SUMMERLIN, Nev. — If there was any doubt about the A’s relocation to Las Vegas, that’s gone. There’s now an air of inevitability about the move, and it’s time for the serious business of relocation to begin.
The team was highly visible this past weekend in Las Vegas, playing two sold-out games against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Las Vegas Ballpark, the A’s Triple-A facility. In attendance was the team’s hierarchy, including owner John Fisher. Plus, there were a series of meet-and-greets with local politicians and community leaders.
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Earlier last week, the A’s announced the hiring of former Raiders president Marc Badain, who was instrumental in completing the deal to finish construction of the $1.9 billion Allegiant Stadium for Raiders owner Mark Davis. Badain will serve in the same role of club president for the A’s.
Badain was brought in to complete the $1.5 million baseball facility on nine acres of land that once housed the old Tropicana Hotel off the famous strip. He recently worked with Oak View Group, which has plans to build an NBA arena in Las Vegas as part of a resort and retail project, which hasn’t come to fruition.
“I was really excited when the A’s reached out months ago,” Badain said Saturday during an interview in front of the A’s dugout. “I love this project, and I love this community. Building Allegiant was the culmination of a three-decade career with the Raiders, and I’m excited to do it again.”
Additionally, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority agreed to spend $8.25 million to place a Las Vegas patch on the A’s uniform jerseys for the next three years, said Steve Hill, the president of LVCVA, even though they will be playing in West Sacramento, Calif., before moving into a new ballpark in Las Vegas in 2028.
The patch is one way of further convincing the public that the new Las Vegas 30,000-seat domed baseball facility will be built. It should help stifle many of the naysayers.
“There’s a whole bunch of things that should have stifled that, but this is certainly one of them,” Hill said in an interview. “It’s going to spur the conversation every game. Announcers are going to talk about that on the road to Las Vegas. We think it’s a real value to us and a fun way to build in the next three years to them opening in 2028.”
Both Hill and Badain insist the breaking of ground for the new ballpark is on schedule this June for the start of the 2028 season. The state of Nevada has earmarked $380 million in public money with the proviso that Fisher has to spend $100 million out of his pocket first, Hill said.
“It’s on track,” Hill said.
The A’s have then promised in a letter of understanding to provide the $1 million-plus completing the project. It’ll be a combination of debt, equity and public financing, Badain said.
“The funding is there,” Hill said. “They have to put it in the hands of a third party before the county issues its bonds. It’s there and available. The A’s are already into this for 10s of millions of dollars. I think their plan is to ask the county to issue the bonds later in the project.
“We did that a little with the Raiders, who started before the bonds were issued. It will happen when the A’s are ready. But it’s easier for them to just get started with their own money.”
The A’s decided to move to Las Vegas in April 2023 after a frustrating two decades trying to build a new ballpark under several ownership groups in multiple San Francisco Bay Area cities, including Oakland. MLB voted unanimously in November of that year to approve the relocation.
Since then, negotiations to keep the team at the Oakland Coliseum until the Vegas project was completed broke down. The Raiders played three seasons at the Coliseum before moving to Allegiant in 2020. The A’s played their highly emotional last game at the Coliseum after 56 years this past Sept. 26.
Instead, the A’s are moving to Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, the minor-league home of the River Cats, the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Opening night is slated against the Chicago Cubs on March 31. Both teams will play 156 games – 81 for the A’s, 75 for the River Cats – there this season under far from ideal conditions.
Meanwhile, an A’s non-baseball related front office cut by 50% has to work on two fronts at the same time: ensuring the team operates in West Sacramento as smoothly as possible while keeping the Las Vegas situation moving forward. Badain is charged with executing the latter.
“The A’s have done a great job. I’m walking into a wonderful situation,” Badain said. “The building is designed and it’s spectacular. The financing is in place. I need to build a good team of people here in Vegas to work with the Athletics. Work on selling the stadium, putting a great product on the field and building a facility that’s worthy of Vegas.”
Badain said he sat in on a ballpark design meeting Friday, and it consists of many of the same key local people who were involved with the construction of Allegiant, which with a 65,000-seat capacity on 62 acres is a much bigger and more expensive project.
“It’s like doing a good movie sequel,” he said.
On the field, the A’s have extended some contracts, signed a few free agents—including pitcher Luis Severino for three years, $67 million—and increased player payroll to $94 million for luxury tax purposes from last year’s league-low $84 million. They could be competitive this season, but if somehow they host any playoff games, there’s no guarantee they will be played in 14,014-seat Sutter Health Park.
That’s just another hurdle, said manager Mark Kotsay on Sunday. At least his team is playing in its accustomed green, gold and white home uniforms. This weekend proved that the future is all becoming real.
“There’s a different energy and feel,” Kotsay said of the atmosphere around the Athletics and the pending move to Las Vegas. He’s had his own contract as manager extended for three years with a club option for 2029.
Kotsay said it’s time for the A’s “to embrace the culture, the community” of Las Vegas. “There’s an excitement about us being here.”
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