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Story By Alan Snel Photos by Hugh Byrne
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — To think, a mere 14 months ago the MLB A’s and Bally’s Corp. fired off fireworks and imploded the old Tropicana hotel-casino in the early hours of an October morning in 2024.
Now, with the Tropicana rubble long gone, the makings of a Major League Baseball stadium on the Strip is taking shape on the Strip on a nine-acre footprint at Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue in Dec. 2025.
Las Vegas has a well-documented doctor and health workers shortage, low-rated public school district and minimal public transportation system but somehow it finds the public money and political will to build stadiums.
And six months into a 31-month building schedule, the $2 billion A’s stadium project is moving along on schedule.
LVSportsBiz.com joined an A’s media tour of the construction site Tuesday afternoon and came away impressed at how much work has already been done.
We stood near home plate and also on top of a concrete floor of a first base suite looking west to the Strip and several MGM Resorts International properties like New York New York, Excalibur and Luxor.
The stadium will have 30,000 seats and room for 3,000 standing fans for a capacity of 33,000. Of the 30,000 seats, 5,533 are premium seats and 84 percent of the seats will be between the foul poles because a see-through wall on the stadium’s west side will give fans a look at the Strip.
There are 133 suites and box seats, 34 concessions, 27 bars, 62 restrooms and 16 elevators and escalators.
The public is on the hook for $380 million in financial assistance for the $2 billion project in compliance with a state bill approved in 2023. So, A’s owner John Fisher plans to pay the rest: $1.62 billion.
A reasonable question is why didn’t Fisher simply spend that money on building a new open-air ballpark on the Oakland waterfront?
But that train has left the station.
The fact is the Las Vegas market — its political leaders and Clark County government — is willing to hand over money and resources to sports teams and events. That’s why they are here.
Fisher, whose family owns the Old Navy retail chain, says he has the money to pay for the construction.
For A’s team president Marc Badain, this is Stadium 2.0 in Las Vegas after Badain opened the Raiders stadium on time and on budget in 2020 as the former Raiders president.
Badain said it’s still unclear whether the A’s will charge a personal seat license (PSL) on fans who want to buy premium seats. He noted the team is still collecting feedback from a fan survey on ticket prices.
The Athletics are playing in a Triple-A minor league stadium in West Sacramento in 2026 and 2027 while the Las Vegas stadium is built. Steel starts to be installed in 2026, a steel topping out is slated for 2027 and a certificate of occupancy is supposed to be ready in 2028.
PSA