Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred expects the other 29 franchise owners to vote next month on the Athletics’ proposed relocation from Oakland to Las Vegas, he told reporters on Friday ahead of Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Texas Rangers.  The annual MLB owners meetings are set for Nov. 14-16.

Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo signed a $380 million public funding bill back in mid-June as a means of luring the Athletics to town. (The bill’s actual cost will likely exceed $380 million, explained Neil deMause.) Manfred added that MLB’s relocation committee — formed in July and consisting of owners from the Phillies, Brewers, and Royals — met three times this week alone.

MLB Players association Tony Clark also addressed the A’s situation ahead of Game 1.  “I do find it interesting that, amid the conversation and dialogue around finances, rather than staying in the sixth-largest market, they’re moving to a market that may have them in a perpetual cycle of receiving revenue sharing,” he said, according to Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times.

The A’s have publicly expressed the desire to move into a new ballpark in time for the 2027 season, though 2028 might prove more realistic depending on the various timelines at play here. It’s worth noting that the A’s lease in Oakland expires after next season, suggesting they may have to relocate before their new ballpark is completed. That could, potentially, result in them playing their home games for several seasons in Vegas at their Triple-A affiliate’s ballpark. 

The A’s could become just the second team in recent memory to relocate to another state. The only other team to do so in the last half-century was the Montreal Expos, who moved to D.C. to become the Washington Nationals prior to the 2005 season. 

This season, the A’s went 50-112 and fielded an Opening Day payroll under $60 million.