The A’s plan to hold a public unveiling “relatively soon” to show off renderings of their planned $1.5B, 33,000-seat ballpark located on the Las Vegas Strip, according to Stutz & Mueller of the NEVADA INDEPENDENT. A’s President Dave Kaval indicated that the team has been “showing updated renderings of the planned ballpark as the team has met with Clark County officials and community leaders.” MGM Resorts Int’l CEO Bill Hornbuckle. who met with A’s owner John Fisher recently, called the renderings “spectacular.” Fisher said that he has met with “most, if not all, of the casino leaders up and down the Strip.” He added a “critical part” for the A’s relocation is to “develop a close relationship with all the resort operators.” Fisher: “That’s going to be important to our success” (NEVADA INDEPENDENT, 11/16). In Las Vegas, Mick Akers noted those meetings have Fisher “excited about being part of the latest reinvention” of the city -- becoming a “legitimate professional sports team market.” Fisher: “This has gone in no time, in the last five-plus years, from a city that had no professional sports teams outside of minor league, to a market that’s going to have three professional sports teams and maybe five in the next 10 years. I think it’s going to be known as the sports capital of the world” (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 11/16).
BUILDING THE ROSTER: Akers in a front-page piece notes the Golden Knights were the first pro sports team to move into Las Vegas, followed by the WNBA’s Aces and the Raiders. The “success of those teams made the market especially attractive” to Fisher. During his first trip to the city in 2021, which coincided with MLB saying the franchise could explore relocation, he said that he “knew the market could work.” Fisher said it “became very clear” that not only was Las Vegas’ “passionate about sports, they’re passionate about baseball.” Fisher: “That’s ultimately what’s going to make us successful, is having an incredibly passionate local fan base” (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 11/17). In Las Vegas, Ed Graney wrote the “Sports Capital of the World just got even bigger,” as Vegas will be one of just 20 American cities with “at least three of the big four major sports teams.” Las Vegas has “joined an elite group of cities” and it is the “smallest among them as the country’s 40th market, which tells you how much people want to be here” (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 11/16).
