Fisher still needs money to build a Las Vegas ballpark.
For John Fisher, the owner of Major League Baseball’s Athletics franchise, it is full speed ahead with his planned move to Las Vegas in 2028. Fisher plans to open an “Experience Center at UnCommons” this fall to give customers the opportunity to take “an up-close look” at his future ballpark. He is opening a sales office which every franchise has in some form or another. Fisher still does not have all the money he needs to build a Las Vegas ballpark and with tariffs amidst a trade war, the $1.75 billion ballpark cost estimate will rise. Nevada is only kicking in $380 million to help pay off construction costs.
Fisher and his ticket staff expect that Las Vegas tourists will make up about 30 percent of the daily gate in the 30,000-seat facility. That is a dicey proposition relying on visitors to buy 8,000 tickets a game. Especially if tourism falls and right now, Las Vegas is seeing a decline in tourism. Because of annexation threats and tariffs, Canadians are staying away from Las Vegas as part of a Canadian travel boycott of the United States. Tourists were supposed to be a major source of revenue for Fisher’s business buying tickets to see a Las Vegas baseball game. In 2024, Nevada had 52.4 million tourists with Canadians representing the largest group of international visitors according to Travel Nevada. Connect2Canada said 1.7 million Canadians visited Nevada and spent $1.4 billion in 2024. Mexicans are staying away from Las Vegas as well. Las Vegas tourism has fallen since January. In March tourism fell 7.8% from March 2024, the third straight month it has declined. The Las Vegas tourism agency is anticipating less room tax revenue in its next budget and none of that is good news for Fisher. He still needs money for construction and tourists too.
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