The Oakland A’s revealed design plans for their proposed 33,000-seat Las Vegas stadium on Monday, and they’re like nothing you’ve ever seen before. For a baseball stadium, at least.
The design, credited jointly with BIG Architects and infrastructure engineering firm HNTB Corporation, features an enclosed stadium with a giant window overlooking the Las Vegas Strip with a direct view of New York-New York and the MGM Grand.
Together with @BIG_Architects and @HNTBCorp, we have unveiled the design for our new ballpark project in Las Vegas on the Tropicana site. BIG will serve as the design lead and HNTB as the sports/hospitality designer and architect of record.
Images by Negativ pic.twitter.com/mvpiCBXD54
— Oakland A’s (@Athletics) March 5, 2024
It also features a multi-piece roof with overlapping layers that are drawing comparisons on social media to one of the world’s most iconic buildings. In some ways, from certain angles, it looks very much like Australia’s Sydney Opera House.
From the outside, at least.
The interior is its all its own with renderings showing the underside of one of the roof’s layers emblazoned in A’s green and housing a massive video board stretching across the entirety of right field. Per the A’s, the roof’s five overlapping layers that have gaps for natural light are “inspired by traditional baseball pennants.” The proposed 18,000-square-foot video board would be the largest in MLB.
HNTB, which would be credited as the architect of record, designed the Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium.
So when will ground break on the new stadium?
That’s not clear. Monday’s announcement didn’t include a date. Per MLB.com, “the A’s will continue to collaborate with local partners and navigate approval processes, making refinements to the ballpark design over the next year.”
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The franchise has cleared several hurdles for its intended move from Oakland to Las Vegas including receiving approval from MLB owners and state and regional government in Nevada. It’s also reached agreement to build the proposed stadium on a 35-acre plot on the south end of the Las Vegas strip at the current site of the Tropicana hotel and casino.
The actual move has yet to be set in motion. When MLB approved the move, the A’s stated that they planned for the upcoming season at Oakland Coliseum to be their last with a plan to move to Las Vegas in time for the 2028 season. The team’s lease in Oakland expires at the conclusion of the 2024 season.
Where they’d play in between also remains unclear. Sacramento and Salt Lake City emerged as reported options in February, with Sacramento as the reported frontrunner, according to The Athletic.
Daniel Miller is a sports fanatic who lives and breathes athletics. His coverage spans from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis for sports enthusiasts.
