A’s move – The Athletics’ move to a new, fully enclosed 30,000-seat Vegas ballpark by 2028 is meant to reset how the franchise recruits and earns revenue—but owner John Fisher is betting the real splash will come immediately, with results that must match the city’s champ
For nearly 21 years. Athletics owner John Fisher has carried the weight of a franchise that left Oakland behind on the calendar and in the hearts of people who grew up with it. Now. as construction crews build a new home on the Las Vegas Strip. the question is no longer whether the A’s will arrive. It’s whether they’ll win fast enough to justify the gamble.
The planned ballpark site sits amid desert heat and heavy equipment on nine acres, where roughly 600 construction workers and 350,000-pound beams are part of the daily rhythm. The new facility is projected to be completed next summer, ahead of a move-in date set for Feb. 29, 2028.
From the start, the plan is designed to feel unlike anything else in Major League Baseball. The ballpark will be a fully enclosed dome with no retractable roof. built to keep baseballs flying normally in climate-controlled conditions rather than the outsized flight risk that has appeared during outdoor play in Summerlin. Nevada. It will be shaped like an indoor amphitheater. topped by a towering glass curtain wall facing views of the Strip and the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.
It’s also positioned at the southeast corner of Las Vegas Blvd. and Tropicana Blvd.—described as one of the most populated intersections on the Strip—an address built for visibility and foot traffic. Inside. the venue is expected to seat 30. 000. described as the smallest ballpark in MLB. with air conditioning circulating underneath each seat. The team plans 44 luxury suites. including two adjacent to the dugouts so close. Fisher has suggested. that fans could whisper late-game strategy and pitching changes to the manager.
The A’s are coming into a city already trained for winners.
Las Vegas has hosted championship pedigrees in multiple sports: the Golden Knights. the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces. and the Raiders. who moved to Las Vegas in 2020. But for the A’s, the stakes feel sharper because the franchise’s recent results have been difficult to defend. The Athletics were once a powerhouse. winning four World Series titles and six American League pennants between 1972 and 1990. including three consecutive championships. Since then. they have not won the World Series since 1989. have not won a postseason series outside the COVID-shortened season since 2006. and have not had a winning season since 2021.
On the field, the slide showed up in the numbers. They lost 102 games in 2022, went 50-112 in 2023, then improved by 19 games in their final season in Oakland in 2024. Last season, they improved again by seven games to finish 76-86. This year, they are 34-35 and are two games out of first place in the AL West.
Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy, after losing two of three games to the A’s this past week, put it simply: “They’re coming. There’s some really special dudes over there.”
That’s the part of the story fans can feel right away—talent and momentum. The harder part is whether the move to Vegas changes the outcome fast enough.
In a 30-minute interview at the A’s Triple-A Las Vegas ballpark office, Fisher said he wants results as soon as the franchise lands. “Let’s just say, we won’t have trouble recruiting,” Marc Badain, the A’s president, told the outlet.
Fisher’s own focus was more immediate and more punishing. “I don’t want to wait, I want to win the World Series this year,” Fisher said. “And I want to win it next year. I’m not smart enough to think about how to plan for being great in 2028 or 2030. Life is short and unpredictable.”
He pointed to the Golden Knights as proof that a fast rise can happen: making it to the Stanley Cup Finals in their inaugural season, then again in their sixth year, and returning once more in their eighth year.
But the A’s timeline is still fixed to 2028, and the franchise’s financial posture today is built for a rebuilding narrative, not an instant contender.
Fisher has said the A’s expect to receive about $500 million in revenue their first year in Las Vegas—projected as the sixth-highest in baseball, ranking behind only the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, New York Mets, and Boston Red Sox, according to Forbes.
That revenue projection, however, is not the current reality. The A’s opened this season with an $89.8 million payroll—the sixth-lowest in MLB—and $71 million less than any other team in the AL West.
Badain and Fisher both framed the new ballpark and Vegas location as the platform for big-game recruitment, naming what they’d need to do to shift expectations at the adult gaming table: spend more, land marquee players, and keep young ones.
Fisher talked about using the move as a recruiting engine. saying the updated facility should generate revenues more consistent with larger-market teams and improve the franchise’s ability to retain players and attract new ones. “The free-agent market itself is a dicey. dicey place. ” he said. “but I think the added resources will for sure make a big difference in our ability to retain our players and attract new players to this great market.”.
Fisher also acknowledged that the A’s tried before to keep or acquire stars—attempts to sign Matt Olson and Matt Chapman, which he said they couldn’t make happen. He said the franchise now believes it has “the nucleus of incredibly dynamic young players,” and wants to keep them as long as it can.
The team has already locked up several young core pieces to long-term deals totaling $312.5 million, including Tyler Soderstrom, Brent Rooker, Lawrence Butler, Jack Wilson, and Jeffrey Springs.
Badain’s confidence is matched by a sales success story already unfolding with the new Vegas project. Nearly all of the A’s planned 44 suites have been sold out, and casinos are purchasing thousands of season tickets in the club level.
