Las Vegas Strip's Major League Dreams Hit a Major Snag

Las Vegas has opened its arms wide to bring major league professional sports teams to Sin City, first with the arrival of the National Hockey League's Vegas Golden Knights in 2017 and then with the National Football League's Raiders in 2020.

The Las Vegas Raiders benefited from $750 million in public funds to build its $1.9 billion Allegiant Stadium. But MGM Resorts International (MGM) and Anschutz Entertainment Group built the Golden Knights' $375 million T-Mobile Arena without public funding.

The Oakland A's have been trying seal approval of a $1 billion waterfront ballpark as part of a bigger $12 billion Howard Terminal project in Oakland, but the City of Oakland on Sept. 30 missed a self-proclaimed deadline to reach an agreement with the A's for a ballpark.

Without that agreement, a binding vote from the city council this year is likely out of the question, as Oakland's City Administrator Ed Reiskin earlier indicated. The timeline discussed if the development agreement was completed in the city's timeframe would have allowed the planning commission to consider the project in October, the community and economic council to review an independent financial analysis of the project in November, with a potential vote by the city council in late November or early December.

That timeline cannot be met as the planning commission has not yet reviewed a project to get the ball rolling.

A's Don't Have an Agreement for an Oakland Ballpark

Major League Baseball and the A's have said that a deal needs to be in place by the end of the year for the project to be completed in the near future. The A's lease at the RingCentral Coliseum runs through 2024, and MLB officials say the team needs to have a new ballpark plan in motion by then.

The A's have set their sights on the Las Vegas Strip and have been talking with Circus Circus owner Phil Ruffin about building a stadium at the Las Vegas festival grounds site adjacent to Circus Circus. Clark County, Nev., officials have said the festival grounds site is in a redevelopment area and could qualify for tax increment funding through a redevelopment authority. Whether such funding would be adequate without further public funding is not clear.

A second site that the A's are looking at for a ballpark is on Bally Corp's Tropicana Las Vegas property. This site is not within a redevelopment area, and if the A's are seeking public funding for this project, they seem to be out of luck dealing with the State of Nevada and Clark County officials.

No State Desire to Use Public Tax Money

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak has reportedly indicated to A's president Dave Kavak and Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred that the state has no desire to use public tax money to finance construction of a ballpark, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“They still haven’t come up with a location that they’re going to move forward with,” Sisolak told the Review-Journal. “There are still talks with a couple and we’ll see what they will do. I think we’ll get down to details (once a site is chosen) but we’re not going to use public money to build another stadium.”

Clark County Commissioners Tick Segerblom and Michael Naft also said they will not support public funding for an Oakland A's ballpark. Without a commitment from state and/or county governments to provide public funding, the A's may soon begin talks to move the team to another community, an unnamed source told the Review-Journal.

Kaval and the A's did not immediately respond to a request for comment.