Former Raiders President Hired to Oversee Next Las Vegas Franchise Relocation

The parallels between the last two major pro sports franchises to call Oakland home — the NFL's Raiders and MLB's Athletics — are remarkably similar.

Soon, those parallels will include team president Marc Badain.

More news: Longtime MLB Team Owner Dies at 94

Badain, who announced his resignation from the Raiders in 2021, was announced Thursday as the new president of the A's, succeeding Dave Kaval.

Kaval resigned his position as the A's president in December after overseeing the A's exodus from Oakland. The team will play in Sacramento for at least the next three seasons, in what has been announced as a temporary layover en route to a permanent ballpark in Las Vegas.

Although the A's have already secured the land for a relocation to a newly constructed ballpark on the Las Vegas Strip — the site of the former Tropicana Hotel and Casino, —much remains to be determined before the team can put shovels in the ground, let alone host their first game in Nevada.

That's Badain's problem now, as he inherits a team that will be playing out of Sutter Health Park, the former home of the Triple-A Sacramento RiverCats, for the foreseeable future.

More news: A's File Permit for Las Vegas Ballpark, But Something's Missing From Renderings

As president of the Raiders, Badain led the group that oversaw the development of Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. The Raiders moved there after calling Oakland home from 1995-2019.

Like the Raiders, the A's played out of the Oakland Coliseum during Badain's tenure in Oakland. After relocating from Philadelphia in 1968, the A's won championships in 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1989.

More news: Outfielder Shut Down After He Injures Knee on Sprinkler Head

Despite the team's success on the field, the A's never resolved their issues with the Coliseum under Kaval and current owner John Fisher. They tried but failed to secure new ballpark locations in Oakland and other Bay Area locations before formally announcing their intention to move the team to Las Vegas in 2024.

Badain's departure from the Raiders was not without controversy. Via The Athletic:

Badain, who joined the Raiders in 1991 and was named their president in 2015, resigned in 2021 along with two other high-ranking Raiders executives because of what owner Mark Davis called "accounting irregularities."

Davis said the team "overpaid our taxes," and that the practice might have started in Oakland. Davis also said at the time that "it might be" fair to characterize the resignations as forced.

More news: American League MVP Candidate Suffers Injury, Casting Doubt on Opening Day

In June 2022, Badain joined Oak View Group, a global venue development, advisory, and investment company for the sports and live entertainment industries.

A native of Rochester, N.Y., Badain earned his bachelor's degree in economics from Emory University and received his MBA from the University of California's Walter A. Haas School of Business in 2001.

For more MLB news, visit Newsweek Sports.