Where is John Fisher’s dough?
Las Vegas and Nevada politicians have not quite asked the owner of Major League Baseball’s Oakland Athletics franchise, John Fisher, to “show me the money!” But it may be getting to the point where Fisher is going to have to pay about $1.1 billion dollars, his share of the cost of the proposed Las Vegas stadium that could house his business starting in 2028. On July 18th, there was supposed to be some clarity as to Fisher’s plan to finance the stadium he wants for his business in Las Vegas. But nothing happened other than we are seeking some local partners to help finance the stadium. Meanwhile Fisher is playing out the string in Oakland and plans to use a minor league ballpark in Sacramento for his business for at least three years, 2025, 2026 and 2027 and if a shovel doesn’t get into the ground soon in Las Vegas, it might impact the Las Vegas stadium timeline in 2028.
It has been more than 15 months since Fisher decided to move his business to Las Vegas and without a doubt this has been the worst attempt to move a franchise in sports in years. Fisher and his associates, which includes Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, have looked like fools as potential Las Vegas stadium venues have been floated and it took a while to settle on a nine-acre site near the Las Vegas Strip. The mayor of Las Vegas has told Fisher to go back to Oakland and work out a deal there. Meanwhile, Major League Baseball players are uncertain that Fisher can succeed in the Las Vegas market, which would be MLB’s smallest market and there is a lot of competition for the buck with the NFL, the WNBA and NHL in town and perhaps an NBA expansion team coming to Las Vegas. Major League players aren’t thrilled with the thought of playing in Sacramento either.
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