Still, Fisher made clear that even the flashiest building will not do the work alone. “We’re not going to take any of that for granted,” he said. “You know, you have to earn your attendance by giving people a great product. If you don’t have a great team, it doesn’t matter how nice your building is.”.
Along with on-field performance, the franchise is planning to monetize the ballpark as an entertainment venue. The lower deck is expected to have only 20 rows of seats. while the upper deck will include just eight rows. a design choice meant to make the 30. 000-seat arena feel intimate. The A’s also plan concerts and shows at the ballpark.
The wider plan includes a Vegas entertainment district built around Bally’s, and the development is expected to connect to the ballpark economics. Bally’s plans to build a 2,500-room hotel with two towers, and the A’s are set to have a partial share of the mixed retail zone with the resort.
Even logistics are part of the pitch. The A’s have said there will be only 2,500 parking spaces available once Bally’s builds its garage, while they say nearby casinos will provide 18,000 parking spots.
Fisher and Badain also framed the move as capturing the broader tourism rhythm of the Strip—not expecting fans to arrive in station wagons purely for baseball. but to convert the city’s constant flow of visitors into A’s supporters. Fisher pointed to the Raiders, the Golden Knights, and the Aces as indicators that sports thrive in Las Vegas. He also said he was surprised by how many politicians he met in Carson City were strong baseball fans. even if they weren’t A’s fans.
The A’s say they’re borrowing lessons from Vegas itself, not from other baseball stadiums. Fisher referenced the Sphere. a $2.3 billion music and entertainment arena. calling it a “gold mine” and arguing that its uniqueness turned it into the city’s biggest attraction for a reason. He described the A’s own stadium design philosophy as new rather than a throwback—creating an environment that feels more like a theater than a traditional stadium.
The stadium concept is only half the conversion. The franchise has also been trying to keep players tied to the move through a message of stability and a lived experience rather than a series of trade rumors.
Fisher said he is encouraging staff members to move to Las Vegas when the ballpark is ready and has pushed the idea with players as well—offering tours of the future home and invitations to stay in town instead of being shipped away when contracts grow expensive. During the past week. players reportedly went house-hunting in Las Vegas. with multiple insisting they plan to have homes before they report to spring training. and manager Mark Kotsay already buying a place.
Fisher said the players have heard from hockey players, football players, and basketball players about Las Vegas quality of life—not just affordability, but a family-oriented environment with plenty to do.
The move still carries emotional consequences in other parts of the league, and the departure from Oakland remains raw.
Milwaukee Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold. who grew up in Bakersfield and is described as a diehard Athletics fan. offered one of the clearest reminders that this is not just a stadium story. Arnold was so connected to Oakland baseball that. at one point. someone in his family had been at every home playoff game they played. He and his family sat in the bleachers at the 1988 World Series between the A’s and the Dodgers. where he said his initials and his father’s initials and his grandfather’s initials were carved into the wood bleachers before Mount Davis was built.
Arnold lamented the move while sitting in the Brewers’ visiting dugout during the past week. “Man. it’s tough. ” he said. describing how he sat in the left-field bleachers watching Rickey Henderson. Carney Lansford. and Dave Stewart growing up. He said he took his family to Oakland when the Brewers played there one final time. climbing Mount Davis in center field with his now 14-year-old son. Tyler. to take pictures.
When Arnold walked out after that final game, he said, it “kind of hit me.” “It’s tough. That place meant a lot to me. That’s how I got introduced to the game. I still have so many great memories at that ballpark. I’d play catch in the parking lot with my dad before and after games. I’d sit in the bleachers with my uncle. I just loved it there. I was so emotionally connected. It’s hard to believe they’re gone. It still doesn’t feel real. I know they’re excited about their new ballpark. but for me. my heart is always going to be in Oakland.”.
The A’s say they’ve been given Las Vegas without paying an expansion fee above $2 billion. and they also had options—relocating to markets out west such as Portland and Vancouver. possibly even Salt Lake City. Their decision is now anchored by a single. unforgiving reality: in a market conditioned by quick championships. the A’s cannot arrive in 2028 and hope time alone will build legitimacy.
Fisher put it as a test of the franchise’s ability to earn hearts and minds. “The question is if this is a baseball market,” he said. “I will say after spending time in Carson City. meeting the politicians. I was just surprised at how many of the politicians were strong baseball fans. It didn’t matter to me they weren’t A’s fans. I just wanted to know they were baseball fans. It’s up to us to win the hearts and minds of these kids and families and make sure the Vegas fans become Athletics’ fans.”.
For now, fans have a schedule: next summer for construction completion, and Feb. 29, 2028 for move-in. But the franchise’s real timetable is already on display. Each loss. each signing. and each recruiting promise is being measured against what Las Vegas has learned to expect—because the city’s neighbors won’t wait for a baseball rebuild.
Athletics A's move to Las Vegas 2028 dome ballpark John Fisher Marc Badain MLB payroll AL West