Oakland cleared a major hurdle Tuesday in its quest to keep the A’s from departing to Las Vegas or another city.

The Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 for a non-binding resolution to commit tax dollars to the $12 billion Howard Terminal project, a proposed new baseball stadium and surrounding development area.

Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf cheered the vote, saying it “paves a clear path to keep the A’s rooted in Oakland and build a world-class waterfront ballpark district that will benefit Bay Area residents for generations to come.”

The proposal goes beyond the new stadium to encompass commercial, residential, and community efforts.

• 1.8 million square feet of commercial space
• 3,000 residential units
• A 3,500-capacity performance venue
• A hotel with around 400 rooms

A key sticking point in negotiations between the team, city, and county involves the team’s plan to privately fund development of the surrounding area, then recover funds through tax revenue.

In July, the Oakland City Council voted to allow the team to recover tax funds from stadium-related infrastructure but removed $352 million in paybacks for infrastructure spending on the surrounding Jack London Square area.

Oakland saw the Golden State Warriors move across the bay to San Francisco in 2019, and the NFL’s Raiders left for Las Vegas in 2020.

Puma raised its forecast for the rest of the year on Wednesday following its third-quarter earnings report.

The German sportswear and shoe manufacturer increased sales by 20%, bringing quarterly revenue to $2.2 billion. Net income reached $167 million in the quarter, up from $132 million a year prior.

The company expects full-year sales to jump by 25% in 2021, compared to a previous target of 20%.

Puma has increasingly leaned on athlete partnerships in search of global visibility.

• In 2020, the company signed Brazilian soccer superstar Neymar Jr. to a long-term contract worth around $30 million annually after he parted ways with Nike following allegations of sexual assault.
• The same year, the company signed NBA guard LaMelo Ball to a deal reportedly worth $100 million.
• In August, USMNT captain and Chelsea winger Christian Pulisic left Nike for Puma.

Puma’s strong results come despite some logistical setbacks.

The company saw production factories in Vietnam shut down due to COVID-19 outbreaks and faced a difficult market in China because of consumer backlash against Western brands.

Still, Puma has generated $5.8 billion in revenue for the first nine months of 2021 — a 39% increase year-over-year.

Garmin reported $1.19 billion in third-quarter revenue Wednesday — with net sales for its fitness segment growing 4% to more than $342 million.

During the first three quarters of 2021, the company’s net fitness sales increased 26% from the same period last year.

Known for its GPS devices, Garmin is making strides with activity trackers and sports watches, too. The company said the increase in fitness sales was “driven by solid demand for our cycling and advanced wearable products.” The global wearable technology market is estimated to be worth $47.89 billion.

Garmin’s outdoor segment fell 3% to $324 million during the quarter. In that time, it launched the Approach R10, the company’s first portable golf launch monitor, designed to help golfers by showing metrics in real time.

• Garmin’s fitness and outdoor segments accounted for 55.5% of its revenue back in Q2.
• The company recently announced a collaboration with Dexcom to provide people with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes access to their glucose levels on Garmin smartwatches, as wearables become more entrenched in health spaces.

Garmin increased its 2021 full-year guidance to $4.95 billion in revenue.