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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
As I slowly pedaled my bicycle around the Tropicana hotel-casino site on the Strip Friday, I was trying to imagine a Colorado Rockies’ Coors Field, or Padres’ Petco Park or even a Cubs’ Wrigley Field shoehorned on nine acres of land at this 34-acre site at Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue.
The MLB Oakland Athletics changed course on its ballpark site proposal in Las Vegas, moving from the old Wild Wild West casino site also on Tropicana Avenue but about a mile to the west on the other side of Interstate 15 to one of the busiest intersections in Las Vegas at the Tropicana hotel site.
The A’s are requesting $395 million in government assistance in tax credits and incentives in state legislation that is being crafted in Carson City. That’s down from the $500 million ask when the Athletics said April 20 they planned their 32,000-seat ballpark for the 49 acres at Tropicana Avenue and Dean Martin Drive west of the Strip and I-15.
On Friday, I surveyed the land at the Tropicana Hotel, which will be demolished to make way for the team’s proposed $1.5 billion retractable roof ballpark.
Major League Baseball venues are smaller than the goliaths of yesteryear, but it was difficult to see how a big league stadium with its supportive infrastructure like parking lots would be wedged into this site on the Strip.
Athletics consultant Jeremy Aguero said all transportation options will be considered to move people to and from a site that already has T-Mobile Arena a 10-minute walk away. Phoenix does have its MLB and NBA sports venues close to each other in downtown, but downtown Phoenix is not the Strip.
Pedestrian bridges, multiple ride share spots, the monorail and buses are all in play for the proposed A’s ballpark on the Strip. The team has not revealed a ballpark rendering.
Less than a month ago, Athletics President Dave Kaval said the 49-acre site on the west side of the interstate was a great site for locals that would include a baseball village and auxiliary entertainment businesses like restaurants and sports pubs.
Now in May, the focus is the Strip.
A security guard in a yellow shirt on a bicycle across the street at NY-NY hotel-casino wondered how the ballpark would fit into an already busy part of the Strip.
He spoke for many in Las Vegas, including those who have voiced support for waiting for an expansion team rather than hosting a MLB team sporting an 8-31 record, which is a .205 winning percentage.
The new proposed ballpark site is expected to draw more tourists to it than the Wild Wild West site, Aguero said. Bally’s Corporation, which owns the Tropicana, plans to build a new hotel across the street. Plus, MGM Resorts International properties Excalibur, NY-NY and MGM Grand occupy the other three corners of the intersections. Thousands of hotel rooms would be a short walk from a ballpark on the Strip.
A proposed bill is being negotiated by Athletics representatives and Nevada lawmakers.
Until a shovel moves dirt in Las Vegas, this is not a done deal.
Keep in mind the franchise left $375 million in infrastructure grants acquired by the city of Oakland on the table and a port that has voted to paved the way so far to build an A’s venue at Howard Terminal.
Athletics fans have warned the Las Vegas market about team owner John Fisher, a billionaire heir to the Gap retail empire who rarely makes public appearances or meets fans like Raiders owner Mark Davis.
The team has talked about using their Triple-A team’s venue — Las Vegas Ballpark in Summerlin — as a temporary home while a new stadium is built on the Strip. Kaval said the timeline is MLB approval in fall 2023, ground breaking in 2024 and opening in 2027.
The powerful Culinary Union reported Friday that it has reached an agreement with the Athletics. Its press release said, “The Culinary Union and the Las Vegas A’s have reached agreement that will guarantee workers have the right to organize and negotiate union contracts – which will guarantee these will be great jobs that meet our high Las Vegas standards.
“We hope there will be a path forward for all stakeholders so the Las Vegas A’s can join the Las Vegas Golden Knights and the Las Vegas Raiders to continue this transformation as Las Vegas, the entertainment capital of the world, also becomes the sporting capital of the world.”