Las Vegas A’s stadium clears regulatory hurdle as pricetag grows

An A’s executive told reporters after Thursday’s Las Vegas Stadium Authority meeting they remain on track to begin construction on the planned $1.75 billion domed ballpark next year. 

The Las Vegas Stadium Authority on Thursday approved several regulatory agreements required before developers can proceed with a state-of-the-art ballpark project on the Las Vegas Strip for the relocating Oakland Athletics — marking a major milestone for the club and local officials in the once-forbidden professional sports market.

The 13-member panel officially selected Athletics StadCo LLC — a subsidiary of the team —  as the project’s developer, and approved the development, non-relocation, and lease agreements for the planned A’s stadium during Thursday’s meeting at the Las Vegas Convention Center. 

Additionally, the agreements dictate how the proposed $1.75 billion stadium at the site of the former Tropicana hotel will be built and outlines certain terms the team must follow to receive up to $380 million in taxpayer subsidies for the ballpark as part of legislation approved by state lawmakers and signed into law last year by Gov. Joe Lombardo. 

“It’s really a significant day in Las Vegas,” said Steve Hill, chairman of the Stadium Authority and president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. “Today is a real milestone. I think we should recognize that and celebrate that.”

Officials with the A’s and Clark County still need to negotiate details of the community benefits agreement also required from the public funding bill, but A’s executive Sandy Dean told reporters following Thursday’s meeting the team is on track to break ground the second quarter of next year and open in time for the 2028 Major League Baseball season. 

“We have a lot of gratitude for all of the people that were a part of us being here today,” Dean said. “Clark County has been really receptive to wanting to work with us, to meet the timelines that are necessary for us to open in April of ‘28. We’re at the front end of that, and we’ve just got some work to do, but it’s been the engagement with Clark County that has been really constructive.” 

The lease and non-relocation agreements cover a 30-year term, with the ability to extend the lease up to a possible 99 years, and provide financial penalties if the team plays fewer than 90% of its home games at the stadium in a season, which includes repayment of Senate Bill 1 funds. 

The development agreement also stipulates if the stadium ceases to be used for its intended purpose, the land will be reconvened back to the current owner, real estate investment firm Gaming & Leisure Properties, Inc., which is collaborating with gaming operator Bally’s Corp. for a resort venture bordering the ballpark, according to the Nevada Independent. 

Team officials informed the county ahead of the meeting that up to 70,000-square-feet in new planned amenities and increased construction costs tied to inflation have caused the overall price tag of the project to rise by $250 million. The A’s are responsible for all overruns, and those new amenities include additional suites, enhanced general admission spaces, player amenities, and upgraded audio-visual systems to host concerts. 

“We’ve known for a little while that the price could increase [and] would likely increase,” Dean said, adding that future overages are possible. “We’re going to do our best to produce a great ballpark and manage the cost the best we can.”

Along with the upward of $380 million in public funding, A’s owner John Fisher and family are spending $1.1 billion, and the team has obtained $300 million in loan commitments from US Bank and Goldman Sachs to finance the project in its entirety, according to the Associated Press. Public funding can’t be accessed until the A’s have spent at least $100 million, and Dean told reporters the team has already spent $40 million. 

The A’s have tapped the joint construction venture Mortenson-McCarthy — which together also constructed Allegiant Stadium, home of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders — to construct the proposed 30,000-seat dome. The team will also need to fulfil workforce diversity requirements; 51% of construction workers, 60% of stadium operations personnel, and 15% of stadium subcontractors must come from a minority, female, veteran, or disabled background. 

This past season marked the final for the A’s in Oakland since first relocating there from Kansas City in 1968, and the team will play the next three seasons at a minor league stadium in West Sacramento, California. The team played at the Oakland Coliseum for the entirety of its tenure in the Bay Area. 

For Las Vegas, the anticipated arrival of the A’s would mark the fourth major professional sports franchise to begin operations there within the last decade. The NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights began play in 2017, followed by the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces the next year, and the Raiders in 2020. 

Though many in attendance at Thursday’s meeting celebrated the proceedings, Chris Daly, executive director of government relations for the Nevada State Education Association — the largest union of educators in the state and a group that has long opposed use of taxpayer dollars for the project — testified during public comment his disappointment in the process. 

“If this is the marquee day that chair Hill says it is, then as you sign the documents and take the photographs, perhaps [consider] the questions, some discussion, perhaps amplifying some concerns of the public,” Daly said. “The public deserves better.”