As the Oakland A’s flirt with relocating their Major League Baseball franchise to Las Vegas, a new poll from The Nevada Independent and Noble Predictive Insights indicates that registered voters are split over supporting the state spending taxpayer money to help attract the team.
The survey results come amid news that the team has identified a location for a proposed $1.5 billion stadium complex in Las Vegas, but still wants state lawmakers to approve a $500 million tax package involving tax credits and the creation of a special taxation district to help with stadium construction.
The A’s reached a “binding agreement” with Red Rock Resorts to acquire the site for a yet-to-be-disclosed price. However, the sale has not been finalized, and if legislative approval for a package does not come through, the team could withdraw from the agreement.
Though news of a potential deal has circulated, the team has not yet submitted a “concrete” proposal to state lawmakers, and the timing of a potential tax package is uncertain, given that there are only 33 days remaining in the state’s 120-day legislative session.
The poll was conducted from April 18-26, interviewing 800 registered Nevada voters in an online opt-in panel survey. The results have a margin of error of about 3.5 percent.
In the survey, respondents were asked the following question: “As you may know, the Major League Baseball team the Oakland A’s are considering relocating from Oakland, California, to Las Vegas. Would you support or oppose the State of Nevada spending taxpayer money to assist the A’s in covering a portion of the costs to build a baseball stadium in the Las Vegas area?”
Results showed that 41 percent of respondents indicated they supported the assistance, 38 percent were in opposition, 14 percent said they neither supported nor opposed the aid, and 7 percent said they had no opinion.
Mike Noble, the chief of research and managing partner at Noble Predictive Insights, said he was initially surprised by the support for an A’s deal because publicly funded stadiums are not usually popular with the public.
But he said the state’s cultural focus on gaming and entertainment may have boosted embrace for the proposal and may offer a path forward that would not present a “political nightmare for politicians.”
Support for A’s funding varies by region
Overall, the total support for funding the A’s relocation was 41 percent. But broken out by region, the A’s saw 44 percent support in Clark County, 38 percent in rural Nevada and 29 percent in Washoe County.
Noble said the regional differences likely stem from the stadium’s location in Southern Nevada. He noted that the further voters were from the proposed site of the stadium, the less support they indicated for the measure.
Looking solely at party lines, respondents who identified as Republican indicated more support for the state providing money for the relocation of the A’s than respondents who identified as Democrats.
Roughly 49 percent of Republicans said they would support public money to assist the team compared with 44 percent of Democrats and 32 percent of independents.
Though there was a plurality of support for funding the relocation of the A’s among Democrats and Republicans, independents had the largest share in opposition to the measure, with 44 percent indicating opposition compared with 32 percent in support.
Find the full poll toplines and crosstabs here.
