The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · 1957–2024
The Tropicana was profitable when Las Vegas closed it for a ballpark
Opened in 1957, the Tropicana Las Vegas closed on 2 April 2024 while still profitable, and was imploded that October to clear ground for the A's stadium.
Tropicana Las Vegas · Bally's Corporation · 2024-04
What happened
The Tropicana opened on 4 April 1957 — at $15 million the most expensive Las Vegas resort of its day — and ran for 67 years, hosting the Folies Bergère from 1959 to 2009, the longest-running show in Las Vegas history. A $180 million renovation completed in 2011 gave it a South Beach makeover; nothing fixed what was coming.
What ended it was a land deal, not a loss. Bally's operated the casino on land leased from Gaming and Leisure Properties, and when baseball owners approved the Oakland Athletics' move to Las Vegas in November 2023, the 36-acre Tropicana site became the chosen ground for a $1.5 billion, 33,000-seat ballpark. Bally's judged the ageing property economically obsolete — yet on GLPI's April 2024 earnings call, executives said the Tropicana was cash-flow positive right up until it closed.
The casino shut at 3 a.m. on 2 April 2024 and the hotel at noon, with 700 workers covered by a negotiated severance package and hiring lists for future properties. The tower came down in a 2:37 a.m. implosion on 9 October 2024. The Athletics plan to play from the 2028 season; Bally's is to build a new 3,005-room resort on the remaining acres.
Why it happened
- The land under the Tropicana was worth more as a stadium site than a 1957 casino could earn — even a profitable one.
- The ownership split — operator leasing land from a REIT — let a redevelopment deal end the business even while it made money.
- The MLB relocation approval in November 2023 started a construction clock that no refurbishment of the old property could compete with.
The lesson
The Tropicana made money to the end — its landlord said so on an earnings call. It still closed, because a $1.5B stadium needed its land. Profitability doesn't own the ground it stands on.
Aftermath
The Athletics' ballpark began construction for a 2028 opening; a new 3,005-room Bally's resort is planned on the remaining 15 acres.
Sources
- Las Vegas Review-Journal, April 2024 — Tropicana was profitable right up until it closed, landowner says (GLPI executives — CEO Peter Carlino and COO Brandon Moore — said on the 26 April 2024 earnings call that the Tropicana was cash-flow positive when it closed 2 April 2024; closure was 'right on time' for asset liquidation and demolition rather than an early shutdown to save costs; $1.5 billion, 33,000-seat indoor stadium for the Oakland Athletics with construction to begin in 2025; Bally's chairman Soo Kim confirmed an implosion in September or October 2024)
- Las Vegas Sun, 29 January 2024 — Tropicana sets April 2 closing ahead of demolition (closing date announced 29 January 2024 via an employee memo from VP and general manager Arik Knowles; demolition to make way for the Oakland Athletics' $1.5 billion, 33,000-seat stadium on 9 of the 36-acre site's acres; Athletics expected to begin play in the 2028 season; Tropicana opened in 1957, operated by Bally's Corp on land owned by Gaming and Leisure Properties; Culinary Union negotiated severance and rehire lists for workers)
- Wikipedia — Tropicana Las Vegas (opened 4 April 1957, conceived by Ben Jaffe at $15 million the most expensive Las Vegas resort of its time; Folies Bergère ran 1959–2009 as the longest-running show in Las Vegas history; $180 million renovation completed 2011; final owner Bally's Corporation leasing land from GLPI; final closure 2 April 2024 with 1,467 rooms and 700 workers; called economically obsolete despite being profitable; imploded 9 October 2024 at 2:37 a.m.; site of a $1.5 billion Oakland Athletics ballpark on 9 acres, construction from May 2025 for January 2028 completion, plus a planned 3,005-room Bally's resort)
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