LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — An effort to build a baseball stadium in Las Vegas has a lot of hurdles to get over before it becomes a reality.
Right now, the plan would be to put it where the Tropicana Las Vegas Casino Resort sits.
There are a few things that must happen before that can become a reality.
The first hurdle was Monday night’s hearing on $380 million in public financing for the $1.5 billion stadium project.
The legislative session ends next Monday at midnight. Before then, it will have to receive approval from committees in the Nevada Senate and the Assembly. Otherwise, it would have to happen in a special session.
The deal has support from Clark County, as well as from the Culinary and construction unions.
Tina Quigley of the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance said taxpayers will get the money back, eventually.
“It is money that is gifted up front, but the money will come back,” Quigley said. “And there are stop gaps in the legislation that protect the public. So I do feel like county leaders have done a good job making sure the county is protected.”
Democratic Assemblyman Howard Watts asked if this is the right project for a valuable Strip location.
“Any other development idea for this site if this were not in play would probably bring in as much or more than the Tropicana does in its current state. It’s kind of the A’s of the Strip,” Watts said.
The bill needs only a simple majority to pass.
At 30,000 seats, the A’s stadium would be the smallest major league ballpark. The economic projections are based on a near sellout of 28,000 fans for all 81 home games. In 2022, the Oakland A’s had an average attendance of only about 10,000 fans.
To date, out of nearly 2,400 online opinions submitted on the bill, 78% oppose it. There are a lot of questions that need to be answered, such as how the traffic on that busy corner would be handled.
If the bill passes, the other baseball team owners would need to waive the relocation fee for the A’s.