A’s owner excited about Las Vegas home, looks to partner with F1, resorts
Athletics owner John Fisher took in the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix Saturday night, and it got him excited for what’s to come for his Major League Baseball team.
Fisher had attended an F1 race in Miami before Las Vegas landed its first race in 2023 with his son, but once they heard that the Las Vegas Grand Prix was going to take place, he was on board immediately.
“Being a fan of F1 and Vegas, just the notion of F1 on the Vegas Strip was just such an exciting thing to think about,” Fisher told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Each one has been really fun to watch.”
F1 partnership potential
The Raiders and Golden Knights have partnered with the Las Vegas Grand Prix in the first three years of its existence, selling collaborative merchandise at each race. Fisher said you can bet the A’s will partner with the race once they begin playing at their 33,000-fan capacity stadium in 2028.
“For sure,” Fisher said. “Seeing what the other teams have done and thinking about our ability to partner with F1 and all the important organizations throughout Las Vegas is something that has us very excited. Baseball we play 81 games. Our players and coaches have already started to spend a lot of time here in Vegas. Mark Kotsay is here for the race, so is Brent Rooker and those guys are really excited to be part of this community. Just seeing their excited makes me super upbeat about what those possibilities look like in the future and our ability to be an important part of the Las Vegas community.”
After seeing the fanfare and the spectacle of F1 on the Strip, watching this year from the Bellagio Fountain Club, the idea of having the A’s play just down Las Vegas Boulevard at the under-construction $2 billion ballpark, has Fisher excited about the team’s Southern Nevada future.
“Vegas always seeks to do something that’s never been done before,” Fisher said. “While we’re not going to put ourselves in that category, I just walked the site today; our sales center is going to be opening Dec. 2 and it’s just going to be incredible to look at it. To be right on the Strip, right on the southeast corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and to think of our players, Nick Kurtz rookie of the year, Jacob Wilson No. 2 in rookie of the year standings and launching their hits and launching their home runs inside our new stadium, with the window looking right on the Strip itself, it’s something that gives me chills.”
On time, on budget
The ballpark project, which saw site work beginning in earnest in April, is on schedule and close to being on budget, Fisher said. After drilling 1,000 concrete rebar pilings 50 to 80 feet underground to support the ballpark, the structure is starting to come into shape, with the lower concourse deck having concrete pour on it has really hit home.
“They poured the concrete slab where the suites are going to be, these buttresses are coming out of the ground, seemingly daily, that are going to be holding up the pennants that is the roof structure that is the stadium itself. Before long you’ll be seeing these steel beams attached to the buttresses, and you’ll be able to actually get a real sense of the form, that affectionately we call the armadillo.”
There are over 300 workers on the ballpark site every day with joint-venture contractor Mortenson-McCarthy making sure the ballpark stays on schedule.
“That number is going to grow to 1,800 people,” Fisher said. “I’m on the site all the time, I have a chance to meet the workers that are all making this possible. The pride that they feel in building something that is bigger than all of us is really palpable, and I really get a kick out of shaking everybody’s hand and thanking them for all the work they are doing.”
Future in view
While touring the site last week Fisher stood on the slab of the lower concourse and took in the view that in 2028 will be what fans will see out the 36,000-square-foot glass curtain wall located in the outfield.
“Look at New York-New York, look at the MGM Grand look in the distance at the Waldorf, Aria and City Center and Caesars and I get chills thinking about what this is going to look like when we’re done,” Fisher said.
The A’s are looking forward to partnering with the various resort groups in town, from Bally’s Corp., which plans to build a mixed-use development featuring a hotel-casino on 26 acres of the 35-acre Tropicana site with the ballpark being the anchor tenant, to Circa downtown, Wynn, Caesars, Fontainebleau, Station Casinos located around the Las Vegas Valley and to their soon-to-be neighbor MGM Grand.
“Bill and MGM have been incredible hosts ever since we came to Las Vegas, and we couldn’t be more excited to be partnering with them and thinking of all the things that we can do together,” Fisher said. “Vegas is a town of entertainment and we want to bring great entertainment here. We want to be a real asset to all the resorts along the Strip and off the Strip.”
Community support
Aside from the lure of the visiting fan attending games and events at the A’s ballpark, the strong local support of sports teams is of interest of Fisher and the organization as well.
Since moving to Las Vegas earlier this year, Fisher has been taken aback by the local support he’s received from the community and the support shown to the city’s local sports teams and by the love shown to the Las Vegas Aces after winning a third WNBA championship in four years.
“I moved here a couple of months ago and my wife and I have just been overwhelmed by how friendly and hospitable everyone is here and whether they know who you are or not,” Fisher said. “The pride in this community and the desire for everyone to make sure you love Las Vegas is just something we feel. … From all the people that we met in the capital in Carson City, down to the taxi, Uber and Lyft drivers and the people that we meet in all the hotels, the excitement about the A’s coming and the excitement about what Vegas is today, which is increasingly the sports capital of the world.”
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.
