Las Vegas A’s Ballpark Hasn’t Lassoed NFR Rodeo

Posted on: May 3, 2023, 03:54h. 

Last updated on: May 4, 2023, 12:22h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas.

One of the events you won’t see at the proposed Las Vegas Athletics ballpark outside of baseball season is the National Finals Rodeo, at least according to a report in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Clay Tryan
Clay Tryan finished seventh in the 2022 National Finals Rodeo, the roper’s 20th, at the Thomas & Mack Arena. (Image: montanasports.com)

Quoting an unnamed source, the newspaper reports the annual festival of 10 Western-themed events, which drew 173,350 paid spectators to Vegas’ Thomas & Mack Arena in 2022, isn’t among the tenants rounded up by the MLB team.

The A’s play 81 home games a year, usually from late March to September or (though not since 1989) well into October. The team is scouting for other sporting events that might provide regular downtime income for its proposed Las Vegas stadium.

Last month, the A’s entered into a binding agreement to purchase 49 acres of land owned by Red Rock Resorts. Located just west of the Las Vegas Strip and north of Allegiant Stadium, the site was previously occupied by the Wild Wild West Gambling Hall & Hotel, which the operator shuttered last September and later demolished. The land’s sale price wasn’t disclosed, but some analysts estimate it was between $100M-$150M.

The ballclub is expected to break ground on that land for a 30,000-seat stadium with a retractable roof sometime next year. The A’s are reportedly seeking $500 million in public assistance to defray the stadium’s estimated $1.5 billion cost. The team hopes to begin playing in the new facility in 2027.

The House That Built Me

Since 1985, the NFR has been a staple of UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Arena, though it was relocated to the Texas Rangers’ Globe Life Field when Las Vegas was shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Thomas & Mack twin tunnels are ideal for the separate entrances required for competitors and livestock entering the rodeo. While it is unclear how many tunnels the A’s plan for their stadium, T-Mobile has just one. The Thomas & Mack is over 40 years old, and competition from newer venues for its proven audience could yield offers too lucrative to refuse.

In addition to the A’s, LA-based developers the Oak View Group is also building its own arena. Their 20K-seater, just four miles south of Mandalay Bay, is part of a $3 billion entertainment complex with a $1 billion casino hotel. The project will break ground sometime this year, the company announced last year.

The Oak View Group hopes to attract an NBA team to its arena. Since the NBA’s regular season runs from October through April, it would conflict with NFR’s schedule.

“As these venues start to come online, we’d certainly like to have these discussions,” Tim Keener, president of the NFR’s promoter, Las Vegas Events, told the R-J.  “We love Thomas & Mack, but you’ve got to do your due diligence and look around and see what’s out there and available.”

Will NFR Go AWOL?

The R-J’s report notes the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association’s commitment to host the NFR in Las Vegas ends in 2025. This has led to speculation that the event might entirely hightail it out of Vegas.

Keener offered the following words of encouragement, though they fall short of a guarantee: “I think the cowboys want to be here, the fans want to be here, and … we all want the NFR to stay here for years to come.”