The Tropicana in Las Vegas was where I stayed the first time I visited Las Vegas. It wasn’t much to write home about and the walk to my hotel tower was excruciating, but it was an old school part of Las Vegas history, so it felt fun to be there. Now it seems that one of the oldest casinos in the gambling capital of the world may not be long for this Earth. On Tuesday, the Las Vegas media outlets reported that the Oakland A’s and Bally’s Corp. have agreed to a deal for the MLB team to build a $1.5 billion stadium on the site where the Tropicana currently stands.
Bally’s would demolish the Tropicana and the A’s would construct a 35,000-seat stadium on nine acres of the 34-acre site. It would obviously be a significant change to the look of the Las Vegas Strip. Down goes a casino resort, up goes a stadium.
This naturally calls into question the “binding agreement” the A’s have with Red Rock Resorts to buy land at Tropicana Avenue and Dean Martin drive, where the Wild Wild West casino used to be. Just on Monday, though, the Nevada Independent reported that the team was looking at other locations, including getting back in touch with the owner of the Rio for a portion of the resort’s property.
It seems like that agreement wasn’t necessarily so binding, as the Nevada Independent’s source said of the Tropicana deal, “This is now the deal. This is what we’re working on.”
A significant upshot of the new plan is that the A’s will not seek as much public financing as they were before. The team initially wanted the state legislature to get behind a $500 million package that would have established a special tax district around the stadium and the issuance of 30-year bonds.
The new tax financing package may end up to be similar, but the A’s are now “only” looking for $395 million, primarily because they will not have to buy the land.
The team would also have to sign an agreement that would prevent it from moving for 30 years.
The Nevada Independent also reports that after the stadium construction is completed, Bally’s would build a new 1,500-room hotel-casino across from the ballpark. A previously-planned entertainment district around the stadium as been nixed with the Tropicana deal.
The A’s have not yet officially declared that they are leaving Oakland, but it has been known for quite a while that they are moving to Las Vegas and with multiple land deals for stadiums, it is not some big secret. Plans are for stadium construction to begin next year and for the stadium to open in 2027.
