How Worried Should A's Be About NBA Expansion in Las Vegas?
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A's owner John Fisher assured the public recently that the team's project in Las Vegas is still on time and on budget, which means that the team's planned ballpark project should still be ready for Opening Day, 2028. There is still no guaranteed maximum price for the project, but Fisher insisted that he has "bid out" most of the project to know what it'll cost.
As we have mentioned, the A's are clearing hurdles that there were some serious doubts for initially, like even getting the ballpark built. While we would love to see a financing plan, it's hard to argue that there is progress being made in the desert.
That said, we have brought up other potential concerns, even when the project is completed, like what the surrounding area is going to look like. The A's ballpark is expected to be just nine acres on a 35-acre site.
The rest of the area is planned to be completed in phases, with the first phase, expected to take about a year, including a parking garage on the southeast corner, and a utility plant on the eastern border. It will also include a three-level plaza that will feature retail, dining and entertainment spaces is planned on the northwest corner of the site. This is all per the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The concern here would be the area for the brand new ballpark being a construction site for quite awhile. The future of the site is also expected to include a theater, a 24-story hotel tower, and an underground parking garage.
This will all be getting built during the team's honeymoon phase, presumably, when local fans and out-of-towners all flock to the new venue to check it out. It'll also be an unfinished project, which is bound to impact a number of people's initial reaction to going and seeing a game.
This week word also came down that another obstacle could also be coming along shortly.
NBA expansion for 2028-29 season?
According to ESPN, "The NBA will hold a vote at the board of governors meetings next week to explore adding expansion teams exclusively in Las Vegas and Seattle." The targeted launch for those teams, if approved, would be for the 2028-29 season.
On the surface, this could be an issue for the A's. They would be the newest team in town for all of one season, and there will be some pressure on them to perform well in a new venue with new fans and a young core that right now looks to be pretty good already.
This will also be a ballpark that they won't know the quirks of when they take the field for the first time, and we saw the learning curve that took in Sacramento in 2025. The Vegas ballpark will also be the second-most elevated park in Major League Baseball, behind just Coors Field in Colorado, which could lead to some unforeseen obstacles.
While the core is good, there is no guarantee that they win a World Series in 2028. The key to bringing fans back to the ballpark will be an entertaining and affordable product.
The other issue that could present itself here is that the bids for these expansion teams are expected to be between $7-10 billion, which doesn't include the price of building an arena for the team to play in. What this means is that the group that purchases either of these teams is going to have plenty of money to spend.
That could also make the team more exciting to the public. That, and being a Vegas-born franchise, which is what sports fans in Sin City have been asking for with a baseball team throughout the relocation process. Instead, they're getting the A's who come with a bit of baggage after their exit from Oakland.
These are all factors that the A's are going to have to plan for in the coming years. While Vegas will soon have all of the major sports, there is only so much discretionary income from the local public to go around for each franchise. With Vegas born teams in the NHL, WNBA and potentially the NBA, those would likely be the places people spend money first.
The NFL is the most popular sport in America, so the Las Vegas Raiders and their shortened schedule will be fine. But the A's, who will play at least 81 home games a season during the summer, and may only be the newest thing in town for under a year, could have some uphill battles to fight to get their slice of the pie.
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Jason has been covering the A’s at various sites for over a decade, and was the original host of the Locked on A’s podcast. He also covers the Stanford Cardinal as they attempt to rebuild numerous programs to prominence.
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