MLB team’s 545-mile relocation to new $2bn Las Vegas ballpark thrown into disarray after major setback

The Athletics’ move to Las Vegas has suffered a legal setback.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rejected the club’s application to register both “Las Vegas Athletics” and “Vegas Athletics” as its own.

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Trademark attorney Josh Gerben explained in a blog post that the USPTO denied the A’s application because the name “Las Vegas Athletics” is “primarily geographically descriptive.”

This means that the name combines a well-known place with a generic sports term.

This in turn threatens the ability of other legitimate athletic organizations in Las Vegas from using common language to describe their activities.

The Athletics have been the club’s nickname since they were the Philadelphia Athletics in 1901.

Reports state that the MLB is in charge of trademark applications and that the franchise could still get approval for its new name down the road.

There is also an option to make their case to an appeal board or in federal court.

The Athletics used to be the Oakland Athletics and were based in Oakland, California, from 1968 to 2024.

Despite a successful period in the city with four championships and 18 Western Division titles, a decision was made to leave Oakland after the 2024 season because of the inability to secure taxpayer funding for a new ballpark.

So in 2025, the team relocated to West Sacramento, but are not branding itself with that area.

They plan to move to Las Vegas in 2028 when their new ballpark in the metropolitan area is built.

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Bally's Corporation

That stadium will cost $2 billion and have a 33,000 capacity on the Las Vegas Strip.

The state of Nevada and Clark County approved up to $380 million in public funds for the ballpark, and the A’s are covering the rest.

A’s move to Vegas is heavily criticized

The A’s decision to move from Oakland to Vegas via Sacramento was, and still is, highly controversial.

When the move was first proposed, fans demonstrated several times and brought signs that directly addressed owner John Fisher.

Fisher even met with protestors back in 2023 and claimed he told fans that unsuccessful stadium developments in California had to come to an end.

“Today is an incredibly difficult day for Oakland A’s fans,” Fisher said back in 2023 when the move to Vegas got approved.

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“It’s a great day for Las Vegas.”

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred claimed he tried everything to stop a relocation, but the path in Oakland was not viable.

“I know — I know — this is a terrible day for fans in Oakland. I understand that. And that’s why we’ve always had a policy of doing everything humanly possible to avoid a relocation,” he said in 2023.

“I truly believe we did that in this case. I think it’s beyond debate, that the status quo in Oakland was untenable.

“I absolutely am convinced that there was not a viable path forward in Oakland.”

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