Athletics Unveil Updated Renderings of Planned Las Vegas Stadium Ahead of Relocation

Scott Polacek@@ScottPolacekFeatured Columnist IVMarch 5, 2024

John Fisher/Getty Images

Major League Baseball fans got an updated look at what the Athletics’ new stadium could look like when they move from Oakland to Las Vegas.

Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal shared some of the renderings and images for the new stadium on Tuesday:

Mick Akers @mickakersUpdated A’s Las Vegas ballpark renderings. #vegas #athletics #mlb pic.twitter.com/zCdO6PXqUK

Akers further reported on the new stadium plans, noting the ballpark will feature 33,000 seats in a tiered-seating system to improve sight lines, a fixed roof with overlapping layers, the world’s largest cable-net glass window behind the outfield and an 18,000-square-foot jumbotron, which would be the largest in the league.

It will be built on the site of the Tropicana hotel, which will close on April 2, and also include 2,500 parking spots included on site.

Construction is slated to begin in April 2025.

“Our design for the new Vegas home for the A’s is conceived in response to the unique culture and climate of the city,'” Bjarke Ingels, who is the founder of the Bjarke Ingels Group that is leading the design, said.

“Five pennant arches enclose the ballpark—shading from the Nevada sun while opening to the soft daylight from the north. A giant window frames a majestic view of the life of the Strip and the iconic New York New York hotel skyline. All direct sunlight is blocked, while all the soft daylight is allowed to wash the field in natural light.”

Despite these renderings, the process of moving from Oakland to Las Vegas has been anything but smooth.

There have been lawsuits challenging the public money allocated to the stadium, and Las Vegas mayor Carolyn Goodman even said she thought the team should find a way to stay in Oakland before releasing a statement to clarify her position:

Carolyn G. Goodman @mayoroflasvegasStatement on today’s conversation about the Oakland A’s. pic.twitter.com/3dOXfFuq3d

On Feb. 27 Mike Axisa of CBS Sports noted Athletics owner John Fisher hadn’t secured his portion of the stadium financing. What’s more, the team still needs to find a home for the 2025 to ’27 campaigns before it would begin play in the new stadium in 2028.

Yet MLB commissioner Rob Manfred believes the move will happen.

“I think Las Vegas is solid, I really do,” Manfred said, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (h/t Axisa). “It was a little rough with the mayor, Clark County versus the city. But, you know, from my perspective, (Las Vegas mayor Carolyn Goodman) was the first person who ever talked to me about baseball in Las Vegas.

“I understand all politics are local, and the county is different than the city, but I think the governor and the politicians in general in Las Vegas remain committed to the deal. I think the deal is going to happen.”

This will not be the first move for the Athletics, who played in Philadelphia from 1901 through 1954 and Kansas City from 1955 through 1967 before moving to Oakland.