Tropicana Las Vegas Photo: AFP
The Oakland Athletics Major League Baseball club has reached agreement to put their new ballpark on part of the site of the current Tropicana property along the Las Vegas Strip.
Plans call for a 30,000-seat ballpark projected to draw an attendance of more than 2.5 million people per year. Previous reports estimated the cost of the stadium at US$1.5 billion, with $395 million in public financing.
Under the agreement about 3.6 hectares of the 14-hectare parcel at Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue for the A's or a related stadium authority.
Before ground can be broken on a stadium, legislation must be approved for public financing, and Major League Baseball must grant approval for the A's to leave Oakland.
"We are excited about the potential to bring Major League Baseball to this iconic location," said A's president Dave Kaval in a news release. "We are thrilled to work alongside Bally's and GLPI, and look forward to finalizing plans to bring the Athletics to Southern Nevada."
Given the team's inability to strike a deal to build a modern ballpark in Oakland, Major League Baseball has given its blessing to the A's. Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement last month, "We support the A's turning their focus on Las Vegas and look forward to them bringing finality to this process by the end of the year."
The Athletics have played in Oakland since 1968 after previous stays in Philadelphia (1901-54) and Kansas City (1955-67). Oakland's average attendance of 9,449 ranks last in the major leagues this year.
Entering play Wednesday, the A's are 9-33 and already 17 games behind the first-place Texas Rangers in the American League West.
-Reuters