Las Vegas Ballpark draws more fans than Oakland Coliseum for third straight day

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - On a windy Thursday night, 7,255 fans found their way to the Las Vegas Ballpark for the Aviators home matchup against the El Paso Chihuahuas. Earlier in the day, the Oakland Athletics home game at the Oakland Coliseum drew just 4,429 fans.

It was the third straight day the Athletics’ Triple-A team in Las Vegas drew a larger crowd.

“It’s newer. It’s way more modern,” A’s fan living in Las Vegas Gabriel Espinoza said.

The Aviators welcomed 1,859 more fans than the Oakland Coliseum in what was its lowest turnout in over 40 years, Tuesday. However, Wednesday the A’s had an even smaller crowd with just over 2,700 fans. That was almost half the crowd size at the Las Vegas Ballpark Wednesday night.

Major League Baseball and fans agree the A’s need a new ballpark. The frontrunner is the proposed waterfront stadium in Oakland, but that’s been met with recent setbacks including a lawsuit and a suggestion of a city wide vote from one its city councilmembers.

The committee that is designed to protect the San Francisco Bay is voting in June on whether to keep Howard Terminal for port use or allow it to become the new stadium.

Athletics leadership is considering the move to Las Vegas too. This week the team’s president, Dave Kaval, visited several possible land sites in Las Vegas. The A’s want to narrow it down to one location.

Aviator season ticket holders think its pretty clear why the Aviators draw more fans than the Coliseum in Oakland.

”It’s the atmosphere. It’s fun. It’s great to be here,” fan Mary Ellen Heiss said. “I think it’s great our community supports them It’s unfortunate they don’t have that in Oakland.”

The Aviators continue their homestand against El Paso on Friday at Las Vegas Ballpark in Summerlin.

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