The Oakland Athletics (A’s) made some heads turn earlier this month when the team announced it was pulling out of its previous agreement with Red Rock Resorts and signing a new deal with Bally’s Corp. to build a 30,000-seat stadium on the site where the Tropicana Las Vegas now stands.
In the days since, the deal appears to be solidifying, as Bally’s and the real estate investment trust Gaming & Leisure Properties (GLPI), which owns the land, announced a new binding agreement to build the stadium on approximately nine of the 35 total acres on the plot.
Bally’s indicated that the site could become much more than just the park down the line, and that development could potentially take place in a phased approach. The site also happens to be one of the busiest intersections in the entire country, and will likely present a lot of future marketing and partnership opportunities, the company said.
In a statement, Bally’s President George Papanier said that the company was “honored to have been selected to partner with the Oakland Athletics on this monumental step in helping to bring Major League Baseball to the great city of Las Vegas, and to be a part of the once in a generation opportunity of having a professional baseball team located within a short walk of the Las Vegas Strip.”
Papanier also called the Tropicana “a landmark of Las Vegas,” and vowed to build a park that “will become a new landmark, paying homage to the iconic history and global appeal of Las Vegas and its nearly 50 million visitors a year.”
In an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Bally’s Chairman Soo Kim echoed Papanier’s sentiments, also calling the deal a “once-in-a-generation opportunity. “
Kim added that the company felt it could move the process along by contributing the acreage for the stadium project, and hopes to see “some type of similar commitment from the county and state.”
“We looked at the situation and we understood that they needed to have some level of help,” he told the Review-Journal. “We said that we can start this process by contributing 9 acres free of charge.”
The deal is subject to numerous agreements, including some sort of public financing plan and a relocation approval from Major League Baseball (MLB).
Despite the excitement, money is still a huge point of concern surrounding the proposal, given that the team is reportedly asking for $395 million to finance the new deal. State lawmakers, including Governor Joe Lombardo, have been aware of the team’s request for some time, and some have voiced support because of the added business and visitation.
However, there are less than 30 days remaining in the current legislative session, and no formal proposals have been submitted. The state is also still replenishing its coffers from 2016, when then-governor Steve Sisolak approved $750 million in public financing for the Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium.
Per the terms of the agreement, GLPI has pledged to put up as much as $175 million for shared developments in exchange for a proportionate rent increase.
Peter Carlino, chairman and CEO of GLPI, said in a statement that the company has “enjoyed getting to know the Oakland Athletics’ leadership through our dialogue over the past couple years.”
‘The Oakland Athletics’ interest in developing a world-class Major League Baseball stadium on our site underscores its status as one of the most prime locations on the Las Vegas Strip and will enhance any future development of our remaining 26 acres,” Carlino added. “As the project moves forward, we also expect that GLPI will have opportunities to further invest in the various aspects of the overall project to the extent we deem that doing so will generate an attractive risk adjusted return on our shareholders’ capital.”
In related news, Culinary Local 226 also announced that it is partnering with the team to guarantee the future stadium workers’ right to unionize, after the union had previously expressed its displeasure with the team for not getting a deal in place sooner.
Ted Pappageorge, secretary-treasurer for Culinary, said in a statement that he hopes the A’s “can join the Las Vegas Golden Knights and the Las Vegas Raiders to continue this transformation as Las Vegas, the entertainment capital of the world, also becomes the sporting capital of the world.”
Culinary already has deals in place to represent workers at a number of prominent venues in the city, such as the Las Vegas Convention Center, T-Mobile Arena and Allegiant Stadium. In total, the union represents some 60,000 hospitality staff throughout Nevada.
The A’s had already announced its intention to partner with the Southern Nevada Building Trades to build the stadium using local workers back on April 22. A representative from the trades group confirmed to the Nevada Independent that the construction agreement will transfer to the new site.
