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The A's Ballpark Is Rising on the Strip. Here's Who Actually Wins.
Drive south on Las Vegas Boulevard past Tropicana Avenue and you can't miss it: cranes, steel and the shape of a 33,000-seat ballpark taking form on the site where the Tropicana stood for nearly seven decades. The Athletics' stadium is the biggest construction story on the Strip, and most of the coverage asks one question: will it open on time?
That is the wrong question for anyone with capital, land or a business plan in Southern Nevada. The better questions are who captures the value this project creates, when, and where, and who is likely to be disappointed. We have spent our careers building, operating and exiting ventures, including work on the 320-acre, $283 million Legacy Sports Complex in Mesa, Arizona. Sports-anchored development is a familiar story to us, and it rarely plays out the way the press releases suggest.
Here is our take on what the A's ballpark really means for Las Vegas, where we see opportunity, and what we would watch before committing a dollar.
The Short Version
The ballpark itself is no longer the risk; construction is well underway. The real uncertainty, and the real opportunity, sits in everything around it.
- The project: a roughly $2 billion, 33,000-seat domed ballpark on about 9 acres of the former Tropicana site, targeting a 2028 opening.
- The wildcard: Bally's planned resort on the rest of the 35-acre site, which is on a separate, slower timeline still working through entitlements.
- Likely winners: south Strip operators, nearby service and hospitality businesses, and owners of well-located land and buildings within a short walk or ride.
- Likely disappointments: anyone pricing in a year-round "district" before the surrounding development actually exists.
- Our view: position early around access, parking, hospitality and services, but underwrite to the stadium alone, not the renderings.
What is actually being built
The facts matter, so let's start there. According to public reporting and project disclosures:
| Item | What we know |
|---|---|
| Location | Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue, on about 9 acres of the 35-acre former Tropicana site |
| Capacity | About 33,000 seats, climate-controlled with a fixed roof and natural grass |
| Cost | Reported around $2 billion, up from earlier estimates near $1.75 billion |
| Public funding | Up to $380 million authorized under Nevada's SB1 (2023); private money covers the rest |
| Design and build team | Bjarke Ingels Group and HNTB (architects); Mortenson-McCarthy joint venture (builder) |
| Timeline | Groundbreaking June 2025; foundation work reported complete in early 2026; opening targeted for 2028 |
| Neighbor | Bally's has proposed a major resort on the remaining land; entitlement and FAA approvals for its towers were still pending as of mid-2026 |
Two things stand out. First, the stadium has momentum: steel is up, milestones are being hit and the team's reputation now depends on delivering. Second, the stadium and the resort next to it are two different projects on two different clocks. Bally's itself has said its 2028 deadline applies to the ballpark, not the casino-resort, and that the resort schedule will firm up once approvals come through.
Our Take
Treat the ballpark as a near-certainty and the surrounding resort as an option, not a given. Plans that only work if the full district opens on schedule are speculation, not underwriting.
Why an 81-game season changes the math
Las Vegas already has the Raiders at Allegiant Stadium, the Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena, the Aces, Formula 1 and a constant flow of fights, concerts and conventions. So why does one more stadium matter?
Because baseball is a volume business. An NFL team plays a handful of home games a year. A Major League Baseball team plays 81 regular-season home dates, mostly on weeknights and summer weekends. Those dates fall in exactly the periods when the Strip has historically worked hardest to fill rooms: midweek nights and the hot summer months.
- Midweek demand: a Tuesday-night series against a popular visiting team brings fans who need rooms, meals and something to do after the game.
- Summer shoulder: an air-conditioned ballpark turns July and August from a weakness into a selling point.
- Visiting fan travel: baseball fans travel to see their team on the road, and Las Vegas is an easy sell for a three-game weekend.
- Local habit: a regular schedule creates a routine for locals that a few big events a year never does.
This matters more after a softer stretch for the city. Las Vegas welcomed about 38.5 million visitors in 2025, down 7.5% from the year before, with hotel occupancy around 80% and average room rates down about 5%, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority's year-end figures. Conventions held up, but leisure travel softened. A baseball calendar won't fix affordability on its own, but it adds a steady, repeatable reason to visit.
Who wins: our ranking
1. South Strip operators
The resorts within walking distance of Tropicana Avenue gain the most obvious lift: pre-game dining, post-game nightlife and hotel rooms for visiting fans. Expect them to renovate, reprogram and market around game days. Pedestrian bridges and short walks become a competitive advantage.
