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By Mark Anderson

The Associated Press

LAS VEGAS 鈥� The Oakland Athletics are on a tight schedule to get agreements in place and demonstrate that financing is set for construction to begin on time so the team can play in its聽new Las Vegas stadium.

The team hopes to open the approximately $1.5 billion, 33,000-seat ballpark in time for the 2028 season.

This is the Athletics鈥� final season in Oakland. They agreed聽to play the following three seasons, with an option for a fourth, in a Triple-A stadium in West Sacramento, California.

Steve Hill, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said the timelines would be met.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e coming and they鈥檝e said they can finance this stadium,鈥� Hill said. 鈥淭hey are going to play baseball here in 2028. I frankly think it鈥檚 just fun (for critics) to create some drama around it and that鈥檚 happening. That keeps all of our lives a little more interesting, but it doesn鈥檛 change the facts on the ground, which is they鈥檝e said what they鈥檙e going to do and they鈥檙e just doing it.鈥�

Attempts to reach A鈥檚 officials for comment were unsuccessful.

Managing partner Brendan Bussmann of B Global, an international consulting firm based in Las Vegas, said ideally ground would be broken by March 1, 2025, for the A鈥檚 to play in the stadium in 2028.

Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday at the owners meeting that construction should begin by April 2025. Hill said the A鈥檚 themselves provided the timeline, and he noted Allegiant Stadium 鈥� home of the NFL鈥檚 Las Vegas Raiders 鈥� was built in 31 months.

鈥淵ou think you could probably get the ballpark built in a very similar period of time,鈥� Hill said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 obviously a little bit smaller structure.鈥�

He said starting later than April wouldn鈥檛 necessarily mean the opening date would be pushed back, saying construction could be done in double shifts and on weekends.

Two key documents still need to be approved by the Las Vegas Stadium Authority Board, which Hill chairs.

One is the non-relocation agreement, which was introduced last week. That agreement, expected to be for a term of 30 years, could be approved during the authority鈥檚 planned July meeting.

The most critical piece is the development agreement. That will lay out the financing to supplement the聽$380 million in public funding聽approved by the Democratic-controlled Nevada Legislature in a special session in 2023 and signed by Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo.

Hill said he wasn鈥檛 concerned whether A鈥檚 owner John Fisher can provide the roughly $1.1 billion of financing on his end. The A鈥檚 have hired New York-based Galatioto Sports Partners to help find investors.

鈥淚 think John鈥檚 looking at options,鈥� Hill said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 necessarily out of need. I think it鈥檚 to make sure that the funding is the most efficient for the A鈥檚.鈥�

Would Fisher be willing to fund the stadium without investors?

鈥淗e has the ability to do that, yeah,鈥� Hill said.

Bussmann said the A鈥檚 have not laid out enough of a financing plan to assuage the public鈥檚 concerns whether the money will be there.

鈥淭his is where the A鈥檚 need to put forward, 鈥楬ere鈥檚 our plan and this is what we need to stick to,鈥欌�� Bussmann said.

He said if the A鈥檚 aren鈥檛 transparent, criticism of any financing plan will dog the organization throughout the process of stadium construction.

Hill, however, pushed back on the notion the ballclub wasn鈥檛 properly communicating its plans. He said there haven鈥檛 been as many public meetings as when the then-Oakland Raiders went through the process of building Allegiant Stadium, which was completed in 2020, because that was all new for Las Vegas officials.

鈥淲e鈥檝e got a template that鈥檚 in place,鈥� Hill said. 鈥�(It) helps with these documents and helps simply list all the issues that might come up. So, both sides are doing the work and it鈥檚 getting done and we鈥檙e on track and we don鈥檛 see any reason why that won鈥檛 continue.鈥�

The authority and the A鈥檚 scored a big legal victory May 13 when the Nevada Supreme Court聽ruled against a proposed ballot initiative聽that would鈥檝e put public funding for the stadium up for a vote this year. The Schools over Stadiums political action committee said it would launch another attempt in 2026, but that likely would be too late to prevent the stadium from going up.

鈥淚f it鈥檚 on the 2026 ballot, that鈥檚 18 months into construction,鈥� Bussmann said.

Another PAC, Strong Public Schools Nevada, which is backed by the Nevada State Education Association,聽earlier this year filed a lawsuit challenging whether the money allocated by the Legislature violates the state constitution.

Hill did not comment specifically on those two legal challenges, but said he was nevertheless confident that the stadium will open on schedule.

Bussmann didn鈥檛 necessarily disagree.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e on the clock at this point,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey have 10-plus months to get this done. What needs to happen at this point in time is doable.鈥�

The A鈥檚 also are focusing on what needs to be accomplished in Sacramento, and Manfred said the club is building a separate clubhouse and renovating the visiting one. Other upgrades are being made as well, such as club seating and video boards.

鈥淪o, there鈥檚 a lot going on there to get it up to snuff for the interim period,鈥� Manfred said.

Editor鈥檚 note: AP baseball writer Ronald Blum in New York contributed to this report.