Athletics unveil renderings of Las Vegas ballpark featuring climate-friendly design; "Like a spherical armadillo"
The Oakland Athletics unveiled on Tuesday new renderings of its proposed ballpark designed to be climate-friendly in the desert heat of Las Vegas and featuring the league's largest video scoreboard in its smallest-capacity facility.
In a press release, the team said the 33,000-person capacity, $1.5 billion ballpark planned at the current site of the Tropicana Hotel would have a layered, overlapping roof protecting fans and players from the sun and afternoon heat, along with views of the Strip through what would be the world's largest cable-net glass window.
The design also features an 18,000-square-foot jumbotron which would make it the largest screen in Major League Baseball. The Athletics said the ballpark plans are a collaboration between Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and HNTB, the architect for nearby Allegiant Stadium.
"The collaboration between BIG's creativity and HNTB's technical expertise allows for a truly innovative and bold design while ensuring an unmatched fan experience," said Athletics owner and managing partner John Fisher in a prepared statement. "We hope to add to the dynamic atmosphere and liveliness of the Las Vegas Strip, creating a welcoming environment for all of Southern Nevada."
The ballpark would also have split upper and lower seating bowls that would stack fans closer to the field than in traditional bowl configurations. The roof's five overlapping layers, evocative of the Syndey Opera House, are meant to evoke images of traditional pennants, said BIG founder and creative director Bjarke Ingels in a statement.
"The resultant architecture is like a spherical armadillo - shaped by the local climate - while opening and inviting the life of the Strip to enter and explore," said Ingels. "In the city of spectacle, the A's 'armadillo' is designed for passive shading and natural light."
The Athletics said Bally's and GLPI were working on a master plan for a related resort development, with more specifics of the process to be determined in the coming months. The ballpark was expected to open for the 2028 season.
The A's announced an agreement in May 2023 to build a ballpark on the Tropicana site and obtained $380 million in Nevada government financing the following month. On Nov. 16, the team received approval from the league to move to Las Vegas.
The team current lease at the Oakland Coliseum extends through the 2024 season and it's not clear whether the A's will play 2025 home games in Oakland, Sacramento or a minor league stadium in Las Vegas.