The Oakland Athletics' $1.5billion proposed relocation to Las Vegas has been unanimously approved by Major League Baseball team owners, cementing the sport's first relocation since 2005, according to several outlets familiar with the vote.

The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the league had not yet announced the results. 

A 75 percent vote of the 30 teams was necessary to make the move, which was endorsed by baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred on Thursday at Globe Life Field - home of the World Series champions Texas Rangers - in Arlington, Texas.

After years of complaints about the Oakland Coliseum and an inability to gain government assistance for a new ballpark in the Bay area, the A's plan to move to a stadium to be built on the Las Vegas Strip with $380million in public financing approved by the Nevada government.

The A's lease at the Coliseum expires after the 2024 season and it remains unclear where the team will play before a new ballpark opens, in 2027 at the earliest. 

Las Vegas will become the fourth city for a franchise that played in Philadelphia from 1901-54, moved to Kansas City for 13 seasons and arrived in Oakland for 1968. The new stadium will be the team's fifth after Columbia Park (1901-08), Shibe Park (1909-54), Memorial Stadium (1955-67) and the Coliseum. 

In 2006, the A's proposed a ballpark in Fremont, about 25 miles south in the East Bay, but abandoned the plan three years later. San Jose, 40 miles south of Oakland, was proposed in 2012, but the San Francisco Giants blocked the site because it was part of that team's territory.