LAS VEGAS — The Athletics are on track to open their approximately $2 billion Las Vegas stadium on time, officials said Dec. 4 during a Las Vegas Stadium Authority meeting.

The A’s, who are scheduled to move to Las Vegas before the 2028 Major League Baseball season, met their year-end goals of beginning the concrete phase, having cranes in place and putting in the first buttress and concrete column.

A’s President Marc Badain also was instrumental in getting Allegiant Stadium built in time for the start of the NFL season in 2020, when he was the Raiders’ president. Mortenson-McCarthy, a joint venture, built Allegiant and is the contractor for the Athletics’ new venue.

“I feel great about (the progress),” Badain said. “Obviously, we know the workforce. We know the construction firm, and the (supervisor) is the same super that delivered on Allegiant. When he tells me things are good, I don’t worry.”

A ceremonial ground-breaking event for the 33,000-person capacity, domed stadium located on the Las Vegas Strip occurred June 23. The A’s Ballpark Experience Center opened last week in Las Vegas to give fans a chance to view the stadium in detail and take part in other immersive experiences.

The price tag has gone up considerably twice, from $1.5 billion to $1.75 billion and now to the current estimate. A’s vice chairman Sandy Dean indicated he didn’t expect the cost to increase much more.

“I think we’re through a lot of the processes and design that were contributing to escalation,” Dean said. “Our strong goal is to keep it to that.”

Nevada and Clark County have approved up to $380 million in public funds for the ballpark, and the A’s have said they will cover the remaining expenses. Owner John Fisher has been seeking investors, but Dean said he didn’t have an update on that effort.

“I think the most important thing is that starting in December of 2024, we were able to describe the financing for the stadium as being complete,” Dean said. “We have the ability to bring in some investors. We thought, in particular, if we have Las Vegas investors, that will be a positive.”

Steve Hill, CEO and president of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said A’s officials have not yet asked for their share of public assistance.

“It will probably be sometime next year,” Hill said.

Last week’s Las Vegas Stadium Authority meeting occurred one day short of the one-year anniversary of when it approved lease, non-relocation and development documents — the last major hurdles before construction. The lease and non-relocation agreements each cover 30 years.

Catherine Aker, vice president of communications and community, told the group the A’s already are heavily involved in Las Vegas, and in the past three years the club has supported every youth baseball and softball team in the area. Las Vegas’ Little League representative won the United States championship before losing to Taiwan in the international title game.

This year, the A’s played the first of at least three seasons at a minor league ballpark in West Sacramento, California. They played their previous 57 seasons in Oakland, California.

A’s management has been constructing a roster to be competitive when the club arrives in Las Vegas. Several young players, including Nick Kurtz and Jacob Wilson, who finished 1-2 in the AL Rookie of the Year voting, are under contract through at least 2028. Kurtz was the unanimous choice.

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MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, state and local government dignitaries, former Athletics greats such as Rollie Fingers and Dave Stewart, Little Leaguers and many others looked on as the team celebrated the start of construction of a $1.75 billion, 33,000-person-capacity ballpark that is expected to be ready in time for the 2028 season.

Nevada and Clark County have approved up to $380 million in public funds for the project.

Mortenson is the design-build contractor for the Athletics’ new stadium in Las Vegas, according to Kelliann Amico of Amico. Mortenson is also the main contractor for the Hillsboro Hops’ new ballpark under construction in Oregon, and has served as contractor for many notable major league, minor league and spring training facilities across the country, Amico stated.

“I have no doubt this is done in 2028,” the team’s president, Marc Badain, said. “You know the workforce here; they’re all here and ready to get going.

“It’s nice to see the validation a day like today brings and what the next three years will mean for the community and for the construction project and the jobs and everything else that you’re going to see as this building comes out of the ground starting as early as tonight.”

Badain went through a similar process when serving in the same capacity for the NFL’s Raiders. He was a central figure in that team’s move from Oakland to Las Vegas in 2020 as well as the approval and construction of $2 billion Allegiant Stadium.

While waiting for that stadium to be finished, the Raiders remained in Oakland for three seasons in the stadium they shared with the A’s. But while the Raiders maintained a largely strong connection to the Bay Area even while playing as a lame-duck franchise, the A’s saw their fans become incensed about their team’s impending departure and the process involved.

That made staying in Oakland untenable for the franchise, which played its final season in the dilapidated stadium last year. The A’s are playing the first season of at least three about an hour away at a Triple-A ballpark in West Sacramento, California, while they await their move to Las Vegas.

“We are a local team,” Fisher said. “And we want to start from the youngest of fans, because if you can get the kids, you can get their parents. It takes less time than you think; what really takes time is … to have a winner.

“Our goal is to continue to build upon what we have, and building a team is like building anything else. Sometimes it takes more time than you want it to. It’s like building the stadium. And we think that we have the pieces to make ourselves really successful.”

The stadium will be built on nine acres of the 35-acre site owned by Bally’s on the corner of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard. The Tropicana’s resort towers were destroyed in an overnight demolition in October to clear the way for the ballpark.

The A’s are trying to strike a balance of making the most of their temporary home while also preparing for their future. Each player wears a patch of Sacramento’s Tower Bridge on one sleeve and a Las Vegas logo on the other as part of a three-year sponsorship with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

The Las Vegas Stadium Authority in December approved lease, non-relocation and development documents – the last major steps for the A’s to eventually become Las Vegas’ team.

Artist renderings show a stadium with five overlapping layers, bearing a striking resemblance to Australia’s famed Sydney Opera House. A glass window beyond the outfield provides an outdoor feel with views of the Las Vegas Strip. Rather than a centralized cooling system, air conditioning will be distributed through the seats.

This will be MLB’s smallest stadium, though Tropicana Field where the Tampa Bay Rays usually call home has a capacity of 25,000 when the upper levels are closed off. It otherwise holds slightly fewer than 40,000 seats.

The Rays, like the A’s, are playing this season at a Triple-A ballpark after Hurricane Milton damaged their domed stadium. Tampa Bay’s long-term home is unknown, and the club could soon be in the hands of new owners.

Cleveland plays at Progressive Field, which now seats 34,830. Its capacity was downsized from 43,345 when the park opened in 1994.

The A’s are set to become the fourth major professional team in Las Vegas, joining the Raiders, NHL’s Golden Knights and WNBA’s Aces.

“I think that the demographics, the success that other sports have had, and the amount of tourism here — those three legs of the stool make this an ideal market for us,” Manfred said. “I have no doubt that this team is going to be really successful in Vegas.”

Editor’s note: AP sportswriter Mark Anderson contributed to this report.

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