The Athletics have spent $300 million on the construction of its Las Vegas ballpark as it continues to rise out of the ground.
A’s vice chairman Sandy Dean said those expenses have been paid for by equity from team owner John Fisher.
The A’s $2 billion project will be financed by a mix of up to $380 million in public funding, a $300 million construction loan and the rest from Fisher.
Dean said the team is still developing a plan on when its will tap the construction loan and the public money.
“That hasn’t been drawn yet, I can’t say exactly when we’ll get to that,” Dean said Thursday following the meeting. “The public money, we’ve thought for a little while it would be a little more back end weighted.”
Work on the ballpark, rising on the southeast corner of the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue, remains on schedule for a 2028 opening, Dean said.
Dean also said the team has netted a few more deals with minority ownership groups but declined to say how many groups or how much they are investing. Dean anticipates the A’s will add a few more investor groups in the coming months.
The A’s announced a deal last year with Aramark Sports to be the concessionaire at the Las Vegas stadium that included a minority ownership stake in the Major League Baseball team; that was worth a reported $175 million. A deal with a Korean group, which includes former MLB pitcher Chan Ho Park, was also reportedly signed last year, carrying a $70 million price tag.
Next construction milestones
Several project milestones are expected before the next stadium authority meeting on May 21.
Executives expect the A’s ballpark steel work to begin in March, will start to make the structure resemble a stadium.
“We’re nearing two years left to completion,” said Tyler Van Eeckhaut project director, Mortenson-McCarthy.
Other milestones expected by May 21 are:
-Bowl and perimeter steel structure placement.
-Roof steel material deliveries and crew mobilization.
-Roof steel shoring tower placement.
-Exterior metal framing installation to begin.
-Installation of precast concrete elements on main concourse and upper suite levels begins.
-Interior steel framework installation.
A’s President Marc Badain said the $300 million in work is evident as stadium construction rapidly progresses.
“You can see it,” Badain said of the progress. “Everything you see out there and the 300, 400 people (working on it), it all costs money. So the Fisher family has funded that via equity, and we passed $300 million a couple of weeks ago.”
The A’s ballpark tax district, set up to generate revenue to be used to pay back bonds that will be taken out by Clark County to help fund the stadium, has generated $1.2 million as of November. That revenue has mainly been generated by sales and use taxes tied to the construction of the ballpark.
Bally’s project
The three initial parts of Bally’s Corp.’s $1.19 billion project planned for the remaining 26 acres of the 35-acre Tropicana site needs to get underway in January 2027 in order for it to be completed in time for Opening Day in 2028. That work includes building a shared central utility plant that will provide power and cold water for air conditioning, a seven-level parking garage on the northwest plaza area that will lead from the Strip to the ballpark, with food and beverage spaces included.
Dean is confident that Bally’s will get work started on those key project elements to be in sync with the ballpark’s opening.
“We expect to be able to report on (the Bally’s project) in May,” Dean said.
Bally’s plans to build a future hotel-casino, additional retail and dining spaces and a 3,000-seat arena in other phases of the project that is anticipated to be built out by the end of 2030.
PSL plan introduced
The A’s formally introduced a planned personal seat license plan to the authority that will include premium seating in the 33,000-capacity stadium. Premium seats account for 5,533 of the 30,000 fixed seats planned for the ballpark; Badain said around 20 percent of seats in the ballpark will ultimately have a PSL attached to them.
Proceeds from the PSL sales will go toward the construction of the ballpark. A PSL is an agreement that allows a person to buy season tickets for a particular seat in a stadium. The team doesn’t yet have a projected revenue amount they think the PSLs will generate
Once a person has purchased a PSL, they must buy season tickets each year or risk losing their seat. General seating will not have PSLs, and a variety of price points will be available, including affordable options for families.
The ability for the A’s to sell PSL’s is in Senate Bill 1, the public financing law passed in 2023.
“There is tremendous demand” Badain said Thursday of why the team is including a PSL plan.
Badain said there will be season ticket prices of all ranges, including some listed at $20 and $30 per game for a season.
Las Vegas Stadium Authority chairman Steve Hill expects to finalize the PSL plan on March 4, where the A’s could then go out and start PSL sales to interested customers.
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.
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