LAS VEGAS – The Athletics franchise dates back to 1901, when owner/manager Connie Mack founded the Philadelphia Athletics of the American Baseball League. After five decades, the club moved to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 seasons, then out west to Oakland for 57 seasons before temporarily relocating to West Sacramento in 2025.
On Monday, the A’s took a big step toward their next chapter in Southern Nevada.
A’s owner John Fisher – joined by several other dignitaries, including Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, team president Marc Badain and Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo – planted a gold shovel with the A’s logo and baseball bat-shaped handle into the ground on the southeast corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue, marking the official groundbreaking ceremony of the A’s new ballpark in Las Vegas, expected to be completed in time for Opening Day 2028.
“Today is a celebration of the start of our construction process,” Fisher said. “It’s kind of a dream come true for me. The A’s have needed a new home for a long time. To look out there and see all these machines and the holes that are being dug where home plate is going to be, it’s a really positive place for us to be.”
The new ballpark is being built on nine acres of a 36-acre lot and will be accompanied by a future hotel resort and entertainment complex to be built by Bally’s Corp., which owns the remaining 27 acres of land.
The stadium itself – designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and HNTB – will hold a capacity of 33,000 fans, featuring the closest seats to home plate and the smallest foul territory of any MLB ballpark. The building will be fully enclosed by a roof that will attenuate direct sunlight glare while welcoming indirect natural light through northern oriented clerestory windows. From home plate, the see-through dome will offer views of the Las Vegas Strip, with the New York-New York Hotel & Casino and MGM Grand in clear sight beyond the outfield.
Las Vegas is a city that MLB has looked at as a potential expansion or team relocation site for quite some time, and while the media market would rank as the smallest in the Majors, Commissioner Manfred said the city’s constant influx of tourism makes up for that lack of size.
“Vegas presented a real opportunity for Major League Baseball,” Manfred said. “It’s different than any other market in that the tourism here presents an opportunity that’s beyond what would be suggested by population or the kind of demographics we ordinarily look at.”
The location of the ballpark adds to a sports tourism landscape that has rapidly evolved, with the NFL’s Raiders and NHL’s Golden Knights both arriving in Las Vegas over the past decade and playing just down the street at Allegiant Stadium and T-Mobile Arena.
“This is a sports town,” said MGM Resorts International CEO & President Bill Hornbuckle. “It always has been. But I think what’s unique about this is, instead of a three-hour game, it’s like a three-day experience. People will come. When you see the Kansas City Chiefs come to town, the town goes red. We had an LSU game here and the town went purple. … I can’t imagine the same thing won’t happen here with baseball.”
In addition to manager Mark Kotsay and general manager David Forst, A’s Hall of Famers Dave Stewart and Rollie Fingers attended the ceremony. Former A’s pitcher and current broadcaster Dallas Braden emceed the event.
“They’ve been through this whole process along with us,” Fisher said. “They’re the ultimate fans for our franchise. They want to see the team succeed. So, there’s been a lot of support. Hey, for sure, many of them are sad that we left the Bay Area. But they understand the importance of the A’s having a new home, and they understand that Las Vegas is an incredible opportunity for our 123-year-old franchise.”
The estimated $1.75 billion price tag for the A’s new ballpark will be covered mostly by the Fisher family, which is responsible for $1.4 billion of the cost. The remaining $350 million will be covered by public funding that was signed into law by Senate Bill 1 in Nevada in 2023.
“The Athletics have a long and proud history,” Manfred said. “Nine World Series titles. Great players like Rickey Henderson, Dave Stewart, Vida Blue -- the list goes on and on. I think of today as a new chapter in that great history. …The A’s are going to build Las Vegas an unbelievable, awesome, iconic ballpark.”