Salt Lake NHL and MLB News Thread

[ucsbgaucho]

Estimated cost of A’s ballpark grows by $250M

The cost of the Athletics’ planned Las Vegas ballpark has increased by a quarter-billion dollars, according to Las Vegas Stadium Authority documents.

The stadium’s projected $1.5 billion price tag has risen to $1.75 billion because of inflation and the addition of 70,000 square feet of ballpark features. New elements added during the stadium’s design phase include more clubs and suites, upgraded general admission spaces and player amenities. The A’s Las Vegas ballpark will be the first in Major League Baseball to offer under-seat cooling.

“The increase in the budget is due to combination of adding a variety of features to the ballpark along with general increases in construction costs,” A’s executive Sandy Dean told the Review-Journal. “The design process is iterative, and has been allowing us to add elements to the ballpark intended to make this a premier facility for Major League Baseball.”

https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/ath...lanned-ballpark-rising-to-1-75b-3221243/

Looks like Las Vegas is adding a resort fee to the new stadium.... Financing is still not even finalized. Wonder if this will actually happen, and what the LHM Group is doing behind the scenes right now.

[Comrade]

My worry is that Sacramento swoops in and steals the A's permanently. If that happens, Salt Lake won't be getting a team because the MLB will really push for expansion into the Vegas market since that's their top destination it seems.

Ideally, the MLB does what the NHL did and forces a sale of of the club and the Millers in this scenario are SEG.

[TheWireRedux]

Tomorrow the finances should all be reviewed by the authority board, which would be the largest hurdle remaining before they can break ground. It just feels kind of dumb to be spending what will ultimately be almost $2B (second most expensive MLB stadium ever) on what would be the smallest MLB stadium in the league. In order to build it, they will need a >$1B equity pledge from John Fisher, $300M loan from Goldman Sachs and US Bank and then on top of that secure $380M in public funds. There are several people involved behind the scenes that have serious concerns whether or not Fisher can come up with the funds, but the LV Stadium Authority Board seems to be sounding confident going into tomorrow, so who knows.

[ucsbgaucho]

Originally Posted by TheWireRedux

Tomorrow the finances should all be reviewed by the authority board, which would be the largest hurdle remaining before they can break ground. It just feels kind of dumb to be spending what will ultimately be almost $2B (second most expensive MLB stadium ever) on what would be the smallest MLB stadium in the league. In order to build it, they will need a >$1B equity pledge from John Fisher, $300M loan from Goldman Sachs and US Bank and then on top of that secure $380M in public funds. There are several people involved behind the scenes that have serious concerns whether or not Fisher can come up with the funds, but the LV Stadium Authority Board seems to be sounding confident going into tomorrow, so who knows.

From the article, Fisher is putting up his money in equity, so not sure how that will play out into actual cash to pay for construction; I assume someone needs to buy that equity from him, and $1.3b is a lot of equity to sell.

[TheWireRedux]

The Stadium Authority just said the Athletics have provided enough financial security to build the stadium and have approved them to move forward. Should be a compelling next couple years.

[rockies]

Is UTAH the new frontrunner for an MLB team?

• Video Link

[Comrade]

Vegas securing the A's helps a lot (IMO). I know some felt the A's going back up for sale would help as Salt Lake would be a candidate but as I said a few weeks ago, in that scenario, I believe Sacramento would be the favorites since they will be home to the A's temporarily.

And if Las Vegas loses the A's, the MLB absolutely will focus on an expansion team there before Salt Lake.

So, now it's back to Salt Lake vs Portland and I think Salt Lake has the edge there (I do not believe Sacramento would be a viable candidate for an expansion team tbh).

[Comrade]

Was this ever posted?

[wrendog]

That wall will be interesting. Where did you find this? I thought they were planning on doing both ends? Also, where are the video boards?

[mattreedah]

Originally Posted by wrendog

That wall will be interesting. Where did you find this? I thought they were planning on doing both ends? Also, where are the video boards?

Other end will be a wall of suites

[ucsbgaucho]

There hasn't been any official renderings released yet, so that's probably why no one's posted these

Originally Posted by Comrade

Was this ever posted?

[Comrade]

...well they came from somewhere.

[RC14]

I hadn't seen these but they track with the rumors I have heard. As does the "wall of suites" on the other end.

[wrendog]

Honestly, looks like a rando just made what they thought it would look like based on hearing about "the wall"

[Comrade]

Maybe...they seem pretty detailed tbh

[wrendog]

Originally Posted by Comrade

Maybe...they seem pretty detailed tbh

Hopefully we find out soon!

[Rileybo]

Originally Posted by Comrade

Maybe...they seem pretty detailed tbh

Yeah. These are definitely commissioned renders.

[Comrade]

And I'm assuming the videoboards weren't included so they didn't obstruct the changes?

All I know is that this was shared with me and deleted pretty fast after it was given to me lmao

[ucsbgaucho]

Originally Posted by Comrade

And I'm assuming the videoboards weren't included so they didn't obstruct the changes?

All I know is that this was shared with me and deleted pretty fast after it was given to me lmao

It does fit with the descriptions Ryan Smith has given about using new technology in the retractable seating which can allow for differing angles based on the configuration. As you see in that rendering, the lower half of the lower bowl flattens as it reaches the court, this would mean that for hockey, those seats will still come all the way down rink-side but be steeper than for basketball.

It's a bummer that the rendering shows an aisle right down the middle, it would look so much better if they do it more like the Intuit Dome, which was after all the inspiration for the Wall idea.

[ucsbgaucho]