MGM CEO has seen different plans for A’s Las Vegas ballapark

MGM Resorts International CEO Bill Hornbuckle said he’s seen multiple renderings of the Oakland Athletics’ proposed Las Vegas ballpark.

Hornbuckle noted Tuesday during MGM Resorts’ fourth-quarter earnings call that he has seen three different plans, with each showing the A’s stadium on different locations of the 35-acre Tropicana hotel site.

“We’re waiting to see where that lands, I have to believe in the next 30 to 60 days we should find out more,” Hornbuckle said. “I’ve been shown three versions of it now, in terms of where it will actually sit on the site and how it will connect.”

The A’s are being given nine acres to build their $1.5 billion, 33,000-seat ballpark, with Trop owner Bally’s Corp. planning to construct a new resort on the remaining acreage. Bally’s Corp. announced this month plans to shut down the Tropicana on April 2 to ready to property for demolition.

That process is expected to take between nine months and one year to complete, in order to have the site cleared out in time for the A’s plans to begin construction on the ballpark in April 2025. The team plans to begin play in their new ballpark in 2028, with Bally’s Corp. planning to build their new resort project sometime thereafter.

The A’s were set to unveil in December updated renderings of their Las Vegas ballpark, but that was delayed following the death of two on-duty Nevada Highway Patrol troopers.

Following the delay, the A’s and Bally’s Corp. decided it would be best to have renderings created to show both the ballpark and the future hotel planned to be built on the site, A’s owner John Fisher said last month.

Thursday’s planned Las Vegas Stadium Authority Board meeting was canceled, with the next scheduled meeting planned for March 21. During the January stadium authority meeting Steve Hill, chair of the authority board, noted that they had set a meeting date for once a month for the next year and that some meetings might not occur, specifically mentioning February’s scheduled meeting.

The A’s and the authority are working to finalize various agreements, including the development and non-relocation agreements for the ballpark site. The first drafts of those two agreement have yet to be introduced at a stadium authority meeting. During the October stadium authority meeting, drafts of the lease and community benefits agreements were presented. All the agreements need to be finalized and approved in order to make the up to $380 million in public financing approved by Senate Bill one available.

If the A’s plan comes to fruition, Hornbuckle said MGM Resorts would further invest in remodeling the 30-year old MGM Grand, which sits on Las Vegas Boulevard across Tropicana Avenue from the proposed ballpark site.

“It needs some love,” Hornbuckle said. “We’re going to reinvest in the rooms this year and we’ve got some new show concepts. We’ve done a few restaurants, but the front end of the property as you get closer to Las Vegas Boulevard, needs some attention and reprogramming. … When it settles in, we’ll get serious about what we might want to do and how we might want to communicate with, if you will, in terms of pedestrian traffic.”

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