How much would a major league baseball stadium cost in Salt Lake City?

The owner of the Oakland A’s has to dig a little deeper into his pockets to build a new stadium for his team in Las Vegas.

The Las Vegas Stadium Authority recently announced that the price tag for the proposed stadium on the Strip, where the Tropicana Las Vegas was demolished over the summer, rose from $1.5 billion to $1.75 billion. The increase is due to several upgrades, including improved general admission areas, improved player amenities, additional club and suite space, and increasing construction costs, according to Front Office Sports.

“The design process is iterative and has allowed us to add elements to the ballpark that will make it a premier facility for Major League Baseball,” A’s general manager Sandy Dean told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The stadium authority and two financial institutions expressed confidence that A’s owner John Fisher would be able to come up with the $250 million increase.

Goldman Sachs and US Bank are providing a $300 million construction loan, and Fisher, an heir to retailer The Gap, is pledging that he and his family will contribute up to $1.1 billion.

“We conclude that the Fisher family and its affiliates have financial assets (other than their interest in the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise) that are more than sufficient to cover the equity portion of the proposed capital structure for Athletics Stadium in Las Vegas,” US Bank Senior Vice President Stephen Vogel wrote in a letter to the stadium authority.

According to the Review-Journal, public money will also go toward the construction costs of the stadium, which will have a covered roof and cooling under the seats. Nevada lawmakers passed a bill last year that allocated about $350 million for the project. The stadium is scheduled to open in the 2028 season. The A’s will play in Sacramento until the new ballpark opens.

The most recent MLB stadium to open in 2020, Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers, cost $1.2 billion, including a voter-approved $500 million bond.

How much would an MLB stadium in Salt Lake City cost?

A combination of public and private money typically finances new stadiums and arenas, as would be the case if Salt Lake City were to gain a Major League Baseball team.

The Larry H. Miller Company is leading the effort to bring a major league baseball franchise to Utah. It would build a stadium on the west side of Salt Lake City, where the company plans to invest $3.5 billion in a mixed-use development with housing, restaurants and shops, as well as a new Rocky Mountain Power headquarters.

Details of the design and cost of a baseball stadium have not been disclosed, but it could be around $1.8 billion.

The Utah Legislature passed a bill earlier this year to create a special district that would allow the rental car tax to be increased by 1.5% to fund construction of the ballpark if the MLB awards Utah a franchise The deadline for this is 2032. The law allows a bond for half the cost of a stadium up to $900 million. The state would own the venue and lease it back to a team for $150,000 a month for 30 years. If a team leaves the city before that point, it would have to pay back the funds generated by taxpayers.

Major League Baseball has no immediate expansion plans.

Commissioner Rob Manfred said at his annual summer meeting with the Associated Press group of sports editors that he expects to have a two-team expansion process in place by January 2029, when his term as commissioner ends. A new team would not start playing until 2031. Manfred declined to discuss city viability, but said baseball needs a new team in the East and West for the format to work. Some baseball analysts see Nashville and Salt Lake City as frontrunners.

Delta Center renovation

Sales tax money will also be used for a planned renovation of the Delta Center to house the Utah Jazz and the new Utah Hockey Club, both owned by Smith Entertainment Group.

Earlier this year, lawmakers, with support from Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County, passed SB272, which allowed for the creation of a downtown sports, entertainment, convention and cultural district. SEG plans to spend $3 billion redeveloping a three-block area of ​​the city center. These include remodeling the arena entrance to the east, pedestrian areas, construction of a residential tower and hotel, and the provision of retail and restaurant space.

Under the law, the city increased its current sales tax rate of 7.75% by half a percent to 8.25% over a maximum of 30 years. The tax does not apply to groceries and larger purchases such as vehicles. The increase takes effect on January 1st.

The tax increase is expected to raise $1.2 billion, of which $900 million would go to SEG to repay bonds on the project. The company estimates it will spend $525 million on the Delta Center remodel and $375 million on the district’s other improvements.