With the opening of the A’s Baseball Experience in Las Vegas, team owner John Fisher was on hand to speak with the local media, and also did an interview with Chris Townsend of A’s Cast on yesterday’s show.

Decked out in his vintage A’s jacket with gold sleeves and a green chest, Fisher was asked what it’s like to be at the new Baseball Experience that they’ve opened, given that they just broke ground on the ballpark in Las Vegas a few months ago.

“You know, it’s pretty amazing. I just came from the [construction] site itself out on The Strip. You know, we’re six months into construction, and you can see, you can see the infield. You can see, you can see where the…you know right now we’ve poured the, what’s gonna be the suite level, and they’re continuing to pour it all along. So the outlines of the stadium are starting to come out of the ground.

“It’s exciting just to see that. And then to be able to come to this and see, ‘oh this is a little bit of what the finished product is going to look like’ when it opens just a little more than two years from now. Incredibly quickly.

“We call this an experience center. Because we want people to see, in each one of these little areas, whether it’s The Cube, or it’s the elephant in the front, or it’s the bat room, or the bobblehead room, a little bit of the fun an excitement that we’re going to be bringing to the ballpark.”

After talking about the technology within the Ballpark Experience that allows fans to pick a seat location and see the view from their potential seats, Fisher was then asked how it feels to see the ballpark going vertical on the construction site.

“It feels like, wow this is real. The A’s have needed a new ballpark for a long time. That’s no secret. It’s very difficult to do these projects. But to be there, to see it as you say, coming out of the ground, knowing that in two short years we’re gonna be, we’re gonna have a completed building.

“And to walk around the site, which I hope you’ll do soon, we have 300 people, mostly locals, who are working on that, working on the site. We’re gonna get up to 1,800 workers. And each one of them has such pride in being part of this.

“It’s really…you know like I go up and I shake somebody’s hand when they tell me they’re an iron worker, or they do concrete work or they’re part of the crane operator, or they’re doing the rebar, or you know, it’s…that part gives me incredible excitement. It’s not just seeing the building and what it’s going to be. Like everything in life, it’s about the process, not just the finished product.”

While he likely was talking about the process of building this ballpark in Vegas specifically, and the time from now until the park is supposed to open in 2028, this entire process began the moment he bought the team two decades ago.

Finally, Fisher was asked about how excited he is for the team on the field in 2026.

“Yeah, well, I mean, uh, I think about all of the players on our team, and I think about the second half of last season in particular. It took a little while for us to get our sea legs. I think we really hit our stride in the second half of the season, and, you know, you saw it better than anyone.

“Like, to see our young players, do the kind of spectacular things they were doing—not just, ‘oh these are good ballplayers for young guys’. But these ballplayers are doing things that are the best in the league! We have the number one, in Nick Kurtz, and Jacob Wilson, number one and number two Rookie of the Year candidates, or winners.

“We had the catch of the year by Denzel Clarke. We were able to sign Lawrence Butler and Brent Rooker to long-term contracts. I mean, to see what Shea Langeliers did last year. I mean, I don’t want to single any players out, because we have so many amazing players on our team that are growing into their own, and that are just hitting the ground running.

“I’m just really, really excited. You know, Sacramento is a great community. It’s a great place to watch a game. I don’t think people quite understand that being able to watch a game in a minor league ballpark is something you don’t get to see very often.”

Recommended Articles: