Las Vegas A's have no one to pay for their new ballpark. Literally
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The Oakland A's are expected to move to Las Vegas to begin the 2028 season. When that time comes, they'll need to have a new stadium. About that...
While this will hopefully bring some exciting new changes to the franchise, the organization had a presentation earlier this week for the new stadium that didn't go so well. At the presentation, the A’s confirmed there are currently no financing plans for a proposed $1.5 billion ballpark in Las Vegas, per Scott Roeben from Vital Vegas. This should raise some concern for the franchise and its fans.
Why are there no financial plans for the Las Vegas A's yet?
Like most stadium deals, the bureaucracy could be the biggest hurdle. In this case, the A’s move to Las Vegas has to go through the Las Vegas Stadium Authority. The uncertainty for the new ballpark could be because it is reliant on $380 million in taxpayer money. While most of the talk from the franchise has been centered around lenders being 'excited' for the relocation to Las Vegas, we all know excitement doesn't get the bills paid.
According to the AP, Oakland Athletics executive Sandy Dean told The Las Vegas Authority the club does not expect to spend the entire $380 million. Instead he plans to use $350 million of it for the stadium, which leaves a remaining $30 million. With that plan, and no lenders backing this plan, it should cause some concern, especially since the 2028 season will be here before we know it.
With no lenders, and yet another $850 million needed to build the $1.5 billion stadium, there is still a lot of work to be done for this franchise relocation. In the midst of another rough season (second-worst record in American League), and this news hitting the baseball world the past week, it hasn't been the best 2024 season.
The goal is to keep fans interested up to the move to Las Vegas, and they're hopeful to have their new ballpark that will seat 33,000 people for the 2028 season.
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