The financing story around the Athletics’ $2.1 billion Las Vegas ballpark took a new turn this week, as the stadium site’s landlord signaled it may be willing to put up as much as $250 million to cover a shortfall from Bally’s Corp., the partner building the non-gaming components of the development. The Nevada Independent reported that during a contentious hourlong hearing with the Las Vegas Stadium Authority, Gaming and Leisure Properties President Brandon Moore said the company had already set aside $125 million — funds left over from the October 2024 demolition of the Tropicana — for Bally’s planned $1.9 billion entertainment district surrounding the ballpark, and was conditionally willing to increase that loan to $250 million.
At the center of the dispute is the ballpark’s northwest plaza entrance, the primary access point from the Strip for ticketed fans when the stadium opens in April 2028. Stadium Authority Chairman Steve Hill called the hearing ahead of a planned Dec. 3 meeting to address the plaza’s development. “We want to make sure that we can open the ballpark in time in 2028,” Hill said, adding that by December he wants “a clear and unconditional path” to make that happen.
Moore made clear the offer comes with strings. “Our funding agreement is conditioned upon a couple of business items being settled between Bally’s and the A’s,” he said. “If we’re going to put $250 million into the site, we just need to understand how the economics of that will work.” Bally’s is responsible for 27 acres of the overall 35-acre development, while the A’s are building the initial 1,500 spaces of a planned 2,500-space parking garage on the southeast side and covering costs for the team’s portion of the central utility plant.
The timeline is tight. Nick Tomasino, senior vice president of development at Bally’s, told the authority that building the plaza entry is a 12-month process that includes connecting pedestrian bridges over Tropicana Avenue and the Strip. “We would need to start by January 2027 to be able to comfortably be complete by the first quarter of 2028,” he said. A’s senior adviser Sandy Dean said the team is developing a contingency plan to ensure “a reliable and safe and comfortable way to get people into the front door of the ballpark.”
Meanwhile, the stadium itself remains on schedule. The 33,000-seat ballpark is on track to open in roughly 16 months, with three of the five roof truss arches complete and the final two expected to be installed by the end of the year. The A’s and GLPI have also agreed that whatever Bally’s builds must not block Strip views through the outfield’s 412-foot-wide, 96-foot-tall cable-net glass walls — what Moore called “the largest glass curtain wall in the world.”
Bally’s financial condition explains the scrutiny. The company used “going concern” language in an August filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding financing for its $4 billion New York City casino resort, and its chief financial officer resigned in September shortly afterward. Bally’s is also building a $1.7 billion resort in Chicago, where construction on non-gaming amenities stalled in late summer, and has already drawn $640 million of a $940 million GLPI loan package for that project.
“I don’t think our overall view of their credit risk has changed,” Moore said on GLPI’s third-quarter earnings call, noting the company hadn’t committed additional funds yet. “We haven’t ruled out some additional funding, but there’s a lot we need to see before we’re willing to commit more capital.” For Las Vegas — where the ballpark anchors a nine-acre plaza and a major Strip redevelopment — the December Stadium Authority meeting now carries the next word on whether the front door opens on time in April 2028.
