Athletics celebrate groundbreaking of $1.75 billion stadium project in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS — With mounds of dirt, construction vehicles and the exact location where home plate will be at the new Athletics ballpark serving as the backdrop Monday morning, team owner John Fisher stood in front of a large gathering with one message: "We are Vegas' team.''

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, state and local government dignitaries, former Athletics greats such as Rollie Fingers and Dave Stewart, Little Leaguers and many others looked on as the team celebrated the groundbreaking of a $1.75 billion, 33,000-person capacity ballpark that is expected to be finished in time for the 2028 season.

Nevada and Clark County have approved up to $380 million in public funds for the project.

''I have no doubt this is done in 2028,'' team president Marc Badain said. "You know the workforce here; they're all here and ready to get going.

''It's nice to see the validation a day like today brings and what the next three years will mean for the community and for the construction project and the jobs and everything else that you're going to see as this building comes out of the ground starting as early as tonight.''

Badain went through a similar process when serving in the same capacity for the NFL's Raiders. He was a central figure in that team's move from Oakland to Las Vegas in 2020 as well as the approval and construction of $2 billion Allegiant Stadium.

While waiting for Allegiant Stadium to be finished, the Raiders remained in Oakland for three seasons in the stadium they shared with the A's. But while the Raiders maintained a largely strong connection to the Bay Area even while playing as a lameduck franchise, A's fans were incensed about their team's impending departure and the process involved.

That made staying in Oakland untenable for the franchise, which played its final season in the dilapidated stadium last year. The A's are playing the first of at least three years about an hour away at a Triple-A ballpark in West Sacramento, California, while they await their move to Las Vegas.

''We are a local team,'' Fisher said. "And we want to start from the youngest of fans, because if you can get the kids, you can get their parents. It takes less time than you think; what really takes time is ... to have a winner.

''Our goal is to continue to build upon what we have, and building a team is like building anything else. Sometimes it takes more time than you want it to. It's like building the stadium. And we think that we have the pieces to make ourselves really successful.''

The stadium will be built on nine acres of the 35-acre site owned by Bally's on the corner of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard. The Tropicana's resort towers were destroyed in an overnight demolition in October to clear the way for the ballpark.

The A's are trying to strike a balance of making the most of their temporary home while also preparing for their future. Each A's player wears a patch of Sacramento's Tower Bridge on one sleeve and a Las Vegas logo on the other as part of a three-year sponsorship with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

The Las Vegas Stadium Authority in December approved lease, non-relocation and development documents, the last major steps for the A's to eventually become Las Vegas' team.

Artist renderings show a stadium with its five overlapping layers that bears a striking resemblance to Australia's famed Sydney Opera House. A glass window beyond the outfield provides an outdoor feel with views of the Las Vegas Strip. Rather than a centralized cooling system, air conditioning will be distributed through the seats.

This will be MLB's smallest stadium, though Tropicana Field where the Tampa Bay Rays usually call home has a capacity of 25,000 when the upper levels are closed off. It otherwise holds just less than 40,000 seats.

The Rays, like the A's, are playing this season at a Triple-A ballpark after Hurricane Milton damaged their domed stadium. Tampa Bay's long-term home is unknown, and the club could soon be in the hands of new owners.

Cleveland plays at Progressive Field, which now seats 34,830. It was downsized from the 43,345-seat capacity when the park opened in 1994.

The A's are set to become the fourth major professional team in Las Vegas, joining the Raiders, NHL's Golden Knights and WNBA's Aces.

''I think that the demographics, the success that other sports have had, and the amount of tourism here, those three legs of the stool make this an ideal market for us,'' Manfred said. ''I have no doubt that this team is going to be really successful in Vegas.''

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AP Sports Writer Mark Anderson contributed to this report.

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