Athletics Release Ballpark Renderings For Tropicana Hotel Site On Strip; Public Funding Bill Named ‘Southern Nevada Tourism Innovation Act’ Introduced In Carson City Friday
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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
With a proposed Athletics stadium bill set for consideration by the Nevada Legislature, the team finally released renderings of its proposed ballpark at the Tropicana hotel-casino site at Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard on the Strip.
The three renderings show no Tropicana hotel buildings on the site.
The $1.5 billion retractable-roof stadium is slated for nine acres on the 35-acre hotel site. The renderings, however, show a project that appears larger than nine acres.
Meanwhile, a state bill designating $380 million in public assistance for the A’s ballpark was introduced Friday. It’s officially called the “Southern Nevada Tourism Innovation Act.”
Legiscan.com summarized SB 509 this way:
While there has been a lot of hype about the “tentative agreement” between Gov. Joe Lombardo, Clark County and the Athletics for the ballpark funding deal, there has been no public meetings about the ballpark funding numbers and any mobility plan for the venue.
In fact, one of the seven county commissioners, Tick Segerblom, said Thursday he has not even seen the proposed ballpark funding bill and believes the county will be asked to sell $120 million in bonds toward the public contribution for the venue’s construction. The state of Nevada is believed to be selling $180 million in bonds toward the construction of the 30,000-seat ballpark.
Neither the state nor the county has released information on how the debt on the bonds will be repaid except to refer to a special sports/entertainment district that will include the proposed A’s ballpark.
The Athletics also released the renderings on their Instagram account:
Here’s an aerial photo of the Strip showing the Tropicana hotel site.
Here are the prepared statements from the A’s press release.
“From the minute we stepped onto the Tropicana site nearly two years ago, it was immediately obvious what a fantastic fit it would be for a new A’s ballpark in Las Vegas,” said A’s director of design and owner of Schrock KC Architecture, Brad Schrock. “The natural orientation of the ballpark creates not only some of the best views and connection to the Las Vegas skyline from the seating bowl but also opens up the ballpark to the corner in a way that creates opportunities for an amazing energetic public space with open and expansive views into the ballpark.”
And here’s the press release statement quoting Ath;letics team president Dave Kaval, “We are excited to share our vision for the A’s potential new home. As our first conceptual design, we will continue to refine the look and feel of the ballpark over the next year. We hope our project goes beyond a traditional ballpark and serves as a catalyst for community development and engagement. It follows in the footsteps and success of the professional sports teams that come before us, in creating union jobs, stimulating economic growth, and fostering investments in the community.”
Renderings of sports venues typically paint promotional versions of the venue. But these ones don’t appear to be at scale because the MLB team said it would use nine acres of the 35-acre Tropicana hotel site for the ballpark.
The A’s had been negotiating about a waterfront ballpark at Howard Terminal in Oakland since 2018. There apparently is no problem with fitting a baseball stadium on to that site:
The renderings show most of the property being used for the ballpark and its related needs with no Tropicana buildings remaining on the site. All the buildings, including two towers, would have to be demolished to make way for the ballpark, which would be the smallest in the majors.
The A’s left the negotiating table with the city of Oakland after years of discussing a proposed waterfront ballpark at Howard Terminal with the city. Left on the table was $375 million in infrastructure grants for a ballpark at the port. Here’s a rendering of the A’s ballpark at Howard Terminal.
Here in Clark County, the ballpark proposal by the A’s has raced at breakneck speed because the Nevada Legislature adjourns June 5. In fact, the Athletics changed the ballpark site to the Strip location during the negotiations with elected state officials and lawmakers in the past month.
Gov. Joe Lombardo can also call a special session if more time is needed to debate and discuss the A’s ballpark funding bill.
Las Vegas locals like the idea of a Major League Baseball team in the market. But it gets complicated when the public is being asked to provide more than $300 million in public resources and money to help build a ballpark for the A’s. And many locals would prefer to wait for an expansion team instead of hosting a team with the worst record and lowest player payroll in MLB.
The Athletics management knows Las Vegas because its Triple-A team, the Aviators of the Pacific Coast League, play at Las Vegas Ballpark in suburban Summerlin about 10 miles west of the Strip. Th Aviators’ owner, Summerlin master developer Howard Hughes Corporation, received $80 million in public money from the LVCVA tourism agency in the form of a 20-year naming rights deal in 2017. That $80 million was more than half of the Aviators ballpark $150 million pricetag.
It is the Las Vegas market’s apparent willingness to offer more public money than Oakland for a ballpark that has drawn Athletics owner John Fisher and Kaval to the Strip. Las Vegas also has many community leaders who envision Las Vegas as a big league market — and attaining a big league baseball team helps validate that aspiration even though the Las Vegas market is known for weak schools, health care, roads and other public needs.
There’s a lot of romance around baseball. But when it comes to finding government assistance to build ballparks, business takes precedence over emotions. The A’s have played in Oakland since 1968.
