An MLB team is one step closer to moving to Las Vegas. Bally’s Corp. announced on Monday that the Oakland Athletics have reached an agreement with Bally’s and Gaming & Leisure Properties to build a potential stadium on the Tropicana hotel side along the Las Vegas Strip, per ESPN. The stadium will seat 30,000 fans on the 35-acre site and is projected to cost around $1.5 billion. The A’s are seeking $400 million in public support from the Nevada Legislature.
“We are excited about the potential to bring Major League Baseball to this iconic location,” A’s president Dave Kaval said in a statement. “We are thrilled to work alongside Bally’s and GLPI, and look forward to finalizing plans to bring the Athletics to Southern Nevada.”
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Kaval hopes to break ground on the new ballpark next year so it can open for the 2027 season. The A’s have a lease at Oakland Coliseum through 2024 and could play the 2025 and 2026 seasons at Las Vegas Ballpark, home to their Triple-A affiliate Aviators. The A’s previously signed an agreement to build a stadium also on Tropicana Avenue but on the other side of Interstate 15 that runs alongside the strip that has 49 acres of land. The new agreement is scaled down but the location is closer for fans staying in hotels on the south end of the strip.
“We are 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,” Bally’s president George Papanier said in a statement. “The Tropicana has been a landmark of Las Vegas for generations, and this development will enhance this iconic site for generations to come.”
The A’s have been playing at the Oakland Coliseums since 1968. The team has been looking to play in a new stadium for the last few years and had been in negotiations with Oakland to build a ballpark on the waterfront but made the pivot to Las Vegas in April.
