A's "Rounding Third Base and Headed for Home" in Las Vegas?

Jason Burke | Aug 16, 2024

Nov 26, 2023; Paradise, Nevada, USA; A Las Vegas Blvd. and the strip sign. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

When taking in Oakland A's ballpark updates from Las Vegas, there are two ways to go about processing information: What you're told, and what you see. Right now there is a lot of talking about the project going on, but not a lot of proof of concept happening in the desert.

The Las Vegas Stadium Authority had their (somewhat) monthly meeting yesterday, and according to reports, not much happened. Yet, the way that the Stadium Authority Chairman Steve Hill puts it, "We're rounding third and headed for home. There are not many open issues left," according to the Nevada Independent.

Say you're picking out a car. You pick out the make, model, location of the dealership, all the extra amenities you'd like to enjoy, the works. You've done your homework, now you just have to pay for the dang thing. That's arguably the most important part of purchasing a car, is the paying for it. It's also the biggest missing piece in how the A's will or will not end up in Las Vegas.

It's the same old song and dance from us each time one of these meetings happens, but every time there's a meeting, there is no new information on how the proposed ballpark will be paid for, so it lingers as the most important question that remains.

Also from the Indy, when speaking of that private financing, "Hill was optimistic, saying the October meeting would allow the A’s and the stadium authority to have everything finalized by December."

The LVSA will not be holding their September meeting, which is not a surprise but has been made official, and they have canceled their meetings for December 19 and November 21. Their October meeting will be on the 17th, and they have added a meeting for December 5 to potentially wrap things up. Oh, and they also added a meeting for December 12 just in case things don't wrap up the week before.

Sounds like everything is going great. You can almost hear the bank vaults opening up to just hand A's owner John Fisher wads of money. By the time that backup meeting rolls around, they'll be looking at nearly 18 months to the day since the funding from SB1 was approved. If you're looking for just one reason to think that the funding plan isn't going as smoothly as Fisher had hoped, that would be it.

The funding should have been locked in a long time ago, and for everyone involved to keep saying that everything is going well without showing proof that it is, should have people wondering if this thing ever gets finalized.

Once (if) the funding is solidified, then we'll believe in Fisher's nine-acre domed armadillo. Until then, continue to consider us skeptical.