partnership to fund the stadium. Kaval said the A’s hope to break ground by next year and would hope to move to their new home by 2027.
"I think it's a bittersweet day," Kaval said. "We feel for our Oakland fans. We've had so many incredible memories here: world championships, World Series, Hall of Fame players – Rickey Henderson, Rollie Fingers – but by the same token, I think a lot of people, especially in the organization, feel a sense of relief that we have a direction because that's something that we haven't had for some time."
Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao said news of the land deal is "extremely disappointing."
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"I want to be very clear, this announcement happened mid-negotiations, and it shows that they had no interest in reaching a deal with Oakland at all," she said. "Oakland is not interested in being used as leverage in the A's negotiations with Las Vegas. It is disrespectful to our residents and our fans to string the city along this way."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
