Las Vegas has evolved into one of the nation's most desired locations for major league sports teams.
Already, the National Hockey League brought the expansion Golden Knights to Las Vegas in 2017 along with their T-Mobile Arena on The Las Vegas Strip. Then, the city lured the National Football League's Oakland Raiders to the desert in 2020, where they play in Allegiant Stadium not far from The Strip.
Major League Soccer has been in talks with billionaire businessman Wes Edens about his desire to bring an expansion club to Las Vegas, MLSsoccer.com reported in February.
The National Basketball Association has operated a summer league in Las Vegas since 2004 and the WNBA's Aces, owned by Raiders owner Mark Davis, arrived in Vegas in 2018 and plays at Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay. While the city already has an NBA-ready arena where the Golden Knights play and another $1 billion arena is being planned by Oak View Group's Tim Leiweke, a plan to bring an NBA team to the city has not materialized.
Image source: Penn National Gaming.
Major Sports Team Closer to Las Vegas Deal
However, Major League Baseball might be close to bringing a team to Las Vegas, as the Oakland A's are getting more serious about a deal to relocate to Sin City. And their favored location might be on The Strip at a property currently occupied by the Tropicana Las Vegas at Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue.
"It's been widely publicized that the A's are looking at this site," Peter Carlino, CEO of the Tropicana's landowner Gaming and Leisure Properties (GLPI), said in the company's April 29 earnings call, according to a Seeking Alpha transcript. "...it's safe for me to say that they have a very, very strong interest in our site if the transaction can work to their advantage."
Carlino said in the transcript that Gaming and Leisure Properties' Chief Development Officer Steve Ladany, Chief Investment Officer Matthew Demchyk, and he had met with Bally's and Oakland A's representatives last week about a possible transaction. The property is committed to Bally's per a previous agreement, Carlino said in the transcript.
"There's absolutely no certainty about where that may go," Carlino said. "If we can facilitate something exciting, you bet we will. So there I must say stay tuned, we'll let you know."
The A's originally seemed to be using Las Vegas as leverage against the City of Oakland to get it to move faster on a proposed $1 billion privately financed waterfront ballpark at Howard Terminal near Oakland's Jack London Square.
A's president Dave Kaval presented the city with its development agreement term sheet on April 23, 2021. The Oakland City Council on Feb. 17, 2022, approved the final environmental impact report for the Howard Terminal ballpark on a 6-1-1 vote, NBCSports.com reported.
Committee Setback May Push Team to Las Vegas
Then on March 16, 2022, a state committee, the Seaport Planning Advisory Committee, voted 5-4 recommending against eliminating maritime use for the Howard Terminal, which Kaval said was a major setback in getting necessary approvals for the ballpark, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
After the state committee rejection and several subsequent lawsuit filings -- including one from Union Pacific Railroad, the Chronicle reported-- the A's could be looking at a Las Vegas stadium deal and relocation as a faster and easier way out of a bad situation in Oakland.
