ARLINGTON, Texas – In John Fisher’s quest to bring the best to Las Vegas, what’s striking is how little really changed Thursday. The same questions that arose before the owners voted still arise today: Will Las Vegas and its tourism economy create a strong, thriving base for the sport? Will the shift to the game’s smallest media market make sense in the long run, or is the $380 million Nevada is willing to spend on a new stadium fool’s gold?
Now there was a vote. Major League Baseball owners unanimously approved Fisher’s plan to leave Oakland. The very fact that a vote took place suggested that multiple outcomes were possible; the tension suggested that this could go one way or the other.
But if a vote among baseball owners was ever going to result in drama, this wouldn’t be it.
The interests of all other owners are tied to those of Fisher. They all want subsidies for stadiums, be they new or renovated stadiums. Down the road, they’ll all benefit from MLB’s expansion, a likelihood that grows ever closer as the A’s and Rays continue their path to new buildings. Manfred said the stadium situation for those teams is the biggest hurdle to expanding to add two teams and expand to 32 total — and the expansion will bring in a lot of money. New owners will have to pay a hefty fee, probably in the billions.
People briefed on the Arlington ownership negotiations over the past three days said there was no movement toward expansion, not at this time. The Rays unveiled their stadium plans and it’s said they have a crucial few months ahead as they work on a new stadium of their own. But between the A’s news and the Rays’ plans, owners are aiming for a big goal.
So how viable is Las Vegas long term? Before the vote, MLB prepared a report on the move and distributed it to all of its owners.
“The report covers a number of mandatory topics, essentially set out in the relocation guidelines, relating to the operating area and the home television area,” said Commissioner Rob Manfred. “The relocation committee agreed that Las Vegas was a strong market – probably the strongest, one of the two strongest open markets in the United States – and that it had more than enough capacity to support a major league team.
“A’s market analysis was consistent with this view. And we actually hired an outside consultant who also did market analysis (that) was consistent with the view of the relocation committee as well as the projections that the A’s had made.”
And what needs to happen from here as the A’s work toward the move?
“There is a binding construction contract,” said Manfred in response to this question. “What exactly the steps will be is a question for John, not me.”
On his way out of the Loews Hotel, Fisher declined an interview request from The Athletic. A’s president Dave Kaval spoke to The Athletic instead. Questions and answers have been edited and organized for clarity.
Could anything stop the move to Las Vegas now?
I think today was the big step, today was the decisive step. It’s been a four-month, very thoughtful and deliberate process with the league, with many different levels of agreement, resistance and negotiation to get to this point. And I think it was handled very professionally, consistent with the original memo about the move. We’re really excited about where we’re at and we’re really proud that we were able to get a unanimous vote. I think this is a big deal.
The Athletic has reported that the team’s success may depend on tourism. Do you see it that way, if not, how do you see it?
I think our business success will be balanced. There will be two things that need to be reconciled. One is the strength of the local market and local fans, the 2.2 million people who live in Southern Nevada who come to games and support the team.
And then there are the tourists, the 45 million people who come to Las Vegas every year. And both must be part of a successful financial transaction, a business plan. And we think that when you look at the Raiders and the Golden Knights, you see two examples – shining stars, actually – of success. Both teams in the nation’s 40th-ranked media market have the highest ticket revenue in their respective sports.
But the fact that the Knights were the first major men’s sports team in Las Vegas is cited as a reason why they should be viewed differently. They first joined the fan community. And then the Raiders: A, it’s the NFL; B, it’s this schedule. It’s not 81 home games that have to be sold like baseball. What would you say to these points?
I don’t think we expect to be the highest-grossing team in baseball. These other teams are kind of at the top. So what I’m saying is that I think we were conservative in our estimates. I think we could surpass them, who knows? But I think we have put together a financing plan and an operating plan that assumes reasonable projections in those areas. And if you actually just looked at the other two teams, you’d probably have more aggressive predictions because they’ve done so well.
