Major League Baseball’s commissioner doesn’t believe Oakland will keep its team.

“I think the mayor in Oakland has made a huge effort to try to get it done in Oakland,” MLB chief Rob Manfred said. “It just doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.”

• He added that the team “can’t continue to play in the facility they’re in,” and “given the lack of pace in Oakland, the lack of certainty, they have to be looking at Las Vegas.”
• Manfred said that should the A’s move, it would happen within a few years, adding “we can’t go five more years in the Coliseum.”
• The A’s lease at RingCentral Coliseum runs through 2024.

Manfred confirmed that the league would waive its relocation fee if the team moved, noting that a new stadium in Vegas would likely require a roughly $500 million retractable roof. 

Outgoing Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf said she spoke with Manfred on Saturday and remains “absolutely confident our deal in Oakland will get done next year even with new leadership in place.”

Hope for Tampa

Manfred was more optimistic about the Tampa Bay Rays staying put, calling Tampa “a viable major league market.”

“I’ve got a lot of faith in [Rays’ owner] Stu Sternberg. I think they will find a place to get a ballpark built. I think baseball can thrive in Tampa.”

Manfred has said that MLB will look to add two teams once the Rays’ and A’s ballpark situations are resolved.

FIFA’s silence is pushing fans away from the 2022 World Cup.

LGBT soccer fan groups are boycotting the tournament — which takes place between Nov. 20 and Dec. 18 — due to FIFA’s stance regarding Qatar’s treatment of the LGBT community. Homosexuality is illegal in the country — and, if prosecuted, Muslims could face the death penalty.

The boycotts follow human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell’s claim that he was arrested after staging an LGBT protest in the country. Human Rights Watch also reported that as recently as September, security forces in Qatar arbitrarily arrested and abused Qataris in the LGBT community.

“I think for some people, the dissatisfaction with FIFA’s decision extends to opting to not watch the World Cup on TV, as a statement of principle,” said Andrew Tilly, a founder of Leeds United’s LGBT+ supporters group.

• In May, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said the tournament is expected to be watched by 5 billion people around the world. The 2018 World Cup in Russia was watched by 3.57 billion viewers.
• Qatar anticipates around 1.2 million foreign visitors.

Last week, fans were warned by U.K. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly to “respect” Qatar despite its LGBT stance.

Deutschland Drama

Nancy Faeser, Germany’s interior minister, received criticism after stating that the hosts of events like the World Cup should be linked to certain criteria, “namely, compliance with human rights and principles of sustainability.” 

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry gave German ambassador Claudius Fischbach an objection memo to express its disappointment and demand clarification.

The XFL is gearing up for its February relaunch by providing more details on its eight new teams. 

On Monday, the revamped league — which ceased operations and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020 due to the impact of the pandemic — revealed its new team names and logos, including a few tweaks. 

In August 2020, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Dany Garcia, and RedBird Capital Partners purchased the XFL for $15 million from WWE founder Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment. 

• McMahon spent more than $200 million to restart the league in 2018 after it was established in 2001 and failed a year later. 
• Next year’s teams will include the Arlington Renegades, D.C. Defenders, Houston Roughnecks, Orlando Guardians, San Antonio Brahmas, Seattle Sea Dragons, St. Louis Battlehawks, and the Vegas Vipers.
• All 43 games of the 2023 season will air across Disney-owned networks including ESPN, ESPN+, FX, and ABC as part of a five-year domestic media rights deal.

In July, the XFL announced that its new football operations hub would be located in Arlington, Texas. As part of the three-year deal, the league will use Choctaw Stadium — the former home field of MLB’s Texas Rangers — and its surrounding area to host games, practices, and meetings. 

The XFL will also provide in-person entertainment and fan engagement opportunities at Choctaw through a deal with events company REV Entertainment. 

Legal Issue  

Media and entertainment company Togethxr filed a lawsuit in June against the XFL over the league’s logo, alleging that it was “confusingly similar to Togethxr’s brand and logo.”

In August, Togethxr dropped the trademark infringement suit.