Future of Tropicana Las Vegas Still Unknown Because of Oakland Athletics’ Plans

Bally’s Corporation Tropicana Las Vegas casino might be closed if the Oakland Athletics continues to push forward with its plan for building a Las Vegas ballpark.

Plans for the future:

On Monday, Bally’s released an FAQ and announced to its employees that if the Legislature approves the amount of $395 in public funds for its new ballpark, the Tropicana casino might close in the following 18 to 24 months.

However, the statement changed on Tuesday when an “Updated FAQ” was released. The company changed its opinion a bit, claiming that it would try to keep the casino open as long as possible. Also, Bally’s assured its employees that even in the case of the closure, there will be other job opportunities in Bally’s properties. The company added that Monday’s release wasn’t accurate and that they rushed a bit with that release.

A spokesperson of Bally’s Corp. claimed: “The FAQ issued today accurately conveys the current situation. The plans regarding the recently announced agreement with the Oakland Athletics are in very preliminary stages, and our focus at this time is on continuing to operate the Tropicana. We will be prepared to support Tropicana employees if and when the need should arise.”

The new casino will be built on 26 acres that will remain in Bally’s hands after the ballpark is built. The workers of Tropicana will be the primary choice when it comes to employment, and they will keep their employee seniority, as Bally’s claims.

The Oakland Athletics hopes they will have a chance to build a 30.000-seat, $1.5 billion worth ballpark on 9 acres of land that currently belongs to Tropicana casino. However, 26 acres will remain empty, so the new casino will be built.

The workers’ rights:

Soo Kim, a Chairman of Bally’s Corporation, said that the company still didn’t know if the casino would be completely closed or if it would happen in a phased manner. He commented: “I think the general thought process is to do the stadium first and to not be in a rush to develop the rest of the site. But I think that is going to be dependent on lots of different factors.”

The Culinary Union supports Bally’s employment. They have a contract with them and are ready to protect their rights if Bally’s fails to do it.

Ted Pappageorge, the Culinary Union Secretary-Treasurer, said that since the opening of Tropicana casino back in 1957 relationship between the employees and Union was strong and that the Culinary and Bartenders unions represented hundreds of employees of the casino over the years. He added that their jobs had to be protected according to the contract they signed.