2. Service businesses that feed a crowd
Every game needs staffing, security, cleaning, transportation, food supply, signage, lighting, maintenance and logistics. Some of the most reliable wins from a stadium go to the unglamorous businesses that serve it, often on multi-year contracts. Concessions, for example, have already been awarded on a long-term basis.
3. Parking and mobility
Thirty-three thousand fans have to arrive and leave somehow. Rideshare staging, shuttle services, surface and structured parking, and anything that solves the last half-mile will be in demand, especially in the years before surrounding development fills in.
4. Well-located land and buildings nearby
When Allegiant Stadium was announced, land near the site west of I-15 traded at premiums that made headlines. Some of that value was realized; some of it is still waiting for the walkable "stadium district" that was promised. The lesson: proximity matters, but access and use matter more. A parcel that can actually host parking, food and beverage or short-stay hospitality is worth far more than one that is simply close.
5. The city's long-term brand
Las Vegas has steadily traded its "gambling town" identity for "sports and entertainment capital." A second major stadium cements that shift and supports the case for future events, teams and investment.
Who may be disappointed
Every stadium story has a group that bought the rendering instead of the reality.
- "District" speculators: anyone paying today for a fully built entertainment district. Mixed-use districts around stadiums usually take years longer than planned, and some never fully materialize.
- Distant landholders: value falls off quickly with distance and with every barrier between a site and the stadium, such as freeways, rail lines and fenced resort properties.
- One-trick concepts: businesses that only work on game days. 81 home dates still leave most of the year without a game.
- Taxpayers expecting a windfall: research on publicly supported stadiums is mixed at best. The public return depends on how much new spending a venue brings rather than shifts from elsewhere.
Our Take
The best opportunities around a stadium are businesses and properties that win 365 days a year and get a bonus on game days. If a plan only works when the gates are open, it's a lottery ticket.
The Bally's question
The most important variable around the ballpark isn't baseball. It's what happens on the other roughly 26 acres.
Bally's unveiled plans in late 2025 for a large resort around the ballpark, reported at about $1.75 billion, with roughly 3,000 hotel rooms in towers, a 2,500-seat entertainment venue and hundreds of thousands of square feet of retail, dining and entertainment space. By mid-2026, the company had made clear the resort was not tied to the ballpark's opening and that the schedule depended on entitlement approvals, including FAA sign-off for tower heights. Its stated goal was a first-phase plaza with retail, dining and entertainment when the ballpark opens.
We see three plausible paths:
| Scenario | What it looks like | What it means for nearby investors |
|---|---|---|
| Full build | Plaza opens with the ballpark; towers follow within a few years | True district effect; strongest uplift for adjacent hospitality and retail |
| Phased build | Plaza and amenities first; towers delayed by financing or approvals | Game-day lift with gaps; parking and service plays outperform |
| Stalled build | Ballpark opens largely on its own; resort waits | Demand spills to existing resorts and off-site operators; land value growth slower |
Our base case sits between "phased" and "full": the ballpark opens with a meaningful first phase around it, and the rest follows as capital markets allow. Underwrite to "phased" and treat anything better as upside.
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Where we see opportunity
Hospitality that isn't a megaresort
Visiting fans, team staff, media and event crews need rooms at more price points than the Strip's luxury inventory offers. Well-run boutique, extended-stay and apartment-hotel products within easy reach of the south Strip could see steady game-day and convention demand. Our own pipeline includes a 75-acre luxury mixed-use development with hospitality, retail, apartment-hotel and stadium infrastructure, so this is a model we know well.
Food, beverage and experiences off the Strip
Locals will make the ballpark part of their routine, and many will eat and drink before and after the game somewhere easier and more affordable than a resort. Neighborhoods with good access to the south Strip and the I-15 corridor are worth watching.
Mobility and parking infrastructure
Parking structures, rideshare and shuttle operations, and technology that moves crowds efficiently are practical, cash-flowing plays that don't depend on a district being finished.
Event services and supply
Staffing, security, cleaning, signage, lighting, maintenance, food supply and logistics all scale with event volume. Companies that serve multiple venues, not just one, are best positioned.
Owner-operator real estate
Small industrial and flex space that supports event operations, such as warehousing, staging, fabrication and fleet storage, often gets overlooked while everyone chases frontage on the Boulevard.
The risks we'd watch
- Cost growth and financing: the ballpark's cost has already risen. The project has a strong incentive to finish, but cost pressure can squeeze surrounding plans.
- Entitlements and approvals: tower heights, land use and traffic plans for the surrounding resort still need sign-off.
- Tourism cycles: 2025 showed that visitation can fall when travel gets expensive. Baseball adds demand, but it doesn't make Las Vegas immune to the economy.
