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The lower bowl of the Athletics’ $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 ballpark Thursday at the Las Vegas Stadium Authority meeting.
“The lower suite level is evolving significantly,” said Tyler Van Eeckhaut, project director for contractors Mortenson-McCarthy. “We’re starting to see a lot of rooms take shape and a lot of that environment is really starting to become part of the stadium.”
Casting work has been completed to mark a significant milestone and the upper deck began to go up in April. A parking garage on the southeast side will be phased in with 1,500 spaces available initially and 2,500 when construction is complete.
However, the A’s may have to build a temporary ballpark on the northwest side. Bally’s Corp. has yet to raise financing for an elevated site at the property as part of a $1.19 billion mixed-use project that includes restaurants, shopping and entertainment in addition to a hotel-casino and 2,500-seat theater. The stadium is part of the overall development plan.
Sandy Dean, the A’s vice president, said the club is in the process of making plans so a spot will open when the first pitch is thrown in the 2028 season.
“The guys (at Bally’s) do a lot of things, and we have to remember that Bally had the vision to bring us to this site,” Dean said. “We and Las Vegas will all benefit from being on Bally’s side. It’s just something we have to work out with them in the next little bit.”
Steve Hill, executive director and president of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, asked the A’s to present a plan regarding the venue at the next Stadium Authority meeting on August 20.
“To facilitate the retail and parking that you would eventually need under the plaza, you have to tear it up and build a permanent plaza at some point in the future,” Hill said after the meeting. “I don’t necessarily know how that would work. We were just asking for clarity on whether it looks like an option that might need to be implemented that we understand will work.”
A’s president Marc Badain said the first set of suites made available for purchase are sold out and that 80% of the season ticket packages for the seats behind home plate at what is called the Athletic Club have been sold. He added that tickets will go on sale to the public in the coming months.
The team had also conducted about 85 hours of focus group research with 120 Las Vegas area residents for their feedback regarding A’s move. Badain said he was not yet ready to share the details of those findings.
“We got their feedback with their experiences with (the NHL’s Golden Knights and the NFL’s Raiders) and things they love and things they’d like to see maybe a little different in our ballpark,” Badain said. “But overall it was very positive.”
While construction is taking place 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 AL West at 25-24, one game ahead of the Texas Rangers.
They will play six regular-season games next month at the Las Vegas Ballpark, home of the club’s Triple-A affiliate. Badain said there are only a few tickets left for the 8-10 series. June against Milwaukee and 12-14 June against Colorado.
Ceremonial groundbreaking for the stadium took place on 23 June. The A’s Ballpark Experience Center in Las Vegas opened in December to give fans a chance to see the stadium in detail and take part in other immersive experiences.
Report from the Associated Press.
