Bally’s Corp. has reached an agreement wit the Oakland A’s to build a $1.5bn Las Vegas baseball stadium, according to a local report in The Nevada Independent. Once completed, the new baseball stadium would reside on the Tropicana Las Vegas site, located on the southern end of the Las Vegas Strip.
The move could potentially lower the team’s public funding request to $395m, according to the local report.
The binding agreement “will not involve new taxes” and will involve the A’s covering the costs for the retractable-roof stadium. The new venue would be able to seat between 30,000 and 35,000 fans.
The team originally sought to gain legislation for a public funding package totaling $500m. The package “involved tax credits and the creation of a special taxation district to help fund stadium construction.”
However, the Oakland A’s announced a “binding agreement” last month with Red Rock Resorts. The original agreement would allow the team to acquire land for the new stadium but has now moved to consider other potential stadium sites.
Gaming and Leisure Properties (GLPI) currently owns the land that is leased to Bally’s, which could mean the A’s would not have to pay acquisition costs. Under the current lease agreement, Bally’s pays GLPI $10.5m in annual rent under a 50-year lease.
The team has considered moving to the Las Vegas Valley for the better part of two years.
Bally’s Corp. is based in Rhode Island and operates 15 casinos across 10 states. Later this year, the company plans to open a temporary casino in downtown Chicago. The temporary facility will be the forerunner to Bally’s latest resort complex at the former Chicago Tribune plant.
Bally’s estimates the Chicago River resort complex will cost nearly $1.7bn to construct.
