Oakland Athletics’ New Vegas Stadium Expected To Be On Tropicana Casino Lot

Bally’s informed its employees at the Tropicana Las Vegas casino Monday that it expects to close in 18-24 months, should a deal to build the new Las Vegas Athletics’ stadium go through.

The deal is for $395 million and will coincide with the relocation of Oakland’s dismal baseball team to the city of glitz and glamor, and one that has been the recipient of several relocation and expansion teams in professional sports.

The site for the new stadium is right on the Tropicana plot on the Vegas Strip, hence the impending demolition. Bally’s will build a new 1,500-room casino elsewhere in Vegas once this one is torn down.

The Athletics and Bally’s announced a deal that charges the latter with constructing a 35,000-seat arena with a retractable roof. It will be spread across the casino’s 35 acres of land, leased by Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc., which will also contribute an extra $175 million in exchange for a corresponding increase in rent.

Tropicana employees were concerned about the future of their careers given the imminent closure. The company posted its response online in an FAQ section, stating “[Tropicana] will be given preference on employment opportunities and Bally’s will maintain employee seniority.”

Bally’s also reiterated that while the deal has been agreed to in principle, it has not been finalized and could still fall through.

As proof, the A’s were actually going to be working with Red Rock Resorts to build a stadium on top of the old Wild Wild West Gambling Hall and Hotel site, a 49-acre lot that was demolished last year. The two parties reportedly signed a binding agreement, but it failed to materialize.

An area that is holding up full approval for the deal is permission from Clark County, Nevada, and MLB itself. If any of those three reject the idea, it would need to come up with a workaround or risk a delayed move.

The $395 million is coming in the form of public funding, which must also be agreed upon for the deal to be finalized. The expectation is that there will be a decision by June 5, the final day of Nevada’s legislative session.

Workers at Tropicana are protected by a local union in case Bally’s does not make good on its promises to current employees.

If the Tropicana does close, it will be the end of a 66-year tenure on the strip, which makes it the third-oldest casino in the area. Bally’s paid $148 million last year to acquire its building and operating license.

The Athletics announced their move to Vegas in April. They join the recently-relocated Las Vegas Raiders and Las Vegas Aces in making the move to western Nevada and are joined by NHL expansion team, the Las Vegas Golden Knights. Vegas is also going to host an F1 grand prix later this year and the Super Bowl in 2024 and just sponsored the Sweet 16 during March Madness after decades of separation (due to the prevalence of sportsbooks and sports betting).

The Aces and Knights may not have been in Vegas for more than a few years, but they have already found great success. The Aces won the WNBA Finals last year, while the Knights made the playoffs in each of their first four seasons and won their division in 2022.

A change of scenery would be well received by the Athletics. Their 10-35 record is the worst in professional baseball, and relations have gotten so bad with their fans—who have the lowest average attendance of all teams—that they planned a “reverse protest,” where fans were supposed to show up to a game en masse to prove they weren’t the problem.

The reverse protest had a rumored date of June 15, which may be too late now that the team is on its way out of town.