A's reportedly land on new Tropicana Las Vegas stadium site after pulling out of 'binding' agreement

Like so many Las Vegas visitors, the Oakland Athletics are reportedly changing plans after reevaluating their financial circumstances.

The club has reached a new agreement with casino operator Bally's Corporation to build a $1.5 billion stadium on the current site of the Tropicana Las Vegas casino, according to the Nevada Independent.

The deal would reportedly see Bally's demolish the Tropicana and allow the A's to construct a 35,000-seat, retractable-roof stadium on nine acres of the 34-acre site located on the Las Vegas Strip. Meanwhile, Bally's would construct a 1,500-room hotel and casino across from the stadium, separate from the ballpark.

As reported, the agreement would reportedly undo the "binding" agreement the A's announced three weeks ago, in which the club was to purchase 49 acres of land near the Strip from Red Rock Resorts.

The Tropicana Las Vegas has been an institution on the Strip since its opening in 1957, with appearances by the Rat Pack and scenes filmed in "Diamonds are Forever" and "The Godfather," but it has faced hard times recently. It was sold to Bally's last year for $148 million, but Penn National Gaming still owns and leases the land through a spinoff company.

This is probably not how Rob Manfred wanted MLB to play a role in demolishing something with "Tropicana" in its name, but he'll probably take anything at this point if it means the A's have a new stadium.

Why are the A's changing course with their Vegas stadium?

The original Red Rocks deal represented a death knell for any chance of the club remaining in Oakland, but it apparently had its own problems. Most notably, the A's struggled to get a proposal in front of the Nevada legislature to approve a tax bill that was to give the team a $500 million tax credit.

The team still faces a ticking clock, as the legislative session is set to end June 5.

The A's apparently struggled so much to find legislative support that they reportedly started contacting backup stadium sites to find a more palatable deal. The Tropicana site was one of them, as was the Rio Hotel & Casino.

This new deal will reportedly see the $500 million tax bill reduced to $395 million. It also reportedly means the A's no longer plan to build an entertainment district around their new stadium, an idea that has become increasingly popular among sports teams that want to profit from the areas outside a stadium.

While the site and scope of the Athletics' stadium plans are changing, their timeline reportedly still has them breaking ground in 2024, with a planned opening date in 2027 or 2028 if the construction timeline changes.