The Athletics are bringing a ballpark to the iconic Las Vegas Strip.
Set to be built on the site of the former Tropicana Hotel, the $2billion stadium is expected to create an experience unlike any other in baseball.
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The A’s have big plans for a new $2bn ballpark on the Las Vegas StripCredit: Getty
It will be part of a 35-acre campus that will also include two luxury hotel towers that boast a total of 3,000 rooms, a 2,500-seat entertainment venue, and more than 500,000 square feet of space for other shops and dining units.
A casino and a VIP experience will also offer visitors direct access to the 33,000-capacity A’s ballpark, scheduled to open in 2028, and plans feature a rooftop bar with a pool that looks over the spectacular new venue.
Owner John Fisher and president Marc Badain are pulling out all the stops for a massive project, which will see the franchise relocate 545 miles from California to neighboring Nevada.
Another MLB team, meanwhile, could also be on the move from its iconic location.
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In a bid to showcase exactly what their new ballpark has to offer, the Athletics have opened a new experience center that offers fans fans an exclusive first look at the team’s future in Las Vegas.
Features of new $2bn ballpark on show in A’s experience
The centerpiece of the space, which is available to visit by appointment only, is an immersive cube that allows visitors to step into the virtual ballpark.
It turns walls, floors and ceilings into a ‘seamless 270-degree digital canvas’ which helps fans step inside the A’s vision.
Designed by Advent and built by Burke Special Projects, the 26-million-pixel cube showcases the future in 3D, and allows visitors to explore interactive elements as they walk through the ballpark.
The experience center also boasts a detailed model of the future stadium, which features a removable roof to help highlight seating options, fan zones, and other key design features.
KTNV senior sports reporter Nick Walters shared footage of the impressive model on social media.
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A new model shows the A’s proposed $2bn ballpark in all its gloryCredit: Getty
He also shared a video from inside the immersive cube, which showed what the inside of the ballpark will look like from the pitcher’s mound.
The preview center also includes a life-sized elephant, which is a tribute to the A’s mascot ‘Stomper’.
Other interactive displays include memorabilia, bobbleheads, and other artifacts that celebrate the team’s history and fan traditions.
A clubhouse-themed area even features four of the team’s nine World Series trophies.
The plans for a new ballpark, though, have not gone down well with everyone.
MLB fans slam multi-billion stadium design
Plenty of fans have been vocal about the A’s decision to move out of Oakland, and some extended their annoyance to the ballpark design itself.
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The A’s experience center offers fans a glimpse of their future in VegasCredit: X / Athletics
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The preview center also paid tribute to the team’s historyCredit: X / Athletics
“Stadium is garbage. Vegas needs to do better! Where are the bullpens?” one fan asked on X.
“If that opening is facing west, good luck with that afternoon sun blaring down on home base… death ray 2.0,” another said.
The f*** is this ugly thing?” a third asked, while a fourth simply described the design as an ‘abomination’.
A fifth joked: “That would be dope if the roof went up like that! Add another $500m and make that happen.”
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The Athletics’ new Vegas site will be part of a huge entertainment complexCredit: Bally’s CorporationAthletics owner offers update on new ballpark
While the plans aren’t sitting well with some baseball fans, A’s owner Fisher was present at the opening of the experience center, and provided an update on the status of the project.
“I would like to say we’re ahead of schedule, because I think we actually are a bit,” he told KTNV’s Walters.
“But I like to be conservative about where we are. We’re on time, we’re on budget.
“I was just out at the site itself. Normally, projects like this, you don’t see a lot of change from day to day. But you do now, for us.
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Fisher was present as the A’s broke ground in Vegas during a ceremony in JuneCredit: Getty
“I go out and it seems like we’re pouring one section of floor every day. We’re building these buttresses and we have 300 people out on the site.
“Mostly locals who are building all this for us. It’s going to grow to close to 1,800 people.
“What the unions have done to support our efforts here has been extraordinary and I think we’re hopefully delivering back on that promise by being able to show what 1,800 people can create.
“It’s an exciting time.”
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The A’s broke ground for their new ballpark back in June, and if everything stays on track, MLB will be coming to Sin City in 2028 whether some fans like it or not.
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