Plan For A’s Stadium, Hotels At Ex-Tropicana Site Submitted To Clark County; Plans Not Displayed At Las Vegas Stadium Board Meeting Thursday
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Story by Alan Snel Photos by Hugh Byrne
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — A preliminary master plan for the proposed A’s stadium and three hotels on the former Tropicana site on the Strip is good for the respective projects, an A’s stadium representative told Las Vegas stadium board members Thursday.
“There will be an opportunity for dialogue,” said Sandy Dean, an A’s executive and friend of A’s owner John Fisher.
The A’s showed its planned stadium on nine acres surrounded by Bally’s proposed hotels on the 35-acre site at the southeast corner of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard in a submission to Clark County. The land is owned by Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (GLPI). The A’s, Bally’s Corp. and GLPI are working together on the redevelopment of the Tropicana hotel site.
The site plan was not displayed at the stadium meeting and board members did not ask Dean any questions about the stadium site plan or make any observations about it.
“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. We anticipate that the designs will evolve as we advance the project,” a Bally’s spokesperson told LVSportsBiz.com.
How will the A’s pay for the stadium? The team says the public contribution will be closer to $350 million and not $380 million in state-approved public assistance to help build the venue; owner John Fisher will get a loan for $300 million; and Fisher will pay the rest of the $850 million to cover the stadium’s working construction budget of $1.5 billion.
Stadium board chairman Steve Hill said Fisher’s financial documents confirming his ability to build the stadium will not be made public.
LVSportsBiz.com asked Hill about this subject after the meeting. He said stadium board members will see the Fisher financial documents before the Clark County commissioners vote on issuing $120 million worth of bonds as part of the government assistance of $380 million toward construction of the domed venue. The state Legislature approved the $380 million subsidy bill in June 2023.
Hill said he has not seen the A’s stadium site plan submitted to the county this week.
Hill said it was a preliminary site plan and it was not necessary to show the public the stadium site plan. Hill said it will be shown at a future meeting.
Two people spoke during the public comment period.
For a highly controversial use of public dollars ($380 million in government assistance to help build the baseball stadium), there are few people who attend these public stadium meetings that are typically held at 3 PM on a Thursday at the LVCVA meeting room at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Dean said there there will be a plaza on the site, views of the Strip for fans from the $1.5 billion domed stadium and parking on the site. A 31-month construction period, similar to the time to build the Raiders’ stadium, is expected for the A’s venue.
The number of parking spaces, however, is less than the required number under county rules. Only 2,500 parking spaces are earmarked on site for the 30,000-seat baseball stadium that is supposed to open for the 2028 Major League Baseball season. The stadium is projected to have space for another 3,000 standing spots for a total capacity of 33,000. The ballpark is planned with a higher percentage of premium seating than most MLB stadiums.
The Raiders’ 62,000-seat domed stadium also had only about 2,500 spaces — and that was approved by Clark County Commissioners. The Sphere music venue also failed to meet parking space requirements, but the county approved a negotiated parking deal. So Clark County commissioners and government have a track record of allowing sports teams and venues to not meet county parking requirements.
Even tough the stadium board is reviewing and approving stadium-related documents, Fisher still has not submitted his financing plan for the stadium.
“Where is the accountability,?” asked Alexander Marks, a representative of a statewide teachers union PAC, Schools Over Stadiums.
Marks pointed out Hill, who is the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority head besides serving as the stadium board chairman, has the dual role of lobbying for the A’s to achieve the $380 million stadium subsidy bill before the Nevada Legislature in 2023 while also serving as chair of a public board charged with reviewing the A’s stadium plans. That seems like a clear conflict of interest.
The next stadium board meeting is Oct. 31.
