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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
An executive with the company that owns the land where the MLB Athletics say they are building a $1.5 billion stadium on the Strip says any “negative” news about the stadium project is just “noise” and he’s optimistic the Tropicana site’s redevelopment will be a “good project” at the corner of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard.
The exec’s comments came during this week’s 2023 fourth quarter earnings call for Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (GLPI), which owns the 35-acre site where the A’s want to build a 33,000-seat ballpark by 2028.
The call sounded a bit muffled, but the executive appeared to be GLPI Chief Operating Officer/General Counsel Brandon Moore, who fielded a question about the redevelopment of the Tropicana site. Bally’s owns the Tropicana and told workers that the 1957 circa hotel-casino’s last day was April 2. GLPI owns the land.
Bally’s is working on building a new hotel on the site and is coordinating with the Athletics on when the drawings for the site redevelopment will be unveiled to the public.
The A’s initially said a few months ago they planned to show stadium drawings, but then they canceled the event because they cited the deaths of two state highway troopers in Las Vegas. The A’s never rescheduled the stadium drawings unveiling.
The absence of any A’s stadium drawings in a public forum is among several factors that have led observers to question whether the Athletics will follow through on building the stadium by 2028. A’s owner John Fisher also told the media after a Las Vegas chamber of commerce event in January that he’s looking for local investors to join him in building the stadium.
But the GLPI executive referred to the “negative” news as “a lot of that is noise” and the project is “proceeding as expected.”
Now it appears as if the Athletics have not unveiled drawings of their planned stadium on the Strip because the MLB team is coordinating the stadium project with the Bally’s hotel project planned for the 35 acres at the southeast corner of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard. The other three corners are home to hotel-casinos owned by MGM Resorts International. MGM Resorts CEO Bill Hornbuckle said during a recent earnings call that he has seen the A’s stadium situated on three different spots on the Tropicana site. The baseball stadium is pegged for nine acres of the 35 acres.
But the A’s are also partners with the state of Nevada and Clark County under a state stadium subsidy bill that was approved by the legislature in June. The Athletics are receiving government assistance of $380 million toward building the stadium, including $120 million in the form of Clark County bonds.
The Athletics are playing to preseason games at Las Vegas Ballpark in Summerlin March 8 and 9. The A’s had the worst record in the majors in 2023, winning only 50 of 162 games.
The team’s lease at the Coliseum in Oakland expires at the end of the 2024 season, so the A’s are talking with the city of Oakland about cutting a deal to play at the Coliseum for the 2025, 2026 and 2027 seasons before supposedly moving to the new baseball stadium on the Strip in 2028.
A’s President Dave Kaval posted this photo on social media showing new A’s signs being installed at the Coliseum.
The A’s plan to use the same builder team of Mortenson/McCarthy that constructed the Raiders stadium.