John Fisher is convinced the Athletics’ new ballpark on the Strip will open as scheduled for the 2028 MLB season.
The owner is sure funding will be there to complete the project and cover any cost overruns, of which there are sure to be many. He’s certain this is all going to work out and the skeptics will be proven wrong.
If so, one man will be a main reason for such success: Marc Badain. He is key to all this.
The A’s president, who held the same title for the Raiders, for the second time will be the point person on a structure to house a local major league professional sports franchise.
Badain was also the lead on the raising of Allegiant Stadium.
His work on that project spoke for itself.
Breaking ground
“Marc is a jewel, such an incredible find for us to attract him to come in and run our franchise,” Fisher said. “He’s a great operator and has developed an incredible local connection and credibility within the community. You guys don’t know me, but you know Marc.
“He built one of the great stadiums in the world in Allegiant. Having someone who has done this before, who knows the local community, who knows how to sell, was tremendously important to us.”
They officially broke ground on the stadium Monday with a ceremony that wouldn’t surprise you in scope. I think everyone spoke except the A’s mascot, because Stomper was too busy giving fist bumps and taking selfies.
It was a large show with a backdrop of the 9 acres on the 35-acre Tropicana Las Vegas site that will include the 33,000-seat stadium. Much of the celebration centered on youth baseball and softball players, with the idea of the A’s growing a new generation of fans.
I’m just not sure any of the kids had an answer to possible tariffs on steel.
Badain was seemingly the only VIP who didn’t offer words at the podium, but his importance to the project is unmatched.
And yet there remains critical questions more than dirt merely being moved from here to there:
Like, from where is the remainder of needed funding.
You can be sure the final price tag will come in above a projected $1.75 billion. You can be sure even if Fisher sells the San Jose Earthquakes, a Major League Soccer team he owns recently valued at $600 million, there is still much left to reach what is at this point an unknown final number.
There is $380 million in public funding. There is a $100 million investment from Aramark. There is a $300 million construction loan from Goldman Sachs and U.S. Bank. There is the potential sale of the Earthquakes. Still not enough.
Fisher has said he would contribute up to $1.1 billion and might have to make good on that claim. But he’s still looking for investors. Still hoping to collect from wallets other than his own by offering a piece of the franchise.
A formula
“You want to see a vision of the ballpark and what they want to do in the community, and then you want to see their financing plan and make sure it all makes sense,” said Badain, who resigned from the Raiders in 2021 after 30 years with the organization. “There is a formula to all this, and you want to make sure they’ve done all their work.
“I have no doubt this will be done in 2028. The work force is ready to go. They have the best team in the world in (joint venture contractor Mortenson-McCarthy) building this.
“We’ve had a number of meetings over the last three months about (cost). You always run into unknowns with these projects, but you build contingency plans for that. They have.”
They better. Those critical questions remain unanswered. But with Badain in charge, you figure this has a much better chance than not at making the proposed 2028 deadline.
But financing remains the elephant in the room.
And we’re sure not talking about Stomper.
Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on X.
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