The public has been given its first look at plans for a new stadium complex for Major League Baseball’s Athletics on the Las Vegas Strip. The facility will sit where the Tropicana once stood.
In addition to the 30,000-seat stadium, the complex will eventually include three hotel towers, a casino, restaurants, retail space, offices for A’s employees, and parking.
A’s officials hope to break ground in April 2025 and be ready to play in the stadium for the 2028 MLB season.
Key Highlights
- The proposed A’s stadium will seat 30,000, with 3,000 standing-room-only spaces.
- Bally’s resort complex will have three hotel towers and a casino.
- The budgeted cost for the stadium is $1.5 billion, $350 million of which is public financing.
- The A’s will play in Sacramento for the next three years.
All-in-One Sports and Gambling Entertainment Complex
The A’s stadium plans were presented to Clark County last Wednesday and were jointly agreed upon by the A’s, Bally’s Corp, real estate investment trust Gaming and Leisure Properties (GLPI), and developer Marnell Architecture.
Marnell designed the Bellagio, Harrah’s Las Vegas, M Resort, and the Wynn, among other Las Vegas properties.
The stadium will seat 30,000, down from the original 33,000, but there will be 3,000 standing-room-only spots. It will be just one of many structures built on the site over many years.
The three hotel towers will be 495 feet high, 200 feet taller than the stadium. Phase one is expected to include 1,500 rooms, half of the eventual total.
The casino will have 1,500 slot machines, 75 table games, a race and sportsbook, and a poker room.
A’s Owner Expected to Foot Most of the Bill
GLPI owns the land, while Bally’s owned the Tropicana real estate, acquiring it in 2021. Bally’s rents the land from GLPI for $10.5 million per year.
Bally’s is giving the Athletics nine acres on which to build the stadium. The casino, hotel, and the rest of the development will be Bally’s property.
the stadium is situated so that it has “a good view of the Las Vegas Strip”
“The designs are initial massing diagrams intended to ensure that both our resort program and the A’s stadium program can be successfully accommodated on the site,” a Bally’s spokeswoman told the Nevada Independent in an e-mail. “We anticipate that the designs will evolve as we advance the project.”
A’s executive Sandy Dean told the Las Vegas Stadium Authority Board last Thursday the stadium is situated so that it has “a good view of the Las Vegas Strip.”
The stadium is expected to cost $1.5 billion to build. A’s owner John Fisher’s family will contribute $850 million, $300 million will come from debt, and $350 will be public funding. The state approved $380 million in financing, but the team does not believe it will need all of it.
Las Vegas Is Sports Central
Las Vegas is the hottest city in the United States for professional sports right now. In just the last few years, four major pro teams have either moved or begun in Sin City.
The NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights dropped the puck on their inaugural season in 2017 and won the Stanley Cup in 2023.
The WNBA’s Aces moved from San Antonio (where they were called the Stars) in 2018 and won back-to-back championships in 2022 and 2023.
The NFL’s Raiders moved from Oakland in 2020. And now, Las Vegas is…raiding…Oakland again, grabbing the city’s baseball team.
The Athletics just finished their final season in Oakland, where they had played since 1968. Of course, with the rubble of the Tropicana still on the ground, the team does not have a home in Las Vegas yet.
In the meantime, the A’s will play at Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park, home of the San Francisco Giants’ Triple-A affiliate, the Sacramento River Cats, from 2025 to 2027. The franchise has the option to say an extra year if the new Las Vegas stadium is not ready.
Sources
https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/plans-for-trop-site-show-three-hotel-towers-with-3000-rooms-surrounding-as-ballpark
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_in_the_Las_Vegas_metropolitan_area
https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/athletics/as-vegas-ballpark-price-tag-could-grow-before-construction-begins-3191863/
