A’s, Bally’s working with key players on ballpark plans

The process to get the Athletics’ planned Strip ballpark project to the point where construction can start next year has been a collaborative effort.

The A’s and Bally’s Corp., which owned the Tropicana before it was imploded, worked with officials from the state, Clark County and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, and leaders from neighboring resorts as they developed a site plan for the MLB team’s proposed $1.5 billion stadium and a resort to be built around it.

Officials with Bally’s have been keeping the company’s largest neighbor, MGM Resorts International, abreast of the project’s progress. MGM operates several Strip resorts near the Tropicana site, including MGM Grand, the Excalibur, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, New York-New York and Park MGM.

“They are very curious about what we want to do, they obviously own all the corners around us, so we expect us to cooperate and work together to help bring life to what already is a very important part of the Strip, but even more so. It’s been nothing but support from them, and we greatly appreciate it,” Bally’s Corp. Chairman Soo Kim told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The collaboration of all involved is why the project will succeed, according to Clark County Commission Chairman Jim Gibson.

“It’s the reason why it’ll be successful, and it’s the reason why we’ll be able to meet the schedules,” he said. “I think this is going to be an enormously important thing for us.”

The projected 31-month stadium construction schedule will allow the A’s to start playing in the 33,000-fan capacity facility in 2028.

Kim said he believes that having the ballpark as an anchor tenant at the site, where Bally’s Corp. plans to construct a resort on the remaining 26 acres of the 35-acre site, will benefit the city.

“There’s 250 days baseball doesn’t play, and we’ll have the second-largest venue in the city,” Kim said. “What it adds to the fabric of the city for the potential events and tourism is exciting.”

Having another venue to host large-scale events on top of baseball games also has Gibson excited to see what the project will add to Las Vegas. Gibson said he believes that, like Raiders games at Allegiant Stadium, A’s games will be a big tourism draw. He said NFL games in Las Vegas have been known to have more than 60 percent of fans coming from outside of the market.

“Some teams (fans) really travel well when they’re going to the right place, and we think Las Vegas is the right place,” Gibson said. “I am really bullish on our ability to get this done the right way in time and for them to succeed in the ways that they’ve described.”

With the A’s having 81 home games each year, the team has the ability to sell around 2.5 million tickets every year, A’s owner John Fisher said.

“That’s a lot of people that can come into our ballpark, we want to be and need to be a critical part of the community that we serve here and that’s our goal,” Fisher said.

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.