Track and Field announced that Marc Badain will be the club’s new president, Mick Akers of Las Vegas Review Magazine. Badain was best known for formerly president of the NFL Raiders, who moved to Las Vegas in the job. He will replace Dave Kaval, who announced his resignation in his December position. When Kaval resigned, Sandy Dean was appointed interim president but will now serve as vice president.
“We are delighted to welcome Mark into track and field,” A’s boss John Fisher said in a statement. “His enormous experience, especially his work on the opening of a faithful stadium and overseeing the raiders’ move to Las Vegas, makes him an excellent member of this critical moment. His leadership, commitment to the community, and ability to oversee transformative programs will be key as we hope to build a strong and successful future in southern Nevada.”
Badain served as president of the Raiders from 2013 to 2021. During that time frame, the Raiders played home games at the Oakland Coliseum, sharing the facility with Athletics. Looking for a new stadium, the Raiders began exploring the possibility of moving to Las Vegas in 2015. The plans gradually became a reality, a move approved in 2017, although the Raiders remained in Oakland at the end of the 2019 NFL season and entered the new stadium in Vegas in 2020.
Bataan resigned in 2021. According to a report by Daniel Kaplan and Tashan Reed, the movement was in October 2021, Raiders owner Mark Davis said “accounting violations” prompted resignation. He said the team “overtly taxed … our payments exceeded our taxes” and that was “probably starting in Auckland”. Since then, Badain has been working with Oak View Group to try to build a hotel and casino complex that can host the venues of the NBA team.
Apart from the controversial end, there are some obvious similarities between his Raider tenure and current track and field status. A’s location is similar to the attacker’s location a few years ago. Starting the 2028 season, the baseball club is planning to play in a new stadium in Las Vegas. They have not reached a deal to stay in Oakland after the 2024 gym lease, so they will be out from Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento in the 2025-27 season. Usually, this is the location of the Sacramento River Cat, a triple branch of the giant. A and River Cats plan to share the park over the next three years.
The detour to western Sacramento is a significant difference, but the journeys of the two franchises were otherwise very similar. As Badain has brought a franchise from the Oakland Coliseum to a new facility in Las Vegas, it seems A is relying on his experience to guide them through the process in the coming years.
“I’m honored to join track and field and help the team enter a new era of success,” Bataan said in a press release. “Las Vegas is a city celebrating innovation and excellence, and I’m excited to work with the team, fans and community to create something extraordinary.”
