Serious question.
Why is Las Vegas so desperate for attention that we will bulldoze a classic Vegas hotel to possibly build a baseball stadium for the worst team in Baseball history?
Is Las Vegas really that desperate for business?
Last year, over 50 million people came through the gates at the Las Vegas International Airport, a record. Meanwhile, all the strip Hotels were filled with tourists paying higher prices for everything.
So why are the city/county leaders accepting being treated as a doormat by the sports teams and leagues? They are behaving like we need the business.
We don’t, and we don’t need what these third-rate teams bring with them—their so-called “fan base,” at least the fans who are out on parole.
Vegas, World Class?
We are supposed to be a world-class city of entertainment and sports.
World Class, not Bum-F*ck Iowa or someplace like that.
This is not how a “world-class city of entertainment” behaves when bottom feeders come demanding attention.
Thank goodness the NHL saw the light and understood the economics of new versus old.
They gave us our own team, and guess what? Locals love them. They win games and make money, but they have yet to ask the taxpayer for any handouts.
Winning and paying their own way? What a unique concept.
Vegas has no reason to look so desperate for another professional team.
If you want to bring this kind of trash to Las Vegas, put it where it was supposed to be: Where the old Wild West resort stood.
You know, the land where the team owner first proclaimed: “We have an ironclad deal “to build a stadium there. I guess “ironclad” means different things to different people.
Building it there also has a secondary benefit: it would keep some of the working girls in the area employed, which is always good for job growth!
But nope. The county and the city are so desperate for this to happen that they are willing to take a third-rate team as their own. That’s pathetic.
They are turning one of the busiest intersections in America into a death trap as they are willing to tear it all up and push forward with what are, so far, just fancy press releases.
Here we thought that having the Las Vegas Strip torn up six months a year for the F1 Race was terrible for tourism. Now, imagine what traffic will be like year-round with this debacle. Tourists be damned!
Yes, the Tropicana is not what it once was. I get that. Even many previous owners wanted to bulldoze it down and build new.
Cash Flow Talks
However, in a town where hotel occupancy is around 95%, compared to the national average of 40-50%, that constant cash flow was too great to ignore while they rebuilt.
I also say cash flow because most previous owners treated the Tropicana as their private ATM machine. Cash flowed in, then went out for other projects and expenses, leaving nothing in the property for upkeep, let alone improvement.
Now What?
The supposed dream right now stands as they will tear down the Tropicana, the third oldest resort on the Strip. They will give only 9 out of 35 acres to build a stadium for guests to pass out from summertime heat while watching their team beat our “home “team.
The other 26 acres are planned for a smaller resort and maybe an entertainment area. As if the land/building owners have the cash to pull it off!
But, like I said, it’s just been fancy press releases and silly drawings so far.
None of the parties involved have laid out any financial plans other than the $350 million Nevada is giving them in tax incentives and other schemes.
The Trop is going away, that is for sure. The rest is up in the air. The proposed stadium is probably just another dream project, like many other projects that have never happened here.
However, clearing the land will increase its land value, allowing other developers to come in and hopefully build something useful there.
I’m betting that they will clear the land, then say, “Oops, did we promise a stadium?” And we will see a “For Sale/Lease” sign on the corner before we ever see a stadium.
Final Note: The hotel closed on April 2, 2024. Demolition is scheduled for October.
Just my thoughts, what are yours?
