LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The owner of the Treasure Island and Circus Circus casinos said that he supports a potential Oakland A's move to Las Vegas.
That's despite the fact that Phil Ruffin and his team weren't able to make a ballpark site on the north end of the Strip work.
Ruffin, who was reached by phone Friday, said he talked to the A's about the festival grounds piece of land he owns — close to 40 acres — near Circus Circus but that a deal was ultimately not made.
The A's have zeroed in on a 49-acre piece of land just west of the Strip and north of Allegiant Stadium.
The team has an agreement with Red Rock Resorts, the parent company of Station Casinos, to purchase that land for a 35,000-seat ballpark and adjoining special tax district, which would help pay for the stadium.
Ruffin said any possible ballpark deal involving festival grounds land is dead.
"It was my decision to not do it," Ruffin said. "The price wasn't right and our site doesn't have as much room for parking as the site they're looking at now. We just couldn't make a deal but they're good people. We support them moving to Las Vegas."
The parking issue seems to be very important to the A's.
A source confirmed to Channel 13 on Thursday that a lack of parking was a big part of the reason why the team shied away from a potential deal that could have led to a ballpark going up at the Rio site, near Flamingo and the I-15.
A person with knowledge of those talks confirmed to Channel 13 that a 22-acre plot of land controlled by Dreamscape, the company that owns the Rio, was offered to the Major League Baseball team for $1.
The A's said they'll contribute about $1 billion for a retractable-roof ballpark that would cost close to $1.5 billion.
They'd like public money — possibly a special tax assessment district that would include and surround the ballpark — to be used to fill in the gap.
As of Friday afternoon, no stadium funding bill had been introduced by Nevada Legislators.
The 2023 Legislative session ends June 5 and the A's are pushing to get a deal done by the end of the year.
However, members of the Athletics Investment Group lobbying body have been pushing for a public-private partnership bill for an A's stadium in Carson City this week.
Ruffin said he's not disappointed that a deal wasn't worked out for a ballpark at the festival grounds site, which he called "the best piece of ground on the West Coast."
Ruffin said he believes the team will end up in Las Vegas.
"It happens sometimes. They found a bigger piece of ground."
