Word Of The Day For A’s In Las Vegas: MLB Team Tries To Form ‘Organic’ Connection To Local Fans
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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — There are still two years to go until the A’s open their $2 billion domed stadium on the Strip, but the American League team is already planting seeds to connect with local Las Vegas baseball fans in a face-to-face customer relationship way.
The A’s invited fans to tour their welcome center at the UnCommons business district off the 215 beltway in the southwest valley, rolling out the inflatables for the kids on a closed section of road, dishing out the free popcorn and even offering up team broadcaster/former pitcher Dallas Braden to sign autographs.
The team set up ropes inside the welcome center to guide fans in a one-way route to check out the facility’s whiz-bang video screens and baseball displays in hopes the locals will literally buy into the team’s move from Oakland to Las Vegas (via Sacramento) by purchasing season ticket deals.
The one word that was heard among the A’s staffers is that the team wants to build an “organic” relationship with Las Vegas. The A’s are migrating from California to Las Vegas like many local transplants and are trying to follow the blueprint of the Vegas Golden Knights of launching a team in a transient market by forming relationships with local fans.
The A’s invited the media to check out the open house and talk with fans.
The team is building a 33,000-fan ballpark on a nine-acre footprint at the southeast corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue. The A’s will attract many tourists because the stadium location is at one of the iconic intersections on the Strip.
But they face the challenge that the Raiders have been dealing with since the NFL team started play in Las Vegas in 2020 — how to make those emotional connections with local fans?
Southern Nevada is raising more than $1 billion to pay off its $750 million debt for contributing $750 million to the construction of the Raiders stadium on the west side of Interstate 15 across from Mandalay Bay. The A’s won a state bill in 2023 that designates $380 million in public assistance to build their ballpark, though the team says it will use $350 million of the $380 million.
The Raiders are the NFL and that team’s California and national fan base sold out the 62,000-seat stadium. But the A’s are more regional and have 81 regular season home games to sell compared to eight or nine Raiders home games.
That’s why the A’s gave kids supplies to color paper to create artwork and free flavored ices to munch on during the 90-degree-plus day.
PSA