- Traffic and access: Tropicana and the Boulevard are already busy. Game-day congestion could cut both ways for nearby businesses.
- Attendance: new ballparks usually get a honeymoon. What matters is attendance in years three to five, which depends heavily on how good the team is.
- Competition for the event dollar: Las Vegas has more major venues every year. Each one competes for the same visitors and local spending.
How we would approach it
If we were advising a client, or deploying our own capital, around the ballpark today, this is the framework we would use:
- Underwrite to the stadium alone. Model 81 home dates and other events at realistic attendance, with no credit for a finished district.
- Prioritize access over proximity. A site with easy, legal, safe access to fans beats a closer site behind a barrier.
- Build for 365 days. Choose uses that earn from locals, conventions and everyday tourism, with game days as upside.
- Stage your commitment. Use options, phased purchases and joint ventures to keep flexibility while the surrounding plans firm up.
- Partner with operators. The value comes from execution: running the parking, the venue, the hotel or the service business well.
- Watch the milestones. Approvals for the Bally's resort, financing announcements and Clark County traffic plans will tell you more than any rendering.
Our track record: InTooWin's principals have been involved in building and exiting ventures across energy and industrial services, including Bullrock, Bullrock Water, Kota, Raptor Supply and Raptor Gaskets, along with the 320-acre Legacy Sports Complex in Mesa, Arizona. Our current pipeline includes a 75-acre luxury mixed-use development with stadium infrastructure and agricultural infrastructure projects backed by more than $200 million in signed LOIs and purchase orders.
The bottom line
The A's ballpark is no longer a question of "if." It is happening, and it will add a steady, repeatable source of demand to the south Strip. But the biggest gains from stadiums rarely go to whoever buys the closest dirt at the highest price. They go to the people who understand access, timing and operations, and who structure their deals to survive the gap between the rendering and the reality.
That's the work we enjoy. If you're weighing an opportunity tied to the ballpark, the south Strip or Las Vegas development more broadly, we'd be glad to compare notes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is the Athletics' Las Vegas ballpark being built?
On the former Tropicana site at Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue on the south Strip. The ballpark uses about 9 acres of the roughly 35-acre site.
When is the A's stadium expected to open?
The ballpark is targeting a 2028 opening. Construction began in June 2025, and foundation work was reported complete in early 2026.
How much does the Las Vegas ballpark cost?
Recent reporting puts the cost around $2 billion, up from earlier estimates near $1.75 billion. Nevada authorized up to $380 million in public funding under SB1; the rest is private.
How many seats will the stadium have?
About 33,000, in a climate-controlled ballpark with a fixed roof and natural grass.
What is Bally's building next to the ballpark?
Bally's has proposed a large resort with hotel towers, an entertainment venue and retail and dining space on the rest of the site. The resort is on a separate timeline from the ballpark and depends on entitlement and FAA approvals.
Will the ballpark raise property values nearby?
Proximity can help, but access and use matter more. Properties that can host parking, hospitality, food and beverage or event services are best placed. Values tied to a fully built district carry more risk until that district exists.
Who benefits most from the A's moving to Las Vegas?
In our view: south Strip resorts, event service businesses, parking and mobility operators, and owners of well-located, usable property. An 81-game home schedule adds midweek and summer demand.
What are the biggest risks around the ballpark?
Cost growth and financing, approvals for surrounding development, tourism cycles, traffic and access, and long-term attendance after the opening years.
Is now a good time to invest near the south Strip?
It depends on the asset, price and structure. We favor deals that work year-round, prioritize access over proximity, and use staged or joint-venture structures while surrounding plans firm up. This is commentary, not investment advice.
Does InTooWin advise on Las Vegas projects?
Yes. We partner with family offices, private investors and operators on structuring, capital and execution, and we review opportunities in Las Vegas and beyond. Reach out through our contact page or call +1 (702) 738-2218.
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Sources
- New Las Vegas Stadium — project overview
- Las Vegas Sun — Bally's plans Strip resort alongside MLB ballpark
- News 3 Las Vegas — Bally's on resort timing vs. ballpark
- Las Vegas Sun — Las Vegas tourism down 7.5% in 2025
- Las Vegas Review-Journal — ballpark construction progress
- Las Vegas Review-Journal — land prices near the Raiders stadium
Related
This article is commentary and opinion based on publicly reported information as of October 2026. It is not investment, legal or financial advice. Project details, costs and timelines may change; verify current information before making decisions. Images are illustrative and are not official renderings.