The stadium sagas of the Oakland A’s and Tampa Bay Rays remain decidedly thorny, but MLB is increasingly thinking about expansion.

The league’s plan to grow to 32 teams has long been contingent on getting the A’s and Rays new ballparks. But even as the A’s are still in the early stages of a move to Las Vegas and the Rays’ facility efforts are clouded by ownership drama, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred doesn’t expect a long wait to select new markets.

“I hope pretty shortly thereafter, we would put together an expansion committee and start talking about issues associated with expansion,” said Manfred, speaking before Tuesday’s All-Star Game with the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

Nashville, Charlotte, Salt Lake City, Montreal, and Portland are among the leading candidates.

Manfred used the forum to address other pressing matters concerning the league, including an update on its dilemma with regional sports networks: MLB and its teams have collected 94% of the 2023 rights fees owed by Bally Sports and bankrupt parent Diamond Sports Group.

Meanwhile, the commissioner added that Atlanta, which lost the 2021 All-Star Game, is a candidate to host the 2025 event, as are Baltimore, Toronto, Boston, and Chicago’s Wrigley Field. Texas will host next year’s All-Star Game, while Philadelphia will host in 2026.

Manfred also touted a three-year drop in the median age of MLB ticket-buyers compared to last year to 43. The new figure — also a six-year drop from 2019 — adds to already bullish 2023 attendance projections as fans embrace a 26-minute drop in average game times to 2:38.

“I think that’s really important,” said Manfred, who has made attracting younger fans a key priority.

Tuesday’s Senate hearing exploring the PGA Tour’s controversial deal with Saudi Arabia likely won’t be the last as the two parties move toward a definitive agreement by their self-imposed Dec. 31 deadline.

“We need to learn more,” Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations chair Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn) said as the three-hour session concluded. “We’re going to continue this inquiry. We’re going to ask that the other potential witnesses that we invited actually come and share their perspectives and information.”

Those other potential witnesses include Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan and LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman — who both declined invites to Tuesday’s session. PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan — set to return from medical leave next week — would also be a welcomed guest to future hearings.

Major revelations from Tuesday’s session included Al-Rumayyan’s efforts to secure membership to Augusta National Golf Club and the R&A as part of the overarching deal, as well as proposals for Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy to own LIV Golf teams and compete in the series.

As the PIF gets ready to reportedly launch a sports-focused investment entity, Tuesday’s findings showed that Saudi Arabia proposed a global golf investment fund managed by the PIF during discussions with the PGA Tour.

Back To The Future

Since the bombshell agreement was announced, it has been known that PGA Tour policy board member Jimmy Dunne began meeting with Al-Rumayyan in April. But documents revealed on Tuesday showed that Dunne was initially approached by a PIF representative on Dec. 8, 2022. 

Dunne rebuffed that initial outreach before exploring further in April. The documents also revealed that McIlroy met with Al-Rumayyan in Dubai in November 2022. McIlroy was not representing the PGA Tour and spoke only for himself.

Potential lawsuits are brewing in two recent cases involving prominent head coaches in college sports.

Northwestern dismissed football coach Pat Fitzgerald following new details of a hazing scandal. In a statement reacting to the move, Fitzgerald denied wrongdoing and said he had entrusted his agent and legal counsel to “take the necessary steps to protect my rights in accordance with the law.”

Last month, West Virginia announced that men’s basketball coach Bob Huggins had resigned following a DUI arrest and took a $1 million pay cut after using slurs during a radio interview. However, Huggins’ lawyers are now saying the coach did not resign and the school falsely announced the move. WVU refuted that notion.

It’s unclear what the next steps will be for either coach as they seek to change the narratives surrounding their negative situations. 

Fitzgerald is asserting he had no knowledge of the hazing going on with his football team and is taking exception to Northwestern reversing course on its initial two-week suspension for the coach. The coach had a reported $42 million buyout clause that he will surely look to secure.

Huggins’ situation is much cloudier, as the Hall of Fame coach attempts to prove that he never did or intended to resign. His contract ran for another year, and he could be looking to recoup the remaining $3.15 million in salary.

The Oakland A’s relocation efforts continue to gather steam — but with a pressing issue looming. 

Nevada legislators approved funds for a new ballpark in Las Vegas, and MLB recently appointed Philadelphia Phillies owner John Middleton and Kansas City Royals owner John Sherman to a new league relocation committee.

Now comes the thornier question of where the A’s will play between the 2024 expiration of their lease at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum and the projected 2028 opening of their new ballpark on the Las Vegas Strip. The club has not yet answered that MLB-required question in its relocation submission.

Among the leading options are three minor-league ballparks:

• Las Vegas Stadium, the open-air home of the A’s Triple-A affiliate Las Vegas Aviators, features major league amenities but is subject to extreme temperatures in the summer.
• The city of Reno is open to the possibility of using the Triple-A Reno Aces’ Greater Nevada Stadium, but hasn’t spoken to the A’s.
• Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park houses the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats.

A more unlikely option is Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants — the team the A’s battled with for years over Bay Area territorial rights. In addition to creating numerous headaches in baseball operations, this option would also cut heavily into revenue opportunities for Giants Enterprises, which books ancillary events at Oracle.

The A’s interim dilemma — which somewhat resembles that of the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars — will also have to address an MLB Players Association that is demanding answers.

Meanwhile, reports continue to surface that the A’s could still revive substantive stadium talks with Oakland.