Three months after they were originally supposed to be released, Oakland A’s Las Vegas stadium renderings finally dropped yesterday. [UPDATE: This was apparently a day earlier than planned, because A’s execs initially forgot to tell reporters the images were supposed to be embargoed.] Are they as batshit as last week’s “verbal renderings” made them sound? Do they raise even more questions about the financial wherewithal and/or sanity of A’s owner John Fisher? Are they ever, and do they ever!
Initial thoughts:
- The “five overlapping layers” “inspired by traditional baseball pennants” turn out to look more like someone picked up the Sydney opera house and dropped it on a baseball stadium. It’s definitely visually striking — how it would work in terms of engineering, how much it would cost to construct, and how it would fit on a teeny nine-acre site are all excellent questions.
- The “largest video board in MLB” will be attached to the curve of the (fabric?) roof somehow, and will be impossible to read for anyone sitting down the first-base line. Also despite the stadium not opening until 2028, a 40-year-old Mike Moustakas will still be playing third base for the Los Angeles Angels, and the A’s lineup will likewise involve all players who are currently on the team, which would be remarkable but maybe not more remarkable than Shea Langeliers batting .285.
- “The tiered design will split upper and lower seating bowls to bring fans closer to the action than traditional ballparks and provide clear sight lines from every seat,” according to MLB.com’s writeup, and yes, every baseball stadium for at least the last century has featured a “tiered design” and no, there’s no way that “brings fans closer to the action” unless the upper decks are cantilevered over the lower ones, and that doesn’t appear to be the case here.
- As Noah Pransky notes, there’s no a/c ductwork to be seen, which would make the stadium a little on the toasty side.
- The whole mess looks like “a spherical armadillo” according to stadium critic … oh, whoops, that’s what designer Bjarke Ingels said himself, apparently meaning it in a good way. Twitter took it differently.
- Fisher gave an interview to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser that will be remembered for his quote that “the armadillo is an underrated animal,” but is mostly notable for his admission that even after putting in $500 million of his own money and borrowing another $200 million, he’s still missing $500 million that he expects to come from unidentified “equity investors” in … the team? The stadium? The roof? Slusser apparently didn’t ask, nor did she ask if a $1.5 billion price tag for this madness is really realistic.
All of this is very on brand for Ingels, whose firm’s style is more architectural shock and awe than fireworks and people flinging their hands in the air for no reason. (Though it is worth noting that future A’s fans seem to have taken to bringing blank green flags to the ballpark, possibly because they’re all diehard supporters of Gaddafi’s Libya.) It does make me wish for some renderings that break new ground in terms of not only physics-defying engineering but reality-defining clip art — couldn’t we at least have one completely nonsensical scene, like, I dunno, horses running wild in the parking lot?
Ahh, now that’s what I’m talking about! That small child will always remember the day her parents first took her gambling, not least because of the hoof-shaped indentation her head will feature the rest of her life. Every great image tells a story, and I’ll take that one any day over “John Fisher captured a space armadillo and forced it to serve as his stadium roof until Jean-Luc Picard figured it out and forced him to release it.”
They should rebrand the team as the Las Vegas Armadillos while they are at it.
Still the A’s! Don’t even have to change (some of) the uniforms.
Considering who owns them, I still prefer the AAs.
I think it was Neil who proposed the A’s move to Canada and become the Toronto Eh’s.
I love clever shit like that!
This joke has been made several times here, including once by me, but it looks like first use was by Quesoguapo:
https://www.fieldofschemes.com/2021/10/13/18063/manfred-as-could-move-lots-of-places-not-just-vegas-dont-make-me-name-them/#comment-54947
And don’t miss that the orientation of the park is such that the setting sun would be in the catchers/batters eyes.
It looks like the stadium faces due north, so maybe the sun won’t quite be in the batters’ eyes. Though from the second image, we also learn that the sun will be setting in the southeast by 2028, which raises all sorts of unpleasant possibilities.
It’s all very amusing. :)
It’s clearly a combination of the pilot episodes of TNG and Space:1999, where the explosion of a nuclear waste dump somewhere in Colorado/Utah/Nevada forces Las Vegas itself to be blasted off the earth and sent on an endless journey through space.
This may affect visiting team’s travel schedules and/or travelling fan support.
Just think of all the economic impact created by visitors from Psychon! Though this may be mitigated if they all turn themselves into birds first and just eat whatever crumbs they find under the seats instead of buying from concessions.
