The reality of a new Athletics ballpark in Las Vegas is inching closer, as a date officially has been set to demolish the hotel located at the stadium's future site.
The Tropicana Las Vegas will close April 2 to make way for the construction of a new MLB ballpark for the A's, Bally's Corp., which owns the hotel, announced Monday in a news release, per the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Mick Akers.
Plans state construction of the A's new $1.5 billion, 33,000-seat stadium is expected to begin in April 2025, per Akers, and be finished in time for the 2028 MLB season after a demolition process for the hotel anticipated to last between nine and 12 months.
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In what has been a years-long saga, the A's plan to relocate from Oakland to Las Vegas and received approval from MLB owners to do so in a unanimous November vote. The planned stadium will be built on 9 acres of the Tropicana's 35-acre site, with a resort owned by Bally's Corp. set for the remaining land.
As for the funding, the Nevada State Legislature approved $380 million of public money to help pay for the new ballpark, while the A's will supply the remaining $1.1 billion.
Meanwhile in Oakland, the A's lease at the Coliseum expires after the 2024 MLB season. It's not clear where the team would play in the interim while the Las Vegas ballpark is built, although the A's organization reportedly has visited Sutter Health Park in Sacramento and a stadium in South Jordan, Utah, as possible temporary homes.
There's still no word on what the A's new ballpark will look like, as original renderings were tossed out and new ones still are being made, but with a date set for the development process to begin, it looks like baseball could hit The Strip soon.