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A’s release poll showing only ‘limited opposition’ to proposed Vegas ballpark

Howard Stutz
Howard Stutz
EconomyGamingLegislature
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As their plans for a new Las Vegas ballpark hang in legislative limbo, the Oakland A’s have released polling they said shows strong support for the team’s plan to build a new baseball stadium in Las Vegas.

The poll was overseen by The Mellman Group, which surveyed 700 Clark County registered voters between April 29 and May 5. The survey used a multimodal approach combining live phone interviews with text-to-cell surveys taken online and has a margin of error of 3.8 percent. The A’s provided the crosstabs of the poll to The Nevada Independent.

According to the survey’s crosstabs, the pollsters initially found 61 percent of those questioned either strongly supported (33.8 percent) or softly supported (27.2 percent) the proposed stadium when asked the following question: “Based on what you have heard, do you support or oppose the plan to build a new baseball stadium in order to bring the Athletics baseball team from Oakland to Las Vegas, or are you undecided?” 

The poll’s crosstabs showed 16.1 percent of those initially questioned either strongly opposed (10.4 percent) or softly opposed (5.7 percent) the stadium. Those undecided on the stadium made up 14.7 percent of the survey group.

In a statement, the A’s claimed 74 percent of those surveyed supported the plan — referencing the total percentage of respondents who said they supported the plan after being told by the pollster of various benefits associated with the proposed stadium, including creation of an entertainment district and that the $500 million sought via public funding could be captured without raising taxes. The survey did not ask respondents if they supported the use of public financing for a stadium.

“This poll shows that there is broad support for building a ballpark for the Athletics across party lines, age group, race, and other demographics,” Mark Mellman, president of The Mellman Group, said in a statement. “Even more notably, there is only limited opposition.”

A similar poll from The Nevada Independent and Noble Predictive Insights released earlier this month found Nevadans were largely split on public funding for the proposed stadium — 41 percent in support, 38 percent in opposition and 21 percent undecided or no opinion.

At the time the survey was taken, the A’s were focused on building a $1.5 billion, 30,000-seat retractable roof stadium on 49 acres bordered by Tropicana Avenue and Dean Martin Drive, west of Interstate 15. The location also included an entertainment district with restaurants, retail and other attractions.

On May 9, the A’s pivoted to a different location — 9 acres of a 34-acre site that houses the Tropicana Las Vegas and scrapped the entertainment district. The A’s are seeking legislative approval of an anticipated $395 million in public financing for the project, down from an initial request for $500 million, though no bill to create that funding mechanism has been introduced in the state Legislature. The land for the stadium is being donated to the team by Bally’s Corp., which operates the Tropicana, and Gaming and Leisure Properties, which owns the land.

The project has received support from Culinary Workers Local 226, which has an agreement to unionize the stadium’s workforce, the Southern Nevada Building Trades, which signed a project labor agreement with the team, and a half-dozen chambers of commerce in Southern Nevada.

The survey asked several questions to gauge support for the project, including awareness of the project, whether it would cause traffic congestion, and support from different entities, including the Clark County Commission and Major League Baseball.

In a statement, A’s President Dave Kaval said the team was pleased by the poll numbers.

“We look forward to delivering a world-class ballpark and all the benefits Major League Baseball brings, including jobs, economic and community impacts, and civic pride,” Kaval said.

(Disclosure: The Mellman Group has provided polling services to The Nevada Independent)

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