And here we see the true genius in in Fisher’s grand plan… the rest of the world hasn’t yet noticed, but with a stadium soon to be outside earth’s gravity well and thus exempt from both land and maritime law, he controls the RSN rights to the rest of the universe…
Suck on that, Big Stein…
That’s a 10 acre armadillo in a 9 acre pin.
One thing I’m not clear on. Is Fisher looking for a $500 million investment in the A’s or is he looking for an investment in the Armadillo? If the latter what are the revenue streams? Do the A’s pay rent?
These would be good things to ask Fisher if, say, you were an experienced sports reporter who had the opportunity to interview him!
Vegas is all about pushing the limits, so why not the ‘Dillo Park?
The A’s need to change their name, seriously change the name.
Yeah, that was my first thought too… the Sydney Opera House.
And I would encourage everyone to go read that venue’s Wikipedia page for construction gems like the cost (originally budgetted at A$102m – final cost A$1.08Bn… more than the Olympic stadium in Mtl cost over ten years later) and build schedule (14 years. Yeah.)
Ah, and it was also designed (but not finished) by a Danish Architect… not that we should assume all Architects from Denmark are the same… it’s just an interesting diversion.
Well, at least we know why FishCo were reluctant to release the ‘renderings’ (which look more like early concept sketches with people added to me).
Only in Vegas would they suggest building a stadium reminiscent of Sydney with a view of the New York skyline. Not much hometown pride there.
Based on a A$102 million construction budget in the 1960s for the Sydney Opera House, the A’s stadium will probably pass the MSG Sphere and come in North of $3 billion. A biilion her and a billion there…..
Just remembered that Las Vegas is in the middle of the Walker Lane seismic zone …add another billion.
I didn’t read the SOH page closely enough… that building covers about 4.4 acres (600′ x 400′ approx). About half of what this site provides (we assume FishCo will have to use all of that for the stadium).
And it cost $1.1Bn (Aus) in 1973… which, the online inflation calculator says would be $7.6Bn Australian today. But adjusting for US dollars that’s only $5Bn or thereabouts, so everything is totally fine.
Add to that, majestic curving roof arches tend to take up a great deal more space than the more standard post/beam/cantilever systems do (if you haven’t seen the Impossible Engineering episode on JerryWorld, check out how big the holes filled with concrete that anchor the four ends of the supertrusses are… it’s impressive) and you really wonder whether the artist/s responsible for these concepts have any idea what the site looks like.
This building would be truly transformative in any way you want to use that word.
The good news is that Enrico Pallazzo has agreed to be the resident vocalist for all national anthem performances at all A’s games with bonuses set aside for Formula 1 renditions on the strip.
Is that Enrico Pallazzo or Phil Donahue?
“Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light
What so proudly we hail
in the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose bright stripes and brought stars in the perilous night
O’er the ramparts we watched da na na na na na na
And the rockets red glare, bunch of bombs in the air
Gave proof through the night that we still had our flag
Oh! Say does that spangled banner wave over aaaaall that is free!
O’er the home of the land, and the land of the free!”
Would be remiss to bring up how they’ve done everything to show these photos on social media while doing everything possible to prevent everyone on social media from reacting to it due to the inevitable meme potential.
Who else is shocked at Fisher being so thin skinned?
Well, Fisher hasn’t yet released the video renderings of the new ballpark that shows the stadium’s armadillo-like functionality to curl up into a ball when Fisher is threatened (i.e. mocked).
I think Fisher said the videos would be released shortly. But don’t hold your breath as possibly Fisher may put them on hold out of respect for Battle of the Alamo defenders that perished 188 years ago today.
You raise an interesting point with regard to local ground rules… Ha! And everyone thought the catwalk rules at the Trop were a pain…. just you wait… AA’s trailing in the 8th (what are the odds?)??? Runner picked off second base??? Oh Yeah? Watch this…
Ballys CEO was testifying before the Gaming Control Board- doesn’t sound very excited about the renderings
Looks like this is the live feed:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5LvQkIciNQ
Do you remember what time/time stamp the Ballys CEO was commenting on the renderings?
It’s about 25 minutes in.
Stutz has the quote
https://x.com/howardstutz/status/1765428405196194200?s=20
Has any team official mentioned if the building will have air conditioning? I haven’t seen it mentioned in all the months of discussions dating back to when the stadium was going to be open to 107+ degree summer temps.
Given how cheap the owner is, I don’t think we can assume that A/C will be part of the stadium.
