A’s owner pledges $1B toward Las Vegas ballpark construction funding

The Athletics laid out Thursday how they plan to finance their $1.5 billion Las Vegas Strip ballpark, with team owner John Fisher’s family set to contribute up to $1 billion.

A’s executive Sandy Dean updated the Las Vegas Stadium Authority that they will present four letters to the board at the scheduled Dec. 5 meeting that will show that they have the needed financing in place to construct the 33,000-fan-capacity stadium, on 9 acres of the 35-acre Tropicana site.

The breakdown of the four letters to be submitted in December are as follows:

— A letter from A’s owner John Fisher’s family noting they are prepared to commit an equity contribution of up to $1 billion toward the project.

— A $300 million construction loan commitment letter from U.S. Bank and Goldman Sachs. U.S. Bank has been the lender for the A’s for four years and Goldman Sachs has advised the A’s on stadium issues since 2017.

— A separate letter from U.S. Bank will cite that as part of its due diligence for the loan commitment, it has reviewed some of the financial holdings of the Fisher family and the review included SEC filings, independent third-party appraisals and financial statements. U.S. Bank concluded the Fishers have more than sufficient assets for the equity required to fund the stadium’s construction.

— The fourth letter will be signed by the Athletics stating they are in receipt of a loan and equity commitment for the ballpark financing.

“We appreciated the chance to update the authority on the progress on the financing and look forward to additional discussions about that in December,” Dean said.

All commitments are subject to customary conditions, as is the case with most large-scale projects.

Customary conditions include:

— Completion of all the definitive documentation that goes with the stadium transaction including with Clark County, the stadium authority, Bally’s Corp. and Gaming & Leisure Properties Inc., and any other related documents;

— There is no litigation;

— The land deed is transferred;

— Entitlement insurance is obtained;

— Opinions of counsel;

— A guaranteed maximum price contract is issued by stadium contractor Mortenson-McCarthy.

At Thursday’s meeting an updated draft lease agreement and a draft dedication deed for the 9 acres were also presented.

The deed laid out what would happen at the end of its usefulness, which could occur as soon as after the first 30 years of ballpark’s initial lease. When the stadium no longer hosts A’s and isn’t selling at least 150,000 tickets per year to other events, the team would transfer the 9 acres of land back to Bally’s and GLPI. The A’s also would be responsible for demolishing the stadium.

If the A’s continue to play at the site past the initial lease term, they could also choose to renovate the ballpark as needed, and would be available to sign a series of lease extensions totaling 99 years.

The lease update included new language highlighting that if that land transfer back to Bally’s and GLPI were to happen, that the A’s would pay the stadium authority an appraised fair market value for the land before being handed back to Bally’s and GLPI, as the A’s will transfer ownership of the land to the authority ahead of ballpark construction beginning.

At the December meeting the A’s also will provide an update on the project’s cost, which Las Vegas Stadium Authority Chairman Steve Hill previously noted could increase.

When presented in December, the financial details will have taken about 17 months after the signing of Senate Bill 1 and six months ahead of the A’s planned start of construction to be revealed.

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