The cost of the stadium has risen.
December 5th is the next key date in the ongoing saga of Major League Baseball’s Athletics’ owner John Fisher’s trek to Las Vegas. Fisher has to show the Las Vegas Stadium Authority that he has the money to finance his portion of the bill of the planned Las Vegas baseball stadium for his business. Because of various reasons, the cost of the proposed stadium has risen from $1.5 billion to $1.75 billion and Fisher is on the hook for paying stadium cost overruns which means if the projection is correct he will have to find another quarter of a billion dollars to throw into the construction of the venue. Fisher has not shown the money to the Las Vegas Stadium Authority in the past and it is crunch time to get a shovel into the ground and begin construction so that the facility opens in 2028. Fisher decided to leave his Oakland stadium once the 2024 season ended. His business will be using a minor league stadium in Sacramento for the 2025, 2026 and 2027 seasons. The reason for the hike in the cost of the stadium is due to inflation and some redesigns of the facility.
In June 2023, the Nevada legislature approved up to $380 million in stadium subsidies and made sure that all cost overruns were the responsibility of Fisher’s business. Meanwhile Fisher’s newly branded Athletics franchise will share the Sacramento stadium with the minor league affiliate of the San Francisco Giants franchise. The Sacramento stadium seats just 10,000 people although 14,000 people can fit into the stadium with seats behind the outfield wall. By staying in the far reaches of the San Francisco Bay Area TV market, Fisher might be able to get some of the Bay Area’s TV market money during his Sacramento stay. But that TV money won’t help Fisher’s plight of needing more money.
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