Athletics Have Reportedly Found Site For New Ballpark In Las Vegas

The Athletics have reportedly found their preferred site to build a new stadium.

According to CNBC correspondent Contessa Brewer, the Athletics are looking to build at the Tropicana Las Vegas, located on the south end of the Las Vegas Strip. The DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel and Resort is home to a 50,000 square foot casino and numerous award-winning restaurants. As Brewer points out, the location is owned by Bally's, while other sites under consideration are owned by Wynn and Caesars.

The Athletics, under pressure from MLB commissioner Rob Manfred to settle their stadium situation, are eying a move to Las Vegas. The move would follow the Raiders' move, who shared a stadium with the Athletics in Oakland and relocated to the Sin City for the start of the 2020 regular season. Manfred officially gave the Athletics the green light in May to pursue Las Vegas as a potential relocation market.

The Oakland Coliseum hosts the Athletics, as its done since 1968. Rebranded the "RingCentral Coliseum" in 2019, it's known as one of the worst stadiums in all of sports, especially in baseball. The Coliseum notably has a larger foul territory than any stadium in the MLB, meaning fans are farther away from the action.

Despite putting on an enjoyable brand of baseball that's routinely in the mix, the Athletics' attendance is routinely at the bottom of the MLB. In 2021, the Coliseum saw an average of 8,767 fans in attendance, 29th in the league, just ahead of the Marlins. Meanwhile, the Dodgers, Padres, Giants and Angels, the rest of California's MLB teams, all finished in the top-16 in attendance.

On Nov. 19, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported the Athletics had placed a bid on a plot of land in the Las Vegas Valley. The team intended to then build a $1 billion ballpark, team president Dave Kaval said.

“We’re kind of moving from a phase of research/data gathering to action around a final site,” Kaval said. “That’s really important because the site selection is a really critical path to keep the process moving forward to where we could have a holistically blessed project.”

Kaval told the Review-Journal the method of financing hasn't been decided yet, but work is being done to answer those questions.

“How it works, how it’s financed, any public-private partnerships, all the aspects and why we think it works in the marketplace,” Kaval said. “We’re building toward that with all these steps.”

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