Tropicana owner: ‘The A’s are still finalizing stadium plans’
Bally’s Corp. is moving ahead with closing the Tropicana Las Vegas in April despite the absence of final plans for a $1.5 billion baseball stadium that would replace the aging Strip resort.
Bally’s President George Papanier said Wednesday during a quarterly earnings call that the gaming company is still considering what it would build on its portion of the 35-acre Strip in which 9 acres would be provided to the relocated Oakland Athletics for a 33,000-seat ballpark.
“The A's are still finalizing their stadium plans and we just continue to evaluate our options for what we feel is a very valuable development land next to the stadium,” Papanier said.
Bally’s announced in January it would close the Tropicana on April 2 in preparation to demolish the 1,500-room, 67-year-old Strip resort ahead of the A’s stadium project. Papanier said clearing the site was part of Bally’s “contractual arrangement” with the team.
The Major League Baseball team is expected to begin playing in the ballpark in April 2028.
A’s owner John Fisher said last month the team asked Bally’s to offer conceptual designs of how a new hotel, casino and entertainment attraction would fit on the site in conjunction with the ballpark.
The site is owned by Gaming and Leisure Properties, a real estate investment trust that leases the hotel-casino to Bally’s for $10.5 million a year.
State lawmakers approved a $380 million public financing plan for the stadium, and Gaming and Leisure plans to contribute $175 million toward the demolition of the Tropicana. The A’s have yet to specifically announce how the team would finance the remaining $1.1 billion for the project.
Discussions concerning development plans, a community benefits agreement and a lease agreement could be on the yet-to-be-published agenda for the March 21 Las Vegas Stadium Authority Board meeting.
Team President Dave Kaval said the ballclub hoped to have the renderings available when the A’s play the Milwaukee Brewers at Las Vegas Ballpark in Summerlin for two spring training games March 8-9.