Why did Las Vegas radio stations ban Green Day?

MLB’s Oakland A’s are moving to Las Vegas in the 2028 season, and Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day and some Vegas radio stations are feuding over what Armstrong said about the change. It all started at a Green Day show in the Bay Area, and the war of words between Armstrong, the baseball team, and the stations has continued on social media.

The Oakland A’s recently played their final game in Oakland, and around that same time, Green Day played a show in San Francisco. Armstrong, an Oakland native who says he’s a lifelong A’s fan, told the crowd, “We don’t take no s**t from people like John f**king Fisher who sold out the Oakland A’s to Las f**king Vegas,” with an appropriate punk rock disdain for authority. “I hate Las Vegas. It’s the worst s**thole in America,” Armstrong added. Fisher, the current A’s owner, moved the team from the Bay Area.

Armstrong’s not the only Oakland native upset about the decision, either. Oakland fans chanted, “F**k John Fisher” at the team’s last game at Oakland Coliseum. Armstrong even lashed out at an Oakland logo at a tour stop in Canada, graffitiing in green paint the letter B over the team’s existing A and crossing out the word “Athletics.”

And while whistling “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” Armstrong shared the following video. In it, he panned the camera across a wall of MLB logos, stopping to reveal a piece of paper with a green-graffitied B slapped over the Oakland A’s logo.

Armstrong also posted a sweet statement about what the team meant to him growing up in the Oakland area, captioned in part, ” … [T]he athletics leaving Oakland is devastating. I feel for all the fans and the people that will lose their jobs because of greed.. 3 sports teams have left Oakland in the past 5 years Leaving a cultural hole in the east bay hearts and sport.” The NBA’s Golden State Warriors and the NFL’s Oakland Raiders have also recently left the city.

The Vegas radio station fallout

While East Bay residents might agree with Billie Joe Armstrong’s outrage over the A’s move, two Vegas radio stations didn’t like what he had to say about Sin City. Vegas station KOMP announced on Instagram they pulled Green Day from their rotation, “It’s not us, Billie … it’s you.”

Meanwhile, Vegas station X 107.5 said they would do the same on their website. “Well, Sin City heard him loud and clear—and X107.5 is not having it. In response to Armstrong’s inflammatory comments, the station is banning all Green Day music, effective immediately,” the station said.

So far, Armstrong has not publically commented on the ban. And the A’s have not commented on what Armstrong said or the radio station’s decision to band Green Day’s music. Green Day is one of the biggest bands on the planet, so it seems unlikely Vegas stations will keep Green Day off the air for long.

At least one Vegas resident called for peace in Armstrong’s comments. “Vegas doesn’t want the A’s,” the comment said. “The owners don’t care either. We’ve been vocal about not wanting the A’s and it falls on deaf ears. Please don’t blame Vegas. We didn’t do anything.”

There are still a few years before the first A’s game happens in Vegas, anyway. The team will play at a minor-league Sacramento ballpark at least through 2027 while the Vegas stadium is built. For the time being, Armstrong and other Oakland residents will have to be satisfied with the Oakland Ballers, or “B’s,” an independent Pioneer League team that launched in 2024.