On Monday morning, with piles of dirt and construction vehicles at the new Athletics ballpark, team owner John Fisher told a large group, "We are Vegas' team."

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, along with state and local officials, former Athletics stars like Rollie Fingers and Dave Stewart, and many others, watched as the team celebrated starting construction on their new stadium. This stadium will cost $1.75 billion, hold 33,000 people, and is expected to be ready for the 2028 season.

Nevada and Clark County have agreed to provide up to $380 million in public money for the project.

Team president Marc Badain said he was confident the project would be completed by 2028, and the local workers were prepared and keen to start.

It's good to see the positive results from today. We can also think about what the next three years will mean for the community, including the building project, new jobs, and other benefits as this building starts to be built, possibly beginning tonight.

Badain had a similar job with the NFL's Raiders. He was important in their move from Oakland to Las Vegas in 2020. He also helped get approval for and build the $2 billion Allegiant Stadium.

Until Allegiant Stadium was ready, the Raiders stayed in Oakland for three seasons, sharing their stadium with the A's. Despite knowing they would leave, the Raiders kept a good relationship with many Bay Area fans. However, A's fans were very angry about the team's upcoming move and how it was handled.

This situation made it impossible for the team to stay in Oakland, and they played their last season in the old stadium last year. While they wait to move to Las Vegas, the A's are playing for at least three years in a smaller stadium in West Sacramento, California, which is about an hour away.

Fisher said they are a local team and want to get the youngest fans interested. He believes that if they can get the children, their parents will follow. He added that this takes less time than people might think. However, he stressed that building a winning team is what truly takes a lot of time.

We want to keep improving what we have, and building a team is like building anything else. It can take more time than you expect, similar to building a stadium. We believe we have the right parts to be very successful.

Bally's owns a large piece of land, 35 acres, at Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard. The new stadium will be built on nine acres of this land. The Tropicana hotel was knocked down overnight in October to make space for the stadium.

The A's baseball team is trying to do well in their temporary home in Sacramento, while also getting ready for their future in Las Vegas. Each player has a patch of Sacramento's Tower Bridge on one sleeve and a Las Vegas logo on the other. This is part of a three-year deal with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

In December, the Las Vegas Stadium Authority approved the lease, an agreement that the team would not move again, and plans for development. These were the final important steps for the A's to become Las Vegas' team.

The stadium's design, with its five layers, looks very similar to Australia's famous Sydney Opera House. A large glass window behind the outfield gives an outdoor feeling, with views of the Las Vegas Strip. Instead of one central cooling system, air conditioning will be sent through the seats.

This will be the smallest stadium in MLB. However, Tropicana Field, where the Tampa Bay Rays usually play, can hold 25,000 people when the top sections are closed. Normally, it has almost 40,000 seats.

The Rays, like the A's, are playing this season in a smaller stadium because Hurricane Milton damaged their main stadium. The team's future home is not yet decided, and new owners might take over the club soon.

Cleveland plays at Progressive Field, which can now hold 34,830 people. This is fewer than its original capacity of 43,345 when it opened in 1994.

The Oakland A's will be the fourth big professional sports team in Las Vegas, joining the Raiders, the NHL's Golden Knights, and the WNBA's Aces.

Manfred said that the local population, the success of other sports, and the amount of tourism make this a great market for them. He also said he was sure the team would do very well in Las Vegas.