A’s owner John Fisher will need to dig deeper into his personal fortune to fund the team’s planned stadium in Las Vegas, but that city’s stadium authority and two leading financial institutions say he is fully capable of doing that. 

The Las Vegas Stadium Authority said a ballpark initially projected to cost $1.5 billion now carries a $1.75 billion price tag. That increase owes heavily to a series of upgrades such as enhanced general-admission spaces, improved player amenities, and additional club and suite space—in addition to more standard hikes in construction expenses. The new costs are entirely Fisher’s responsibility as the public-sector contribution toward the project is capped at $380 million. 

The exact parameters of how Fisher intends to fund that $1.37 billion is still not entirely clear, as he is still marketing potential minority equity interests in the club. But Goldman Sachs and U.S. Bank are providing a $300 million construction loan, and Fisher is pledging that he and his family will contribute up to $1.1 billion. 

“We conclude that the Fisher family and their related entities have financial assets (excluding their interest in the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise) more than sufficient to fund the equity portion of the proposed capital structure for the Athletics’ Las Vegas stadium,” U.S. Bank SVP Stephen Vogel wrote in a letter to the stadium authority. 

Fisher, an heir to his family fortune through The Gap retail empire, has an estimated net worth of $3.2 billion.

The stadium authority will meet Thursday and is due to approve a series of agreements related to the A’s stadium.

Building Matters

The latest financial news about the new stadium arrives about two months after the former Tropicana Las Vegas resort was demolished, helping clear the way for the new stadium on that site along the famed Las Vegas Strip. 

Last month, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred sought to dispel ongoing doubts about the Las Vegas stadium, and he said the project remains on track for a planned 2028 opening.

“John Fisher is completely committed to the process,” Manfred said during owners meetings in New York. “They’ve gone through the process of demonstrating that whether or not he takes on local partners, he has the capacity to build the stadium. We’re full speed ahead.”

Meanwhile, work continues at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, the club’s temporary home for the next three seasons, to prepare for the arrival of the A’s. The facility will use a grass field after a prior, and much debated, consideration of installing artificial turf.

The Lions’ dramatic 23–20 win over the Bears not only got Chicago coach Matt Eberflus fired—but it also drew the largest TV audience on record for an NFL game in the early Thanksgiving Day window.

CBS drew an average of 37.4 million viewers for Bears-Lions on Thursday, according to Nielsen ratings reported by the NFL. That’s up from the audience of 33.7 million on Fox for Packers-Lions on Thanksgiving Day in 2023, which also was a 12:30 p.m. ET kickoff.

The league said the average audience of 34.2 million viewers across all three Thanksgiving Day games is the highest ever. CBS has not been reporting NFL ratings since its contract with Nielsen expired at the end of September.

That record number for Bears-Lions fell just 1.1 million viewers short of the audience that tuned in to Fox (38.5 million viewers) for the Cowboys’ 27–20 win over the Giants in the late afternoon Thursday. While that’s the most-watched NFL game of the 2024 season so far (with Bears-Lions coming in a close second), the rating was down from the Cowboys’ previous three Thanksgiving Day broadcasts, which all topped 40 million viewers.

Detroit’s 10–1 record entering Thanksgiving, compared to a 4–7 Dallas team depleted by injuries, made for an interesting test case of whether the early game could outdraw the late game, which typically is not the case. The Lions, Bears, and CBS came close, but still no cigar.

No one in NBA history has battled Father Time better than LeBron James. But those paying close attention are starting to see James lose his grip in the fight—and it could be detrimental to the future of the Lakers and the overall NBA business.

On paper, James, who turns 40 on Dec. 30, is still putting up good counting stats. His 22 points per game are his lowest since his rookie season, but he’s averaging eight rebounds and 9.1 assists, the second most in his career. However, as The Athletic’s Fred Katz pointed out, the Lakers, who have a 12–9 record, good for No. 8 in a loaded Western Conference, are 21 points per 100 possessions worse when he’s on the court. 

James—who entered this season as the only player in NBA history with more than $400 million in career earnings—is also struggling with his three-point shot as he’s missed his last 19 attempts from beyond the arc, his longest streak since the 2003–2004 season, according to ESPN. 

A Blow for the NBA

Whether James is battling for a championship, he is still one of basketball’s biggest draws. So it was a blessing for the league when he declared at the beginning of the season that his goal was to play all 82 games.

However, Lakers coach JJ Redick hinted at how the season may be taking a toll on the four-time MVP following a loss to the Timberwolves on Monday after a back-to-back, saying it may not be in James’s or the team’s “best interest” for him to play all 82 games. James, who scored a season-low 10 points, also didn’t seem as certain about his goal following the loss.

“That’s a goal, but we’ll see,” James said.

If James were to consistently rest through the remainder of the year, it could be a blow to the league that’s already struggling to pull viewers to open the season, particularly because the Lakers entered the season with the most nationally televised games among any team, and still have 20 remaining. 

The Lakers could end up at risk of violating the NBA’s player participation policy if James rests. The league has not been shy to send $100,000 fines this season to teams for players failing to play when they are eligible. The 76ers and Hawks are two examples of resting Joel Embiid and Trae Young, respectively.

The Lakers’ Future

Months before James led the Lakers to the 2020 NBA championship, he said he wanted to “be a Laker for the rest of my life.” The Lakers have not made the Finals since 2020—but James’s actions show he’s committed to the team, especially after they selected his son, Bronny, in the 2024 draft.

But the uncertainty of the future of James, who has consistently signed one-plus-one contracts with the Lakers, which are two-year deals with a player option for year two, provides a hamper on a team trying to build a roster—especially if the player paid 35% of the salary cap is deteriorating.

The Lakers may choose loyalty above all else—akin to how they rode out the tail end of Kobe Bryant’s career when the team missed the playoffs for three straight years. James’s stature as one of the greatest players of all time certainly helps the iconic franchise maintain its spot as the third-most-valuable team in the league, worth more than $7 billion, per Forbes.