I mean, the Raiders have the smallest stadium in the league and the highest revenue. And that’s because the people who come to Las Vegas – I don’t know if you’ve been to Las Vegas recently. Let’s say you want to go to Vegas and go to (show) “O,” Cirque du Soleil. To get into the “O,” you’ll need to spend $280. This is like the cheapest seat in the whole damn place.
I was at the Sphere recently, the cheapest seats were around $600. Attending a sporting event is a pretty good deal for just $100. People are used to and adjusted to a higher dollar amount in their spending. And I think that’s one of the reasons that sports has done really well, because it actually takes some of the spending away from these other areas of entertainment that were much more expensive.
Two other Las Vegas attractions, F1 and The Sphere, fail to live up to expectations. Do you see any concerns about this?
These are such different products in many ways. I’ve been involved in both on the side: I’ve been to the events, I’ve taken the tours, and I’ve seen them, and they’re very impressive. I don’t know if they are the best example.
I think one thing is clear: Vegas is generating so much interest worldwide, be it in Formula 1 or in the Sphere. And it’s really the place where people around the world discuss these new trends. And whatever the new zeitgeist is in the world, I think this is exciting for baseball and the A’s.
Because we can be part of this conversation about our new stadium with our incredible design soon to be released at our Strip location. There are a lot of things that have a positive impact on us that I think we can actually use to our advantage so that we have a very successful team on and off the field.
Top level, is this a bet to move to Las Vegas? A risk? At least some owners believe it could go one way, but it could also go another.
I suppose this applies to any business decision.
Expanding from there is, where are the uncertainties? There have to be some.
I think the biggest uncertainty is with the local media. But this doesn’t just apply to Las Vegas. I mean, the entire industry is going through this. Traditionally, baseball’s regional sports networks accounted for a huge portion of team revenue, creating the largest divide between large and small markets. And I think that was one of the reasons why when people looked at Las Vegas, maybe even like 10 years ago, they thought, Look, there are so few homes for cable television that it wouldn’t be a good regional sports center. You don’t get much money there.
But our industry is changing and the actual revenue you generate from your building – tickets, sponsorships and reviews like how good you are – is now more important. So I think Vegas is actually punching a little above its weight in this new era compared to 20 years ago.
Dave Kaval runs across the Coliseum field before a game on April 16. (Jeff Chiu/Associated Press)
Mayor Sheng Thao has a number of requirements for the team to play in Oakland after 2024, including your club’s elimination of the “A” name. Would you be willing to leave the name behind?
We go back to 1901 when Ban Johnson was a charter member of the American League and the Philadelphia Athletics were formed. And then we had a great story there, we had Connie Mack. And then we traveled to Kansas City and spent a decade there. And then we came to Oakland and had a great chapter as the A’s in Oakland, with the three consecutive World Championships and the Bash Brothers and Moneyball. And now we’re in our next phase, this next chapter in Las Vegas that we’re excited about, our fourth city.
But the one thing that is constant in all of these communities is the name: athletics and the best. And we see that this continues.
Does that mean you probably wouldn’t stay at the Colosseum under the conditions the mayor laid out?
I guess all I’m saying is that we have over 120 years of history as athletics, and we intend to continue that in our next chapter in Las Vegas.
Where do you stand overall in the team’s home game for the 2025-2027 season?
That’s a big question right now. Obviously the focus so far has been on the resettlement vote and that’s where everything has been focused. However, there is time pressure to work out the preliminary game plan. We know we’ll be playing in Oakland next year. The three years after that, before we open in 2028, are unknown.
We work very closely with the league, the commissioner’s office, the other teams and the various communities. We have several options that are viable. It’s really about weighing those and getting feedback from everyone involved to figure out what makes the most sense, including the union, to make sure we have a plan.
You heard from the commissioner today: he said he wants us to play mainly in one place. I think that’s kind of a guiding principle that was taken away from these meetings.
