A’s offer initial Vegas stadium funding plans; won’t use entire $380M in public funding

A representative of the Oakland Athletics said Thursday the team is in “good shape” on securing financing for its future $1.5 billion stadium on the Strip, but didn’t offer specific details on how the franchise will fund its expected $1.2 billion share of the stadium construction costs.

During a Las Vegas Stadium Authority meeting, a partner with the Fisher family and team owner John Fisher said the A’s plan to use only $350 million of the legislatively approved $380 million in public financing, and never planned to use the full amount of financing provided by state lawmakers last year.

Sandy Dean said the team will offset a portion of the public money through debt financing.

“That was always our expectation from the start,” he said.

The public financing for the stadium includes $180 million in transferable tax credits from the state (which the team could sell to other businesses for cash), an estimated $120 million in Clark County bonds and a $25 million credit from the county for infrastructure needs around the stadium.

The funds, spelled out in SB1 approved during the Nevada Legislature’s special session last year, will be used along with private financing from the A’s to develop a 33,000-seat stadium planned for 9 acres of a 36-acre site that houses the now-closed Tropicana Las Vegas.

Still unanswered is how exactly the A’s will provide the needed $1.2 billion in private financing. Fisher told the San Francisco Chronicle in March that $200 million would come from debt, $500 million from his family and another $500 million from yet-to-be-determined equity investors, but nothing has been formalized.

Dean said the Fisher family could provide all of the required equity for the project, although Fisher said in January that he was hopeful about finding outside investors from Las Vegas .

“We think it would be a positive to have outside investors, particularly focused on Las Vegas,” Dean said. “We’re going to talk with folks about that. That's something we'll be [doing] in the coming months.”

During an hour-long meeting, the board discussed drafts of two proposed agreements with the team that are required as part of the legislation.

The only item the board members approved Thursday was the selection of Athletics StadCo LLC as the team’s affiliate that will handle all private money for the ballpark’s development, as well as serve as the party for all agreements with the Stadium Authority. The entity filed its articles of organization (legal documents that establish a limited liability company) with the Nevada secretary of state on July 11.

The A’s hope to have the site ready for development in April 2025 with the ballpark completed in time for the start of the 2028 Major League season.

“I want to speak in the affirmative,” Dean said. “We're in good shape for the financing. It is something we've been planning for for some time. And we'll be back with more detail about (it) I think in the fall.”

According to Front Office Sports , the Fisher family has engaged sports finance company Galatioto Sports Partners to help raise $500 million for the project. At the All-Star Game earlier this week in Arlington, Texas, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred told reporters he was “comfortable … with his ability to put together the financing.”

A’s working with Bally’s

The Rat Pack-era Tropicana Las Vegas was closed in April and is being demolished to clear the site for the stadium. Bally’s Corp., which leased the Tropicana and is still paying $10.5 million in annual rent to land owner Gaming and Leisure Properties, has not revealed what it intends to build in conjunction with the stadium.

Dean told the board Bally’s is still working to complete its plans for the site.

Gaming and Leisure committed $175 million toward the demolition of the Tropicana. Much of the resort’s low-rise portions have been demolished and the two hotel towers are being prepped for an implosion in late September or early October.

As plans continue to be polished, the A’s have two development agreements for the ballpark that are being finalized — one with Clark County covering the bonds and one with the Stadium Authority for the team’s private portion of the construction. Dean said the A’s have “several lenders who are very excited to participate in the project.”

The first draft of the lengthy development agreement covering the public money arrangement between Clark County and the A’s was also discussed by the Stadium Authority board.

Dean said the A’s are working with the architects in refining the designs of the planned Las Vegas stadium after the renderings were initially released in March .

“We’re working our way through the design process so we can have thoughtful conversations with potential investors,” Dean said. “It would make the most sense to have the design more refined.”

Fewer home games away from Vegas

The board also discussed the second draft of the 30-year non-relocation agreement first presented in May.

Ed Finger, the chief financial officer of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority who helped negotiate the non-relocation agreement, said the A’s agreed to reduce the maximum number of home games the team would play away from Las Vegas from eight a year to seven games over two seasons with a maximum of four off-site home games in one season.

Dean said in an interview the figure would put the A’s in the “midway mark” of what the 30 Major League teams have in similar agreements.

“We had this in as a placeholder,” Dean said. “We have had discussions with the Stadium Authority, and we were happy to bring that number down to a lower number.”

However, state Treasurer Zach Conine, a nonvoting member of the Stadium Authority, said he would still like to see the number of off-site “home” games reduced.

Thursday’s hearing came a few hours after Major League Baseball released its 2025 schedule, the first season of a three-year plan that will see the A’s play home games at the 14,000-seat Sutter Health Park in Sacramento. The team will share the Triple-A stadium with the Pacific Coast League’s Sacramento River Cats. The A’s first home games will be March 31-April 2 against the Chicago Cubs.

The teams have an agreement to share the revenue and expenses for the ballpark, including the capital improvements needed to house a Major League team, such as changing the playing surface to an artificial turf field to accommodate more than 150 games between the two teams.