Major League Baseball's Athletics are set to - eventually - move to Las Vegas. That move will require a new stadium, and the city needs to make room for that stadium on the Strip. In order to create space for the A's new ballpark, the decision was made to demolish an aging casino.
The hotel and resort was imploded this week, but in typical, extravagant Las Vegas fashion. The festivities began with a drone show, in which the hotel thanked the city for its decades of support. After the drones finished their message and formed a giant poker chip in the Vegas sky, the hotel was laid to rest with an accompanying fireworks display.
“The demolition of the Tropicana is an important milestone in the process of bringing A’s baseball to the world-renowned Las Vegas Strip and the community of Southern Nevada,” said A's owner John Fisher . “We hope that, in time, this site will become a place of unforgettable experiences for fans of the game." The implosion was the city of Las Vegas' first since the Riviera was demolished in 2016, a move done in order to expand the city's convention center.
The Tropicana opened in 1957, and was once known as the “Tiffany of the Strip." Frank Sinatra performed several concerts at the venue, and he and the rest of his friends from the Rat Pack often spent time there. According to TMZ , fans traveled to witness the implosion in person.
Room rates near the venue spiked in the days leading up to the event, and the nearby Mandalay Bay hosted a watch p.
