LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Las Vegas Stadium Authority Board gave its final approvals for the Athletics to come to the valley in a meeting on Thursday.
Officials met in the new South Hall Board Room to discuss several A's ballpark topics, including how the Fishers will fund the ballpark, the development agreement and the lease agreement.
They also spoke on creating a stadium district and the 2025 operating budget for Allegiant Stadium.
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More funding details after A's owner pledges $1B to ballpark construction
Now that the board has approved the A's journey to Las Vegas, Clark County is next.
The county has to meet for its own agreements with the A's before construction and a move can happen.
If Clark County approves its agreements with the A's, the ballpark will be built in place of the Tropicana Hotel & Casino, which was imploded in October.
The ballpark was originally expected to cost $1.5 billion, but that has now risen to $1.75 billion. This is because the ballpark design now includes an additional 70,000 square feet of features. They will be adding a club space, suites, and general admission experiences.
The lower seating bowl will have more seats closer to the field, operation spaces, player areas, and cooling systems under the seats.
Sandy Dean, the adviser for A's owner John Fisher's family says higher construction costs doesn't mean more of Nevada taxpayer dollars will be used for the ballpark.
“The maximum contribution that could come from the public here in Nevada and Clark County was $380 million and any increases in price, be it because of general inflation or we add more things to make the ballpark great would be the responsibility of the team and we fully understood that from the beginning," said Dean.
Here's the breakdown of how the now $1.75 billion stadium will be paid for.
The Fisher's will pay for up to $1.1 billion and will use a $300 million loan to cover stadium costs.
The A's originally said they planned to only use $350 million of the $380 million of governor approved taxpayer dollars for the stadium.
But, if you add together all the available money including the total taxpayer funds available, that equals $1.78 billion, just slightly over the total construction costs.
During the meeting, A's officials said they would be responsible for the extra costs. They are expected to present additional designs next year.
This is a developing story; stick to Channel 13 for the latest.
