Steve Hill, the president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, expressed hope that three important documents needed to start building a new stadium for the Athletics would be approved on December 5.
“We’re rounding third and heading for home,” Hill said after the Las Vegas Stadium Authority board meeting on Thursday.
Hill and the LVCVA are so confident that these approvals will come in December that they have canceled three other meetings. The board will next meet on October 17, and another meeting is scheduled for December 12 as a backup.
The three documents that need approval for the $1.5 billion, 33,000-seat domed stadium on the Las Vegas Strip are the lease, non-relocation, and development agreements. The lease agreement was presented on Thursday but did not go to a vote.
This lease agreement includes an initial 30-year term, with the possibility of extending it up to 99 years. For comparison, the lease agreement for the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders is for 30 years with no extension options.
Allegiant Stadium, home to the Raiders, opened in 2020. The A’s hope to have their new ballpark ready by the 2028 season.
Hill commented, “I think mostly it wasn’t contemplated in 2016 when we passed the law. You don’t necessarily need that information in the law. It gives us optionality.
We talked about it during the process that we’re going to get to 15 or 20 years and the parties involved will probably reopen the lease and renegotiate it.”
This is the A’s last season in Oakland. They have agreed to play the next three seasons, with an option for a fourth, in a Triple-A stadium in West Sacramento, California. They will share this facility with the River Cats, the San Francisco Giants’ Triple-A team.
The A’s have indicated they plan to use $350 million in public funds, rather than the $380 million set aside by the Nevada Legislature.
