The Oakland Athletics will eventually move to Las Vegas and the move just cleared a major hurdle Tuesday, with the team and Bally’s Corporation reaching an agreement to build a $1.5 billion stadium on a portion of the Tropicana Hotel. Bally’s would construct a 1,500-room hotel and casino across from the stadium, separate from the ballpark.
Bally’s plans to demolish the Tropicana, per Howard Stutz of The Nevada Independent, to build the 35,000-seat stadium. It will also have a retractable roof.
The move is expected to reduce public funding for the project to $395 million.
As reported, the agreement would reportedly undo the “binding” agreement the A’s announced weeks ago, in which the club was to purchase 49 acres of land near the Strip from Red Rock Resorts.
The Tropicana Las Vegas has been a staple on the Strip since its opening in 1957. However, it has faced some really hard times lately. It was sold to Bally’s last year for $148 million, but Penn National Gaming still owns and leases the land through a spinoff company.
A new stadium with a growing fan base for sports is exactly what Rob Manfred wants.
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The Athletics’ stadium plans, while altering in terms of location and extent, are still expected to break ground in 2024, with a target opening year of 2027 or 2028, depending on how the construction schedule develops. Should that come to pass, it would mark the completion of the A’s seemingly never-ending journey to land a new ballpark.
The A’s lease at the Oakland Coliseum expires after the 2024 season, suggesting that the franchise could relocate to Las Vegas before the new stadium is completed.
If that scenario happens, the A’s would likely play their home games at a minor-league ballpark, particularly their own Triple-A stadium in Sin City. They would probably average more fans at the game than they do now.
The A’s are set to become just the second Major League Baseball team in recent times to move across state lines, joining the Montreal Expos.
