A's open ballpark experience center in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — As progress continues on the new A's ballpark on the Las Vegas Strip, the team has opened a new ballpark experience center at the UnCommons in southwest Las Vegas.

Elephant sculptures welcome guests who can then see a full architectural model of the ballpark, an immersive cube where fans can stop into a virtual version of the ballpark, bobbleheads, and team artifacts.

"Most of these new ballpark projects or stadium projects tend to do an experience center. It's a way for the community to see what's actually being built while it's being built and before you're actually a patron in the ballpark," said A's President Marc Badain. "Most of the teams that have done projects over the last 10 or 20 years have done an experience center and we're the beneficiary of having a lot of experience."

WATCH: Alex Eschelman gives you a sneak peek of the new ballpark experience center

The ballpark experience center, which is currently open by appointment only, will lead visitor visits and share more information about seating, membership, and premium options available at the ballpark.

According to the A's, tickets for the inaugural season will go on sale in phases starting in early 2026. Individuals on the team's priority access list will be contacted in the coming months to talk about ticket options and set up appointments to visit the experience center.

A's owner John Fisher said he's excited for their team to join the Las Vegas landscape.

"First of all, the local community here loves sports. A short time ago, there were no professional sports teams here, outside of Minor League Baseball. Today, you've got the Raiders and the NFL. You've got the Golden Knights and the NHL. You have the Aces and the WNBA. You have a brand new stadium that the Aviators play in. Baseball is coming here," Fisher said. "It's amazing, kind of how the whole community has been transformed. But people should remember, local Vegas people have been massive sports fans all along the way. The amount of support that we've gotten from the local community makes us feel really good that we're going to be really successful in this market and have a lot of great fans."

Meantime, construction is continuing on the ballpark on the Las Vegas Strip. The team broke ground back in June.

WATCH: A's break ground on new ballpark on Las Vegas Strip

Fisher told us everything is going according to plan so far.

"We are on time and we're on budget, which is not always an easy thing to say with big projects like this. I was just out at the site itself. We've been under construction now for six months, 300 workers, mostly locals, who are all working on site to make all this happen," Fisher said. "We've been pouring concrete on the suite level. We have buttresses coming out of the ground. I mean, every day, it gets more and more real. In early 2028, we'll complete the stadium for the 2028 season."

In October, Clark County commissioners unanimously approved the A's ballpark development agreement, which covered everything from air quality to equipment for police officers and firefighters.

You may remember that agreement is important because it's one of things the A's have to check off their to-do list before they can access any public funding for the project. One of the other things on that check list includes contributing the first $100 million to trigger any county-level funding.

State lawmakers previously approved up to $380 million in public funding for the project, and the A's have said they only plan to use about $350 million.

So where is the rest of the money coming from for the estimated $2 billion project? Fisher previously told Ryan Ketcham he has been approved for a $300 million loan and will cover the rest of the costs.

WATCH: Ryan Ketcham asks owner John Fisher directly how they will pay for the stadium

Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred also told Ketcham that he didn't understand why so many people are doubting if the ballpark will actually happen.

“I don’t understand the skeptics, I haven’t for some time," Manfred said. "I mean, John Fisher and his team [are] completely committed to this project and getting the A’s to Las Vegas."

When the ballpark is complete, it will have about 33,000 seats. For context, the Oakland Coliseum's capacity for baseball games was between 46,000 to 56,000, if you include standing room options.

When looking at current Major League Baseball stadium capacities, the smallest ballpark is Progressive Field, home of the Cleveland Guardians, with 34,830 seats. (Note: This is excluding the Tampa Bay Rays, who are currently playing at George M. Steinbrenner Field while Tropicana Field is going through repairs after major roof damage caused by Hurricane Milton.)

When looking at overall fan attendance numbers reported by MLB, the A's have been in last place every season since 2022. Here a closer look at numbers over the past 10 years.

• In 2025, they welcomed 768,464 total fans, which breaks down to about 9,487 fans per game.
• In 2024, they welcomed 922,286 total fans, which breaks down to 11,528 fans per game.
• In 2023, they welcomed 832,352 total fans, which breaks down to 10,275 fans per game.
• In 2022, they welcomed 787,902 total fans, which breaks down to 9,973 fans per game.
• In 2021, they welcomed 701,430 total fans, which breaks down to 8,767 fans per game.
• There is no comparative attendance data due to the pandemic.
• In 2019, they welcomed 1,662,211 total fans, which breaks down to 20,521 fans per game.
• In 2018, they welcomed 1,573,616 total fans, which breaks down to 19,427 fans per game.
• In 2017, they welcomed 1,475,721 total fans, which breaks down to 18,446 fans per game.
• In 2016, they welcomed 1,521,506 total fans, which breaks down to 18,784 fans per game.
• In 2015, they welcomed 1,768,175 total fans, which breaks down to 21,829 fans per game.

Some fans have questioned if there is room for two baseball teams in the Las Vegas market since the Aviators already play at Las Vegas Ballpark near Downtown Summerlin.

When looking at MLB teams and their affiliates, several markets have proven this can be successful. For example, the Minnesota Twins are just 12 miles away from their Triple-A affiliate in St. Paul, the Houston Astros are just 22 miles away from their Triple-A affiliate in Sugar Land, and the Atlanta Braves are just 36 miles away from their Triple-A affiliate in Gwinnett.

The A's are expected to give an update on how ballpark construction is progressing at Thursday's Stadium Authority board meeting.

Meantime, there are also questions about what's happening with the proposed Bally's casino that is supposed to built surrounding the A's ballpark.

Back in September, Bally's Corporation released new renderings of their planned resort next to the ballpark and stated the project was being submitted for entitlements to Clark County. I checked with the county, who said no movement has been made on those plans since then. They also said meetings have to be set up to go over the proposed plans and get the land use approvals in place to begin construction on the casino and resort.

While Bally's has the gaming license and development rights for the Tropicana site, the land is owned by Gaming & Leisure Properties Inc. In GLPI's last earnings call, Chairman and CEO Peter Carlino said they will only help fund certain components of the 26-acre development and won't pay for the entire thing.

It's a different arrangement compared to the deal the companies are working on together for Bally's Chicago casino and resort. In that deal, GLPI is providing over $2 billion.