In order for the Oakland A's stadium to get built on the Las Vegas Strip, a number of things have to happen.
First, the Nevada state legislature has to approve a bill that would provide as much as $380 million in public funding for the deal.
Given that the total cost for the 30,000-seat Major League Baseball stadium will exceed $1.5 billion, that approval seems likely. The state does not seem as eager to bring the baseball team to Las Vegas as it did the former Oakland Raiders of the National Football League, but it's not likely to risk losing the team over $380 million.
DON'T MISS: Las Vegas Strip Icon's Implosion Date Becomes Clearer
The second thing that needs to happen for the A's to build their stadium is the implosion of the Tropicana. The iconic resort casino, the second-oldest casino property operating on the Strip after Caesar's Entertainment's (CZR) Flamingo, sits where the team wants to build its new home.
Tropicana, which is operated by Bally's Corp. (BALY), sits on a 35-acre site owned by Gaming and Leisure Properties (GLPI). The stadium would take up only 9 acres of that property, and Bally's will likely rebuild a resort casino on the remaining space, but in late 2023 or early 2024, Tropicana will face implosion.
The loss of that Las Vegas Strip icon will clear a path for the A's stadium, and oddly enough that might cause a change of thinking about another doomed Strip icon, the Las Vegas Monorail.
The A's Stadium Could Save the Las Vegas Strip Monorail
The Las Vegas Strip monorail never really worked because resort operators, including Caesars and MGM Resorts International (MGM), did not want it to obscure the visual majesty of their resorts. That forced the above-ground train line behind the Strip, where it runs for 3.9-miles connecting some Caesars and MGM properties with the Las Vegas Convention Center.
The system is underused; it almost went bankrupt until the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority bought it in 2020, during the height of the pandemic, for $24.3 million.
That purchase was to keep the system operational until Elon Musk's Boring Co. finishes its wide-ranging Hyperloop system of underground tunnels, which will use driverless Tesla (TSLA) vehicles to ferry people all over the Strip, downtown, and to the airport.
The problem is that Tesla capacities are limited, and people come to and leave a baseball game at roughly the same time. Keeping the monorail, which is scheduled to be phased out once Hyperloop gets farther along, might make sense given that it has a station that would serve the A's stadium well.
That could, but likely won't, restore the visitors' authority's interest in a project that's very useful during conventions but has never fully been built out.
"Over the years, the Monorail has been much maligned as a train to nowhere and never reached its full potential because promises to extend the line to downtown Las Vegas and Harry Reid International Airport were never fulfilled," wrote the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Richard N. Velotta.
"The original vision of running the route down the center of Las Vegas Boulevard was scoffed at by Strip resort executives who viewed it as an eyesore compared with their beautiful resort buildings,"
Assuming Musk's Hyperloop gets built, it will ultimately connect the entire Strip with the convention center, Harry Reid Airport, downtown attractions, and more. It might not, however, be a great fit for needs of the A's or meet the needs when the city gets very full during major events and conventions.
"During major conventions, the Monorail thrives because conventioneers staying at MGM and the several Caesars Entertainment properties along the route have easy access to the Las Vegas Convention Center. It also provides great access to events at the MGM Grand Garden and T-Mobile Arena," Velotta added.
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