And then there was one. After a lengthy search throughout the Las Vegas area, the Oakland Athletics have boiled their search for a stadium site in the valley down to one.
According to the Las Vegas Review Journal, talks have halted on the Las Vegas Festival Grounds at Sahara and Las Vegas Boulevard. That land is owned by Circus Circus owner Phil Ruffin. Instead, the team has it’s sights on one single location: The Tropicana.
The A’s have been in a constant state of flirting with the valley after negotiations for a new stadium in Oakland went south. The team, whose minor league team the Las Vegas Aviators consistently draw in Summerlin, toured several areas throughout the valley. The Tropicana seems to have always been in their sights.
The land, owned by Bally’s Corporation, features 40 acres and an obvious draw for sports tourism to continue flooding guests into nearby hotel rooms.
While the Oakland Athletics have a plan to build a stadium that costs north of a billion dollars, former Governor Steve Sisolak made his viewpoint clear: there’d be no public funding for the stadium. However with new Governor Joe Lombardo in office, that opinion could change.
There’s also the off-chance the team decides to fund it on their own. Major League Baseball has granted the team a waived relocation fee should the move. That savings would equal hundreds of millions of dollars.
Don’t count Oakland out
The city has been debating and voting on measures to bring a stadium district to the Port Of Oakland. However, their efforts have been hampered by an election that has seen a new mayor and council members that may have differing views.
Whatever the case, one thing is for sure: Las Vegas is the hottest sports market in the country.
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