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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
The owner of the Tropicana hotel-casino on the Strip made it official Monday.
Bally’s Corporation, of Providence, RI, said it’s working with Gaming & Leisure Properties in a “binding” agreement with the MLB Oakland Athletics to build a 30,000-seat ballpark on nine acres of the 35-acre site at Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue on the Strip at one of the busiest intersections in Las Vegas.
This groundbreaking agreement is subject to the passing of legislation for public financing and related agreements, and approval of relocation by Major League Baseball. As part of the agreement, Bally’s retains the ability to assign the rights to all aspects of this development and has received material interest from development partners. — Bally’s release
LVSportsBiz.com visited the site Sunday morning to give you a context for the location:
Here’s the Tropicana Ave./Las Vegas Blvd. looking east at the Tropicana site from NY-NY hotel-casino:
“The Tropicana has been a landmark of Las Vegas for generations, and this development will enhance this iconic site for generations to come,” Bally’s President George Papanier said in the release.
The Bally’s release said the ballpark of “approximately 30,000 fans” is expected to draw 2.5 million fans annually. That would be an average of 30,864 fans a game — more than the 30,000 capacity. It would mean a sellout for every single game. The A’s have mentioned the ballpark would have a retractable roof to provide a climate controlled setting for Las Vegas’ scorching summers.
The two other major league teams in the market — the NHL Golden Knights and the NFL Raiders — have among the highest average ticket costs in their respective league (VGK — fourth highest; Raiders — the highest). LVSportsBiz.com expects tickets to attend games at a possible Athletics stadium on the Strip to be expensive because generating ticket revenues at modern sports venues is about integrating premium seating areas like suites, boxes and clubs into the ticket inventory, especially when the A’s venue capacity will only be 30,000.
The A’s will be relying on tourists to fill some seats. Their consultant estimates about 30 percent of attending fans will be Las Vegas visitors. If they’re buying hotel rooms, they’re also helping pay off the public debt on the Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium, which was built with the help of a hotel room tax in Southern Nevada.
UPDATE Tuesday May 16: From the Culinary Union on Tropicana
Bally’s also released this statement in a Q and A form for its Tropicana workers:
Nevada state Senator Scott Hammond, who favors the Athletics stadium in Las Vegas, said funding details are still being hashed out in both the state legislature and in Clark County. Any construction cost overruns will be covered by the Athletics, he pointed out.
He did not know when a state bill will be presented.
Hammond noted the ballpark layout is designed so that fans behind home plate will look west toward the NY-NY and Excalibur hotel-casinos — the two MGM Resorts International properties on the west side of Las Vegas Boulevard straddling Tropicana Avenue.
“I hope in the end when we work out the details, it meets our expectations,” Hammond told LVSportsBiz.com Monday afternoon.
Here was the top of the Bally’s press release from Monday:
The Athletics believe this Tropicana hotel stadium site will attract more tourists than the previous ballpark site on Tropicana Avenue on the west side of Interstate 15. Fans staying at neighboring hotels can walk to games, while the A’s will rely on Uber, buses, the nearby monorail and taxis to get fans to the site.
Bally’s and GLPI will assign the nine acres of the overall site to either the Oakland Athletics or a related stadium authority.
The stadium authority would need to be created in ballpark subsidy legislation that is being crafted in Carson City.
The Athletics are seeking $395 million in public assistance in the form of tax credits, incentives and other public funding for a $1.5 billion ballpark. Clark County would be asked to sell at least $100 million in bonds as part of the $395 million package, A’s consultant Jeremy Aguero told LVSportsBiz.com last week.
Here’s an important bullet point: “GLPI has agreed to fund up to $175 million towards certain shared improvements within the future development in exchange for a commensurate rent increase.”
We are pleased to help facilitate their exciting vision for a new ballpark through our contribution of nine acres of the Tropicana site and look forward to the prominent place that the overall project will occupy in the Las Vegas skyline. The Oakland Athletics’ interest in developing a world-class Major League Baseball stadium on our site underscores its status as one of the most prime locations on the Las Vegas Strip and will enhance any future development of our remaining 26 acres. — Peter Carlino, Gaming & Leisure Properties CEO and chairman.
The announcement comes less than a month after Athletics President Dave Kaval hit the Las Vegas media circuit to say the team had a binding deal with Red Rock Resorts to buy 49 acres at the Wild Wild West casino site less than a mile west on Tropicana Avenue from the Tropicana hotel-casino location. Kaval spoke with in glowing terms about a baseball village and entertainment district that would include the A’s ballpark.
That was April 20.
On Monday, Kaval was quoted in the press release: “We are excited about the potential to bring Major League Baseball to this iconic location. We are thrilled to work alongside Bally’s and GLPI, and look forward to finalizing plans to bring the Athletics to Southern Nevada ”
Here’s the background on Bally’s relationship with Gaming & Leisure Properties “Bally’s acquired the building and operations of the Tropicana Las Vegas from GLPI in September 2022 as part of a $148 million transaction.
“As part of the transaction, Bally’s entered into a 50-year ground lease with GLPI, with the ability to extend to 99-years upon achieving key investment milestones.
“Bally’s intends to continue the operations of the Tropicana Las Vegas for the foreseeable future while evaluating all available options for a broader redevelopment of the remainder of the site that will be adjacent to the new ballpark.”
The Athletics have a player payroll of about $51 million and the worst record in the majors at 9 wins and 33 losses, a whopping 17 games out of first place in their division with the season one-fourth done. The team’s attendance is 9,450 a game at the Coliseum, the Athletics’ longtime home.