Billionaire owner
John Fisher wants $380m
for a ballpark1

Burned by the $750 million giveaway to the Raiders2 and a public school system that is the most poorly funded in the country,3 Nevada must say: "NO."

>>> Submit a Public Opinion

Legislation to provide $380 million in public financing for a Major League Baseball stadium was introduced late in the regular session.

Making your voice heard is critically important. Nevadans are strongly encouraged to submit a public opinion opposing the legislation to provide $380 million for an A's ballpark.

Submit a Public Opinion

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>>> Send a Letter

Recipients: Nevada policymakers

Subject: No money for billionaire team owners

Text of the letter:

The news says that the A's want to come to Las Vegas but to build a ballpark, they need $395 million from the state to make it happen.

We've seen this before and we know how it plays out. The state gave the Raiders $750 million. We cannot allow another Californian sports team and its billionaire team owner to fleece Nevadans when a recent study identified our public school system as the most underfunded in the entire country.

Based on reports, under the A's proposal, we wouldn't see tax revenues from the development for decades. This is a non-starter. We cannot keep giving handouts to sports teams.

Team owner John Fisher is a billionaire. He does not need hard-working Nevadans to pay for his stadium development. He should pay for it himself.

Las Vegas has shown success in producing a winning expansion team. Do we really want to import a poorly-funded and poorly-managed baseball team? Or do we want to create a new baseball team in our own image? With ownership rooted in Las Vegas and not Oakland?

I am writing to implore you: do not make the same mistake twice. Do not give billionaire team owner John Fisher any money.

Thank you,

[Your Name]

Thank you for making your voice heard!

Nevada's politicians are being asked for another handout to a professional sports team by billionaire John Fisher.

The only way to make the politicians listen and force billionaire John Fisher to tap his own wealth is to apply as much political pressure as possible.

We must make it clear: no taxpayer money. None.

Want to do more?

Take the next step and call these key Nevada leaders and tell them: "no money for John Fisher."

  • Governor Joe Lombardo (702) 486-2500
  • Majority Leader of State Senate Nicole Cannizzaro (775) 684-1475
  • State Assembly Steve Yeager (775) 684-8549
  • Clark County Commission Chairman Jim Gibson (702) 455-5561

Add your name

>>> Not a "privately-financed" project

Field of Schemes, 05/27/23

"So that’s almost certainly well over the $375 million public cost figure claimed in the joint press release issued by the team and state officials on Wednesday, and will possibly amount to $500 million or more, depending on how property tax assessments and those renovation and infrastructure slush funds play out."

Andrew Leahey, Oakland A’s Move to Vegas Is Costly Gamble for Nevada Taxpayers, 05/16/23

This is a bad tax deal for Las Vegas, a bad deal for Nevada, and sets a bad continuing precedent for using public funds to line the pockets of private sports team owners. Nevada should tell the ownership of the Oakland Athletics—Gap heir John J. Fisher—to pay their own construction costs or stay in Oakland.

Nevada Independent, 04/30/23

The A's want what the Strip pays in one year of gaming tax. The A’s propose the public pay $500 million toward its baseball stadium before interest and related fees. In 2022, Las Vegas Strip casinos won $8.28 billion. The gaming tax on that is about $560 million.

Las Vegas Sports Business, 04/24/23

"The team’s idea of a tax district generating $500 million appears far-fetched. '“'$500 million would require an awfully large tax increment district to work. And even if they did find $500 million, that just means that the area is short the funding needed for other basic public services,' Matheson said."

Fmr. Marlins president David Samson, 04/20/23

"They have to go through the legislature. They have to get public financing. They're trying to tell you that they're building the stadium with private money, horse hockey. They need public money."

Field of Schemes, 04/21/23

"... the A’s would have to produce perpetual sellouts and have half their tourist fans come to Vegas specifically to see baseball for those numbers to make any sense at all..."

>>> Lacks the promised positive economic impact

Los Angeles Times, 05/15/23

"In other words, the A’s are projecting sellouts for just about every game. Good luck with that. [...] If you sell 30,000 tickets to 81 home games plus two preseason games, you get 2.49 million. The ballpark no doubt would host other events, including concerts, although the sheer number of venues already available in Las Vegas would limit those opportunities for the A’s. Still, you can understand the projection."

Dr. William Robinson, UNLV Assistant Professor of Economics, 04/25/22

"Cities put stadiums in neighborhoods that need to be fixed. They can help revitalize parts of towns with an influx of bars, restaurants, lofts etc. If A’s build on the Strip, that isn’t going to have the economic impact seen in other cities."

>>> John Fisher is a terrible team owner

Goal, 04/27/23

"But even as Fisher got the new soccer-specific stadium he wanted built in San Jose, attendance and on-field results have been mediocre. [...] PayPal Park has one of the smallest capacities for an MLS field at 18,000, and yet it rarely sells out matches. The Earthquakes rank second-to-last in attendance this season at 14,163 fans per game. It hasn't helped that San Jose has not finished a regular season with a points total better than 10th in MLS since 2012."

San Francisco Chronicle, 04/24/23

"Fisher paid $180 million for the team in 2016. The valuation for the franchise is now $1.8 billion, and Fisher’s mammoth increase, not to mention the team’s yearly profits, have come from mostly sitting on his hands. His only real interest seems to be leveraging the team to make a massive real-estate-development deal."

Jeremy C. Owens, Tech Editor, 04/24/23

"John Fisher secured a new stadium for the San Jose Earthquakes in 2015 with promises he would field a competitive team. Earthquakes have not finished higher than 12th place since with payroll ranked 23rd out of 28 teams."

Ken Rosenthal, 04/20/23

"Yeah, they draw 5,000. And you know why, because the owner John Fisher has wrecked the club."

Raiders owner Mark Davis, 04/20/23

"I have nothing against the players. I was an A’s fan, way back in the day, Reggie Jackson and all those guys. Reggie’s a good friend. But not this management group, no. [...] I just have, again, a lot of personal animosity toward the front office."

USA Today Sports, 05/20/22

"What is clear is that he’s choking the life out of what was once one of the most entertaining and interesting franchises in baseball."

>>> Las Vegas deserves an expansion team

Bryson Stott, 05/16/23

“I personally don't see it being as good as everyone thinks it's gonna be. Just living there and kind of seeing the Raiders — I mean, the Raiders, it's like 70% away-team fans.”

Las Vegas Review-Journal, 04/29/23

"Expansion remains a far better option for baseball fans in Las Vegas than the pathetic A’s, who have announced plans to purchase 49 acres for a $1.5 billion ballpark west of the Strip. [...] Expansion remains an option, and with it, other billionaires or ownership groups who don’t require public funding — and the opportunity for a franchise to forge its own identity."

Bryce Harper, 03/23/23

"I think [Vegas needs] an expansion [team]. I don’t think a team can come here and thrive, kind of like the [Vegas Golden Knights] did."