Las Vegas Aviators

• Location: Las Vegas, NV
• League: Pacific Coast League 2019; Triple-A West 2021; Pacific Coast League 2022-
• Affiliation: Oakland A's 2019-present
• Ballpark: Las Vegas Ballpark

Team History

The Las Vegas Aviators, of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League and briefly in Triple-A West, went from shunned to sought-after with a new playpen in 2019. The Oakland Athletics farmhands play their home games at Las Vegas Ballpark in Las Vegas, NV.

The move became a trifecta as the club also changed its brand from Las Vegas 51s and its affiliation to the A's all in the same off-season. In fact, in the news conference announcing the new partnership the Aviators suggested "A's" would be an alternate nickname as it already is for the parent team[1] - although that never caught on. "Aviators" salutes Howard Hughes, an early pilot and successful entrepreneur whose company bought the club in 2013 and broke ground for the privately funded ballpark in 2018.

After the New York Mets escaped parenting far-off Vegas by buying the Syracuse Chiefs, the 51s signed the first new affiliation of the 2019-2020 cycle with the A's.

Vegas appears to have won the A's away from Oakland, where all efforts to replace their antiquated and dilapidated stadium failed. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported on April 19, 2023, that A's president Dave Kaval had said the team had dropped its two-track work toward both options in favor of concentrating on Vegas. After a brief but intense flurry of activity, Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo signed a legislative measure contributing $380 million in state funds to a new ballpark for the A's.

The coming of the A's does not mean the going of the Aviators; both teams have said they like the idea of being in the same market - as has become a trend in MLB. Also, given that the A's lease with Oakland expires after the 2024 season and it would take until during the 2027 season at the earliest to open one in Vegas, the A's are likely to share the Aviators' ballpark in between.[2] Sacramento, CA, and Reno, NV, are said by some to be also in the running.

A Vegas landing would complete an attitudinal turnaround from 2013, when then-MLB Commissioner Bud Selig said Vegas would "never" have big-league baseball because of its ties to what he called the "sin" of gambling.

The PCL landed in Vegas, under the name Las Vegas Stars, when the Portland Beavers moved there in 1983. Now on their third nickname and second stadium, the franchise broke its Vegas season attendance record on its 42nd home date of 2019 and totaled a Minor League Baseball-topping 650,934 spectators including 43 sellouts.

The Vegas-Reno Aces season series winner gets the Silver Plate Trophy.

The Aviators play Copa de la Diversión Hispanic engagement campaign games as Reyes de Plata de Las Vegas (Las Vegas Silver Kings).

Year-by-Year Record

Year	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs	Hitting Coach	Pitching Coach	Coach
2019	83-57	2nd	Fran Riordan	Lost in 1st round	Eric Martins	Rick Rodriguez	Craig Conklin
2020	Season cancelled
2021	62-58	4th	Fran Riordan	3-3	Tommy Everidge	Rick Rodriguez	Brian McArn
2022	71-79	7th	Fran Riordan		Brian McArn	Steve Connelly	Jason Hart
2023	75-74	5th	Fran Riordan		Brian McArn	Bryan Corey	Todd Takayoshi
2024			Fran Riordan		Brian McArn	Bryan Corey

Related Sites

• Official website