A's representative Sandy Dean

A’s Plan To Submit Four Stadium Financing Letters To Las Vegas Stadium Board To Pledge Money To Build Ballpark On Strip In 2028

 

 


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Story by Alan Snel     Photos by Hugh Byrne

LAS VEGAS, Nevada —  The A’s plan to submit four stadium financing letters to the Las Vegas Stadium Board in early December showing A’s owner John Fisher’s ability to pay more than $1 billion to build a $1.5 billion Major League Baseball stadium on the Strip by 2028.

A’s representative Sandy Dean told the stadium board Thursday that the four letters will include a U.S. Bank/Goldman Sachs letter showing a $300 million construction loan and a letter from Fisher saying he has the financial resources to build the 30,000-seat domed ballpark at the old Tropicana hotel-casino site at the southeast corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue.

A third letter is a U.S. Bank letter verifying Fisher can pay for the stadium construction,” Dean said during the 40-minute stadium board session.

Sandy Dean, A’s rep

Dean said Fisher is also trying to recruit local Las Vegas investors in the team.

The A’s are building their stadium on 9.41 acres of the 35-acre site in partnership with casino owner Bally’s Corporation and landowner Gaming & Leisure Properties, Inc. (GLPI). The two big Tropicana hotel buildings were reduced to rubble at an implosion event earlier this month.

The stadium will be dedicated to the stadium board at no cost. The board members discussed the deed at the meeting today and the deed dedication will likely be approved at a December meeting.

Stadium Board Chairman Steve Hill, who is also the LVCVA head, expects stadium construction to begin in April.

The A’s stadium will be exempt from property taxes — just like the Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium. A 2016 state law designated $750 million in public dollars to help build the Raiders stadium that opened in 2020. A 2023 state law designated $380 million in government assistance to help build the A’s stadium that is scheduled to open in four years.

What’s interesting is that Hill — the LVCVA head and stadium board chairman — spoke on behalf of the A’s before the Nevada Legislature in 2023 to make their case for public money to help build the A’s stadium.

 

Here’s a look at the draft lease.

The A’s mascot participated in a Halloween event in Las Vegas.

The A’s have played their last game in Oakland. The team will play the 2025, 2026 and 2027 seasons at a Triple A minor league baseball stadium in Sacramento while the stadium on the Strip is built. Here is some info on the A’s home schedule for 2025.


 

Alan Snel

Alan Snel brings decades of sports-business reporting experience to LVSportsBiz.com. Snel covered the business side of sports for the South Florida (Fort Lauderdale) Sun-Sentinel, the Tampa Tribune and Las Vegas Review-Journal. As a city hall beat reporter, Snel also covered stadium deals in Denver and Seattle. In 2000, Snel launched a sport-business website for FoxSports.com called FoxSportsBiz.com. After reporting sports-business for the RJ, Snel wrote hard-hitting stories on the Raiders stadium for the Desert Companion magazine in Las Vegas and The Nevada Independent. Snel is also one of the top bicycle advocates in the country.