A’s host groundbreaking for Las Vegas Strip stadium
On Monday morning, representatives from the Athletics (A’s), Major League Baseball and local and state officials held a groundbreaking ceremony for the A’s stadium project on the Las Vegas Strip, worth $1.75 billion.
Slated for completion by Opening Day in spring 2028, the A’s stadium, boasting 33,000-seats, features a tiered, scalloped roof structure that resembles the Sydney Opera House. A massive cable-net glass window in the outfield will offer wide views of the Strip without causing dangerous glares for players. While the capacity would be the lowest among current MLB stadiums, stakeholders are hopeful its Strip location will drive economic impact for the region.
A’s stadium is being built on the site of the former Tropicana Las Vegas, which was imploded last October. It will encompass nine of 35 total acres on the site. Construction on the project already began in April, so the event was more of a public introduction.
A’s owner John Fisher, heir to the GAP clothing brand fortune, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo were all on hand on Monday. All three men were instrumental in making the project possible – Fisher spearheaded the move to Las Vegas, MLB approved it and Lombardo called a special legislative session in 2023 to secure a public funding bill for the park.
“There are gonna be thousands of people on this site in short order,” Fisher said at the ceremony, per KSNV. Manfred added he would “absolutely” be there in 2028 “to celebrate with John Fisher, his entire team, and I hope the entire state of Nevada”.
Lombardo told the Las Vegas Review-Journal he sees the project as “an economic driver for the state”, a way to make Las Vegas “the new best thing in entertainment”.
Years in the making
The A’s first announced their intent to relocate from Oakland in May 2021. For several years the franchise and the city of Oakland had failed to come to an agreement on a new stadium to replace the aging Oakland Coliseum. A sprawling $12 billion development that included a new park at Oakland’s Howard Terminal was floated but never materialised.
After surveying several sites, the A’s announced plans in April 2023 to build their Las Vegas stadium on land owned by Red Rock Resorts. The 49-acre plot was the site of the former Wild Wild West hotel and the team was set to purchase the land.
Then, just a few weeks later, that deal was scrapped and the team instead joined up with Bally’s Corp to build on the Tropicana site. Under the new agreement, Bally’s relinquished the Tropicana and the land was given to the A’s. Bally’s did so for the right to build a new casino-resort on the remaining acreage. The land itself is owned by the real estate investment trust Gaming and Leisure Properties (GLPI).
With the stadium deal done, the A’s then secured the passage of the funding bill, Senate Bill 1 (SB1), that summer. The bill provides up to $380 million worth of tax credits and county bonds. After that, the last step was league relocation approval, which was granted unanimously by team owners in November that year.
Cost of doing business
For both the A’s and Bally’s, a Las Vegas investment will not come cheap. Outside the $380 million from SB1, the A’s have fielded a $300 million construction loan from US Bank and Goldman Sachs. The team is also said to be raising approximately $500 million from investors, in exchange for minority franchise stakes. Fisher and his family are expected to cover any remaining funding gaps.
“We’ve got a number of people who have committed so far and we’re continuing to raise capital; but like I said, this will probably help, because people all want to see is this real,” Fisher told the Review-Journal.
Bally’s, on the other hand, has not said much about its plans for the newly cleared site. In addition to Las Vegas, the operator has active projects in Chicago, New York and Australia, and its ability to make another significant investment may be hindered in the near-term. In Q1 Bally’s reported a leverage ratio of about 17x.
Because of this, Bally’s Chairman Soo Kim told GGB that his company is considering other alternatives besides a full-scale integrated resort. Sample renderings were released last year after the Tropicana implosion but were never confirmed.
“We’ll have a casino and a hotel for sure, but I think that a [retail, entertainment, dining] development is the most obvious opportunity, because every stadium in America has these large RED, mixed-use developments around the stadium,” he said.
Vegas = sports town
After being largely ignored by leagues for decades, Las Vegas is now a pro sports haven. In the last decade, the city has welcomed the NFL (Raiders), the NHL (Golden Knights), the WNBA (Aces) and the annual Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix. Key events like the Super Bowl, NFL Draft and March Madness are also now commonly held there as well.
In addition to the existing teams, it has also been heavily rumoured for years that the NBA will eventually expand to Las Vegas. Developers LVXP are currently planning to build a casino and NBA-spec arena near the Fontainebleau and Sahara. LVXP took over the site from All Net Development, which also sought to build an arena at the site before folding in 2023.
Since re-opening post-Covid, the Las Vegas economy has been on a multi-year hot streak. Gaming revenue has set all-time records over the last four years, although that pace has slowed thus far in 2025. In all, the city has perhaps never been more attractive for development, particularly in sports.
“It’s a great investment,” Steve Hill, CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, told GGB. “It’s fun to be a part of. There’s such possibility because you’re in Las Vegas and we think it’s great. It’s starting to create that critical mass where some great things can happen and then others want to be a part of it.
“Whether it’s Tom Brady or LeBron James, or Shaquille O’Neal or Magic Johnson, they’re all a part of what’s happening in Las Vegas in different ways and it just builds all by itself. And I think they see that opportunity and so do we, so we welcome it.”