The general manager of the Tropicana Las Vegas made it through the first step of the licensing process and gave Nevada regulators an update on the future plans for the site.
Arik Allan Knowles, newly named vice president of hospitality strategy for Bally’s Corp., received a recommendation of approval from the Nevada Gaming Control Board Wednesday and will now appear before the Nevada Gaming Commission in two weeks.
The licensing is taking place, even though the Tropicana closed in April to pave the way for the implosion and the start of construction on a $1.5 billion baseball stadium for the relocating Oakland A’s. There are also plans to build a new resort.
Knowles has worked 28 years in the gaming industry, starting as front-desk staff at the Monte Carlo, now Park MGM. He has worked at the Tropicana for 14 years. He’s managing the shuttered property, overseeing the demolition and preservation of historic resources, and supporting the development of the site.
Knowles recapped the closure, emphasizing that the employees received severance and job-placement assistance. Many of the people he worked with have moved on to other opportunities throughout the city.
“The most defining moment of my career was the day we symbolically locked the front door,” Knowles said. “At noon on April 2nd, hundreds of team members walked outside to greet the media and say goodbye. It was an emotional moment that our team members still talk about today.”
After that, Knowles said they focused on asset disposition and the demolition of the property. The disposition included liquidation, donations, and transfers to other Bally’s properties. Historical artifacts were given to the UNLV archives and the Mob and Neon museums.
“The one exception is the famous glass ceiling. It has been painstakingly removed and stored for future use on the project,” Knowles said.
The Tropicana is down to a handful of employees in HR, finance, and facilities. The two towers have been gutted and Knowles said the implosion will occur in early October. The site will be cleared in early 2025 ahead of the A’s April 2025 requirements.
“I no longer deal with day-to-day operations. I spend time collaborating with our development team on the demolition of the site,” Knowles said. “I’ve been using my hospitality background to assist our regional properties with hotel operations, mainly the Lake Tahoe property at this point.”
There’s no date to break ground on the A’s stadium or the future resort, but Knowles said the construction and development teams are working on the schedule and master plan. “I don’t have much to share at this time, but there’s a lot of optimism about the location of the site as we continue to develop.”
Bally’s attorney Dan Reser gave the Board an update on the company’s accepting a $4.6 billion buyout offer from Standard General, a hedge fund led by Bally’s Chairman Soo Kim. He also reviewed Bally’s second-quarter results.
Bally’s will combine with The Queen Casino & Entertainment Inc., a regional casino operator majority owned by funds managed by Standard General. It will remain a public company, Reser said.
“They’re not strangers to the license and have been through the process, so Standard General will be the largest common shareholder,” Reser said. “The shareholders will retain their shares or trade them in. The share price being offered is 71% over the price on the market on the day of the offer.”
The financing for that is on its way to be in place and will include four new properties from the Queen portfolio: the DraftKings Casino in East St. Louis, the Queen Marquette in Iowa, and the Queen Baton Rouge and Bell Baton Rouge in Louisiana.
Sinclair Broadcasting and Noel Hayden, owners of large shares of stock, have agreed to support the merger, Reser said.
The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2025. More than a dozen regulatory jurisdictions across the country need to go through the process. The application for Nevada will be in place within the next month, Reser said.
Hayden will soon be going through interviews for licensing, Reser said.