“Interior comfort will be controlled by air conditioning that blows from seat-level rather than from above.”
https://www.archpaper.com/2024/03/big-hntb-unveil-renderings-oakland-as-las-vegas-stadium/
Wear heavy socks, Armadillos fans!
Have fun baseball fans late July/early August in the upper deck as heat rises.
Did Fisher steal the fake technology that Qatar supposedly used at their World Cup to cool their soccer stadiums?
Thank goodness.
‘Blows from seat level?” I will not attend $1 Burrito Night.
Excellent. So while fans in the upper deck are being killed and then instantly mummified by the heat, the freshly watered grass will freeze over.
Man, that’s a hell of an organization he’s runnin’ over there…
ok, ‘dessicated’ would have been better. Plus it sounds like something the team owner could charge extra for…
Hey, uh, if I’m not mistaken, isn’t there supposed to be a casino immediately adjacent that occupies the rest of the site? Wouldn’t that change the already questionable aesthetics quite a bit?
There isn’t anything about that design or all these details coming out in the comments that should excite a tax payer about this project. I’d paint a tarp saying, “Try Salt Lake City instead” and hang it from the side of the Tropicana.
I saw this thing on LinkedIn because my old company is involved, and all I could think was, “I gotta check out FoS.”
We live to serve. (Which old company?)
I was just remembering Miami stadium (later called Bobby Maduro stadium) which was built in 1950, and had a history which rolled into politics (and perhaps money to a point).
Its cost was high for its time, though it would be less than $30 million in today’s dollars. It had a cantilevered roof, which was unusual for its time.
It was torn down in the 90s and replaced with affordable housing. So look! Development did come…nearly 50 years later, after the stadium was demolished….
Read more here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_Stadium
And if you’re interested in … er … wasting 90 minutes to watch a documentary about the backstory, they have that too.
[vimeo 105767151 w=640 h=360]
recommended
[vimeo 105767151 w=640 h=360]
Vimeo.com / 105767151
For a man who doesn’t like personal attacks, I just don’t know about Neil deMause calling the stadium plans “batshit,” or questioning my sanity. I just don’t know.
As an old friend once said to me, “you’ve always had the power to go back to Kansas,” and that lifted my spirits and vision. Indeed, for sake of clarity, deMause should look through the eyes of visionary Abe Hirshfeld and his ambitious stadium dreams. In the tradition of Frank Gehry, what’s wrong with a concert hall that’s inspired by a Crest toothpaste tube?
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71L7T6EXffL._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dABs7d50SDs?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent&w=640&h=360]
For the record in case anyone is wondering, it’s only personal attacks against commenters here that is out of bounds.
Not sure how that applies to a Fake John Fisher, hmm.
You call me fake. Is that not a personal attack against my comment? You emailed me two weeks ago looking for a government report from 1974. Did that request come from a fake Neil deMause? Did you ever get the report? If so, please send me a copy.
Oh, ha, sorry — I didn’t realize at first that you were both a fake John Fisher and the (other) real John Fisher. Will email you re the report.
Also in case anyone is wondering, Abe Hirschfeld once proposed building a dome atop the previous Yankee Stadium, something he lobbied for by showing up at a city council hearing with a henchman who took a clear plastic lid and placed it atop a model of the stadium. (I think he removed it again, too, which I guess made it retractable?)
I remember the public hearing at City Hall — I think it was in 1999 when then Speaker Peter Vallone (who was running for Governor at the time) was pushing a new Yankee Stadium (somehow different from the one that Rudy Giuliani was pushing?)
Yes, the model had a miniature dome dome and I remember it falling off the model a few times with Abe fumbling it (at which time many were snickering). I was standing behind Hirschfeld of those lining up to testify. I can’t be certain, but I think the henchman was actually one of his grandkids.
I found these links:
https://www.amny.com/news/hirschfeld-i-can-do-stadium-without-public-funds-2/
https://www.upi.com/Archives/1993/12/06/UPI-Spotlight-Hirschfeld-A-dome-for-Yankee-Stadium/4010755154000/ph
and of course, the NY Times obit, where they observed:
“In 1999, while representing himself in a tax fraud trial in Manhattan, he took the opportunity to tell Jewish jokes to the jury and to show off a model of his plan to revitalize Yankee Stadium. After the jury declined to convict him for tax fraud, he offered each juror $2,500”
https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/10/nyregion/abe-hirschfeld-a-millionaire-and-an-eccentric-dies-at-85.html