A’s reveal first Las Vegas ballpark investor, concessionaire

The Athletics announced Aramark Sports + Entertainment as their first Las Vegas ballpark investor, while also naming the company concessionaire for the team’s Strip stadium and a minority owner of the club.

The terms of the deal were not announced, but Sports Business Journal previously reported that it included a $100 million equity investment in the team and a $75 million capital expenditure contribution. The A’s declined to confirm the financial terms.

As part of the food and beverage deal, restaurateur and New York Times best-selling author Will Guidara will be brought on board as a strategic partner to help elevate the culinary and hospitality offerings at the ballpark.

“This partnership reflects our belief that great hospitality should be at the heart of the fan experience,” A’s President Marc Badain said in a statement. “With Aramark’s culinary expertise and Will’s visionary approach, we’re not just building a ballpark, we’re creating a destination that captures the creativity and energy of the Las Vegas community.”

Philadelphia-based Aramark, which served as the concessionaire for the A’s former home, the Oakland Coliseum, will oversee hospitality offerings at the Las Vegas stadium, from general concessions to premium dining.

Aramark has operated professional sports venues for decades, including the home fields of the Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, Colorado Rockies and the San Francisco Giants. Aramark will look to go beyond daily operations in Las Vegas and create a guest-focused experience throughout the ballpark.

“Our work together with the A’s will be evolutionary in sporting event experiences,” Alison Birdwell, president and CEO of Aramark Sports + Entertainment said in a statement. “What we do in Las Vegas will be the gold standard for the industry moving forward.”

Defining hospitality

Guidara, best known for his best-selling book “Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect” and as the former co-owner of Eleven Madison Park in New York, will help shape the ballpark’s take on service and culinary innovation by assisting in the creation of a hospitality brand, advising on food and beverage programming, supporting strategic partnerships and elevating guest experiences.

One of the definitions of hospitality is being creative and intentional in pursuit of people, Guidara said. That definition is the approach that he and his team will take as they configure the hospitality experience at the A’s ballpark.

“Which is to say that so many of these new stadiums and the way they are brought to life is done with this relentlessness around the product,” Guidara told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Thursday. “Whether it’s the design of the stadium, or the materials that which it’s built. The design of the spaces, the suites and the caliber of the food and all of that. We’re just looking to bring all of that same sensibility into how we engage with people. How we make them feel, how we make honest going to see a game as fun as humanly possible.”

Looking to exceed fan expectations, Guidara said the goal is to make each fan feel special and want to return, regardless of whether they attend a baseball game, concert or community event at the stadium.

“The whole idea is to rewrite some of the rules and in doing so definitively exceeding those expectations,” Guidara said. “I think people are going to expect to walk into a beautiful stadium and eat good food and watch a great game and all of that. What we’re trying to do is to come up with thoughtful and creative ways to give them little moments they haven’t experienced before.”

Stadium funding

The A’s have been working toward securing investors to raise up to $550 million for the ballpark. A’s owner John Fisher said in June that the cost is now unofficially around the $2 billion mark.

The Aramark deal is the first partnership to be officially announced by the team. The team is in talks with other interested groups that could invest in the stadium for a minority stake in the A’s. Those talks reportedly include a Korean group and a member of the Korean pop group BTS, and a former MLB pitcher, potentially investing $70 million in the project.

Fisher has stated multiple times that he and his family have the finances in place to fund the stadium. But they are interested in taking on investors who could add value to the team as they embark on a new era in Southern Nevada. Las Vegas Stadium Authority Chairman Steve Hill also reviewed the family’s finances and confirmed they were in position to fund the stadium’s construction ahead of approving the development agreement with the A’s late last year.

The A’s are scheduled to update the stadium process at next month’s Las Vegas Stadium Authority meeting.

Work continues

Work is underway on the stadium site, which will encompass 9 acres of the 35-acre site of the former Tropicana Las Vegas on the south Strip. Bally’s Corp. plans to build a new integrated resort on the remaining acreage to complement the ballpark.

Crews with the Mortenson-McCarthy joint venture construction management team have been carrying out grading and initial foundation work, with multiple cranes now on site, including a tower crane, which will be used as vertical construction begins.

Permit applications have been filed with Clark County in recent weeks for concrete work, main course work and primary steel work above the main concourse of the ballpark. The work is valued at over $115 million, according to the permit applications.

The A’s expect to begin play in the ballpark to start the 2028 MLB season.

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.