At the World Series, Manfred said it would be a significant development if something happened with the referendum, a teacher-backed PAC’s attempt to put funding for your stadium through a statewide vote. What is your position?
We have a really strong coalition of union leaders, local business interests and other school districts like the big one in Southern Nevada that are really in favor of us coming to Nevada and doing a public-private partnership because it brings in a lot of additional revenue that can be reinvested in the schools become. So there’s actually a huge and broad coalition, including the governor and the bipartisan support of the Legislature, that really wants our legislation and has obviously passed it. That’s why we strongly believe that this group can show the community that this is a win. And despite all efforts to counteract that, we feel we have a broad coalition – including us and many others – to ensure SB1 sticks.
When Manfred was asked what’s next, he turned to Fisher today.
So that’s obviously a big endorsement to get owners to vote. But in Las Vegas there are a few other permits (that we need). We completed the legislation back in June. So that happened and was signed into law by Gov. Joe Lombardo in June. We created the Stadium Authority, which also has jurisdiction over the Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium. We negotiate a rental and social service agreement with you. They were unveiled publicly a month ago.
There will be two further hearings on these two agreements, one in December and one in January. That’s why we want to try to push this forward as quickly as possible. There is also a non-relocation agreement, which is expected to be reached in January or February. But I think the intent is to work with this board to get all of these retroactive approvals done in the first half of next year.
What about the financing agreements?
We signed an agreement with Mortenson-McCarthy to build the stadium, a GMP (guaranteed maximum price) contract. That exists to build the stadium. And when it comes to financing, there is a public part and a private part.
The public portion consists of $380 million from the county and state. And the private part is a mix of debt and equity from the ownership group. And we have worked with Goldman Sachs on these aspects. We have the ownership group and the financial resources to finance this part.
This is how we deal with it and we will continue with it. It’s now committed. But it won’t be used for a few years, when we’re actually under construction.
So at this point private financing is fixed?
It’s private financing of the $1.1 billion, which is not public financing, but yes, we have a private financing plan for that, we have that.
How about a TV deal?
We don’t have a TV contract. We have to clarify this by the opening in 2028. The current focus is on the resettlement vote. …Obviously it’s a different media market, so we have to figure out how to do that effectively. And obviously the regional sports landscape is changing a lot. The timing of this may depend on a number of other factors somewhat beyond our control.
And the land deal?
The land contract is with Ballys and GLPI (Gaming & Leisure Properties, Inc.). This is a tripartite agreement regarding the land contract for the site. So Bally’s is the operating company that will build the casino around us on the website. And then GLPI is a real estate company that owns the property. And yes, we have a binding agreement. We got this from them at the beginning of the year. That’s done. Nothing needs to be done.
We have not yet signed sponsorship agreements or sold tickets.
In the meantime, do you need to stay in Northern California to keep the TV money coming?
Yes / Yes. Our TV contract only applies when we play in the Bay Area, for example, excluding Sacramento.
So would it be your preference to stay in the current area before the new stadium opens? Is it the only thing on your mind?
This is one of many considerations we are working on with the league. There are just a variety of different things. But there is no one size fits all and that’s why we haven’t made a decision yet as we work with everyone involved to balance these things. The focus to date has really been on the resettlement vote. But this is a really high priority. Because normally there is an internal schedule that is published in January next year. So that’s not that far away.
Sales forecasts?
It’s really too early to say. I mean, of course we have projections that were included in the relocation application. But we work with different outside companies on market research to figure out how best to allocate these different numbers, whether it’s sponsorship, media, tickets or all the different aspects. I think we have a good sense of where this is going, but we’ll refine it. Because when you go to market and do things like announce tickets and set prices, that’s going to influence a lot of those decisions. And we’re not quite there yet, but we’ll continue to refine this over time.
(Top photo by Dave Kaval: Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)