Now It’s Stadiumball For Athletics: MLB Team Signing Core Of Young Players Based On Expected Stadium Revenue Streams In Las Vegas
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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — It’s Stadiumball now for the future Las Vegas Athletics.
The A’s held another contract signing presser at their welcome center in the southwest Vegas Valley Monday afternoon when 23-year-old shortstop Jacob Wilson signed a seven-year, $70 million extension. Wilson finished second in the American League Rookie of the Year voting after he hit 13 home runs, batted in 63 runs and compiled a .311 batting average in 125 games. The AL’s starting shortstop in the 2025 All-Star game finished right behind teammate Nick Kurtz in the Rookie of the Year voting.
Wilson’s signing event at the A’s snazzy welcome center in the suburban UnCommons development comes a little more than a month after the MLB team signed 24-year-old leftielder Tyler Soderstrom to a seven-year, $86 million extension. The A’s have already signed slugger Brent Rooker to a five-year, $60 million deal and outfielder Lawrence Butler to a seven-year, $65.5 million agreement in anticipation of the $2 billion domed stadium in Las Vegas in 2028.
General Manger David Forst said the stadium at the former Tropicana hotel-casino site is expected to generate revenue streams that will underwrite these multi-year deals.
“This place is allowing us to operate differently,” Forst said in response to an LVSportsBiz.com question on the stadium under construction on the Strip.
Forst noted the new stadium “allows us to keep the core of the players together.”
Wilson signed home plate at the stadium site and posed for this photo posted on A’s social media:
LVCVA (publicly-funded Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority) CEO Steve Hill was at the welcome center watching the Wilson presser. “The stadium is a big part of the business model for the team,” said Hill, who also is chairman of the Las Vegas Stadium Authority Board.
Besides Hill, A’s executive Sandy Dean and team president Marc Badain were also at the team’s welcome center today.
The A’s are about eight months into the 31-month stadium construction schedule and are already cashing in on new revenue streams connected to the relocation to Las Vegas. For example, Hill’s LVCVA is spending $8.25 million for a three-year sponsorship with the A’s.
Another stadium money maker for the A’s in Las Vegas is a unique 20-year, $175 million food and beverage concessions contract with well-known food/bev vendor Aramark, which will pay a $100 million equity investment in the A’s under the concessions deal at the planned stadium.
A’s owner John Fisher has said he is looking for stadium and team investors, and that his family is capable of financially covering the $2 billion construction bill minus the public stadium contribution of $380 million that was approved by the Nevada Legislature in 2023. The A’s say they will use $350 million of the $380 million in public assistance for the stadium project.
The A’s start spring training in Mesa, Arizona later this month before playing Year 2 at a Triple-A stadium in West Sacramento while their stadium is built in Las Vegas.
The A’s will play in Sutter Health Park again in 2027. The A’s average attendance was 9,487 in West Sacramento. The new stadium in Las Vegas will have 30,000 fixed seats and standing room for another 3,000 fans.
