The Tropicana Las Vegas was demolished this week, theoretically to make room for the new home of the potential Las Vegas Athletics (or whatever else they might be called). But now that the land is officially available, does that mean the A’s will actually end up there?
As of now, the answer is that nobody knows. Yes, $380 million in public funds have been allocated from the Nevada state legislature for ballpark construction. But the $1.5 billion in private funding required from the A’s has not been secured — and that’s no small detail at this point in this story.
In addition, there are continued questions over whether the land where the Tropicana once stood is the appropriate place for an MLB stadium. The site is a mere nine acres, much smaller than the site proposed to the west of the Strip. We may not be experts in stadium planning at TSI, but from many accounts, the site may be too small for building the type of showcase facility that MLB is hoping for.
In addition, updated designs for the stadium have not been released either.
When you add it all up, the missing pieces surrounding this stadium endeavor seem incredibly odd given that the team has already abandoned its former facility and is “officially” on the move. At this point in a team’s relocation timeline, we’d usually expect to see a lot more concrete answers.
Furthermore, for the next three seasons, the A’s are supposed to play at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, home of the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats. But repeated questions about the playing surface and the typical 100-degree summertime temperatures in the “City of Trees” has brought the continued scrutiny of the MLBPA, as well as some player agents, including the always influential Scott Boras.
There just seem to be more questions than answers when it comes to this relocation, and until some of the pieces of this puzzle are filled in, it seems legitimate to question whether the A’s in Las Vegas is for real or not.
