Oakland A’s planning new $1.5B stadium on the Las Vegas Strip

As the Oakland Athletics prepare to make the locally unpopular move away to Las Vegas, the franchise has reportedly secured a site for a new stadium. And the MLB team got a spot right along the Strip, where the Tropicana resort currently sits.

The A’s plan to build a 35,000 seat stadium for $1.5 billion in partnership with Bally’s Corporation, according to The Nevada Independent. The stadium deal will reportedly lower the public burden for funding. But it’s still a hefty price tag.

Taxpayers will be on the hook for $395 million, according to the report. This is down from a previous desire to have $500 million in public dollars supporting a stadium project.

Along with seating 35,000 or so people, the new stadium will have a retractable roof. It reside on nine of the 34 acres in the plots of land. Bally’s will demolish the Tropicana as part of the stadium project.

Plans to begin construction in 2024 and open the stadium in 2027 are still on track, according to the report. Delays could push the opening date back a year to 2028.

The city of Oakland fired a shot at A’s ownership amid the planned departure

The city of Oakland denounced A’s owner John Fisher, causing MLB commissioner Rob Manfred to defend ownership.

“It is clear to me that the A’s have no intention of staying in Oakland and have simply been using this process to try to extract a better deal out of Las Vegas,” Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao said in April.

Manfred denied that, saying Fisher exclusively negotiated with the city from 2014 through 2021 before deciding to look elsewhere.

“I feel sorry for the fans in Oakland. I really do. But for the city of Oakland to point fingers at John Fisher, it’s not fair,” Manfred said.

“We have shown an unbelievable commitment to the fans in Oakland by exhausting every possible opportunity to try to get something done in Oakland. Unfortunately, the government doesn’t seem to have the will to get it done.”

And in late April, fans showed their displeasure for the A’s pending departure.

Dozens of A’s fans protested outside of Oakland Coliseum ahead of the move to Las Vegas

April 28 marked the A’s’ first home game since the announcement that the team plans to move to Las Vegas. Before the first pitch, several fans stood outside the Coliseum in protest.