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The lower portion of the A’s $2 billion domed stadium on the Las Vegas Strip is taking shape, and officials said the project remains on schedule to open before the 2028 season.
Club and contractor officials presented their update on the 33,000-seat stadium Thursday at the Las Vegas Stadium Authority meeting.
“The lower level of the suite is making substantial progress,” said Tyler Van Eeckhaut, project manager for contractors Mortenson-McCarthy. “We’re starting to see a lot of rooms take shape and a lot of that environment has really started to become a component of the stadium.”
Buttress work was completed to mark a major milestone, and construction of the upper floor began in April. Parking will be phased in on the southeast side with 1,500 lots available initially and 2,500 when construction is complete.
However, the A’s may have to build a temporary plaza on the northwest side. Bally’s Corp. has not yet raised financing for an elevated plaza on the property as part of a $1.19 billion mixed-use project that includes restaurants, retail and entertainment, as well as a hotel-casino and a 2,500-seat theater. The stadium is part of the overall development plan.
Sandy Dean, vice president of the A’s, said the club is in the process of creating plans for a spot to open when the first pitch is thrown in the 2028 season.
“Those guys (at Bally’s) are doing a lot of things and we have to remember that Bally’s had the vision to bring us to this place,” Dean said. “We and Las Vegas will benefit from being at Bally’s site. This is something we have to resolve together with them in the next moment.”
Steve Hill, CEO and chairman of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, told the A’s to present a plan regarding the plaza at the next Stadium Authority meeting on Aug. 20.
“To facilitate the retail and parking that would eventually be needed under the plaza area, it needs to be torn down and a permanent plaza built at some point in the future,” Hill said after the meeting. “I don’t necessarily know how that would work. We’re just asking for clarity on whether it seems like an option that might have to be implemented and our understanding is that it will work.”
A’s president Marc Badain said the first set of suites that were available for purchase were sold out and that 80% of the season ticket packages for seats behind home plate for what is called the Athletic Club have been sold. He added that tickets will begin to go on sale to the general public in the coming months.
The team had also conducted about 85 hours of focus group studies with 120 Las Vegas-area residents to get their feedback on the A’s move. Badain said he was not yet ready to share details of those results.
“We got their feedback about their experience (with the NHL’s Golden Knights and the NFL’s Raiders) and the things they love and the things they would like to see maybe a little different in our stadium,” Badain said. “But overall it was very positive.”
While construction is underway on the Las Vegas Strip, the A’s are playing the second of three planned seasons at a Triple-A stadium in West Sacramento, California. They played their previous 57 seasons in Oakland, California.
The A’s entered Thursday’s game in first place in the American League West with a 25-24 record, one game ahead of the Texas Rangers.
They will play six regular-season games next month at Las Vegas Ballpark, home of the club’s Triple-A affiliate. Badain said there are only a few tickets left for the June 8-10 series against Milwaukee and June 12-14 against Colorado.
The stadium’s opening ceremony took place on June 23. The A’s Ballpark Experience Center in Las Vegas opened its doors in December to give fans the opportunity to see the stadium in detail and participate in other immersive experiences.
Associated Press information.
