A's "Have Funding" for Las Vegas Ballpark

Jason Burke | Oct 9, 2024

Sep 1, 2024; Las Vegas Nevada, USA; The Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

People in Las Vegas want everyone to believe that everything is going great with the A's relocation plans to land in Sin City. By people we mean Steve Hill since the residents don't seem to care one way or another. It was Hill that released the same tired quotes to the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Tuesday, ahead of the Tropicana's implosion.

"It is clear the Fishers have the ability to provide the financing for the stadium, period," Hill said. "They just have it, and it is there. They have expressed their intention to do so, and we're going to have a big party in the early morning (Tropicana implosion) hours to launch that effort."

Nobody has ever doubted that John Fisher and his family are wealthy. The tricky part for him has always been actually committing to a plan, which is still very much in question, despite Mr. Hill's look at Fisher's bank statement.

Also, if Fisher has the money to make it happen and there are no worries about any of that, why has it taken so long to actually get the funding in place? These questions about how the ballpark will be financed aren't new. They've been around for awhile, and there has still been no actual proof aside from these comments from Hill that are released periodically.

Why was there any need for any public funding at all? Steve Hill is asking the wrong questions here. Does Fisher have money? Of course he does. Is he going to spend any of it? He sure hasn't yet.

The reason that Fisher is looking for local investors isn't to build a relationship with the community, it's to have someone else pay for the ballpark, which will increase the franchise's value, without having to put much, if any, of his own money into the project. That's the part that should be worrisome. Maybe Mr. Hill is a smart guy and he sees the writing on the wall and he is trying to make sure that everyone knows that the Fishers have the funds to pay for the ballpark, so if it doesn't happen, it will be their fault, not his.

In the LVRJ piece, they also mention how Hill has seen the "chatter online" doubting Fisher's financing and if the project will actually happen. (Hi, Steve!) "It doesn't have anything to do with looking at other investors," Hill said. "I've said this before, people like the skepticism. But four years from now, that skepticism is going to be wrong.

"The Fishers are looking at alternatives for funding the stadium, including the potential for having local investors....They don't have to do that. It's not something that they need to happen."

There was a rumor floating around last week that John Fisher may have been meeting with Joe Lacob, owner of the Golden State Warriors, who has had a standing offer to buy the A's for years now. Obviously it's impossible to confirm the rumor, but if it's true, it would sure fly in the face of everything that Hill has been preaching all this time.

It's not about if the Fishers have the money. They obviously do. The question is whether there is a way for them to make the money they're after without either putting in the effort, or spending their own money in the process. If the answer to both of those questions is no, then the decision will be whether or not to actually invest in the Las Vegas ballpark.

We should have more details on the financing side of this plan in the coming months. The next meeting between the A's and the LVSA is on October 17.