{"id":210785,"date":"2024-03-07T00:07:06","date_gmt":"2024-03-07T00:07:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/07\/new-as-ballpark-renderings-rate-high-for-laughability\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:21:08","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:21:08","slug":"new-as-ballpark-renderings-rate-high-for-laughability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/07\/new-as-ballpark-renderings-rate-high-for-laughability\/","title":{"rendered":"New A’s Ballpark Renderings Rate High for Laughability"},"content":{"rendered":"

[ad_1]
\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n \"Scott <\/a>\n <\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n By Scott Roeben<\/a>, on March 06 2024 <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

The potential move of the Oakland A\u2019s to Las Vegas has become one of the most baffling and amusing episodes in the history of Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

The amusement continues with the recent release of new ballpark renderings from the A\u2019s, renderings which have elicited a wide range of reactions. By \u201crange,\u201d of course, we mean all the various forms of ridicule.<\/p>\n

Here are the A\u2019s renderings. A quote from a high ranking casino executive sums it up best, \u201cYou can never have too many imaginary ballparks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Fun fact: Las Vegas recently experienced winds of 69 miles per hour.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The A\u2019s called upon a Danish design firm, Bjarke Ingels Group, a company that clearly has never visited Sydney, Australia.<\/p>\n

The baseball-theater-slash-opera-house is described as \u201ca spherical armadillo,\u201d although, our first thought was the designer was inspired by Tina Turner\u2019s shoulder pads in \u201cBeyond Thunderdome.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Youths, \u201cBeyond Thunderdome\u201d was a 1985 movie about a post-apocalyptic dystopian future. Like San Francisco today, but with Australian accents.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When the renderings were released, architectural and sports experts began rattling off problems with the ballpark\u2019s design, which was adorable, because analyzing this project with \u201clogic\u201d it like fact-checking the Teen Choice Award-nominated film \u201cArmageddon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t freak out, fellow OCD sufferers, we\u2019ll shoehorn another movie reference into this story before we\u2019re done.<\/p>\n

The three biggest issues with the A\u2019s renderings: 1) The A\u2019s don\u2019t have financing. 2) There\u2019s no Bally\u2019s. Which, oh, also doesn\u2019t have financing. 3) The sun doesn\u2019t set in the east.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Baseball players absolutely love the challenge of batting with the sun in their eyes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ultimately, it\u2019s pointless to tear into the A\u2019s ballpark renderings because, in the words of another casino executive (about the A\u2019s ownership and management team), \u201cThese aren\u2019t serious people.\u201d<\/p>\n

These renderings are obviously an April Fools\u2019 Day joke, the A\u2019s just missed it by a few weeks.<\/p>\n

Naturally, the typical knee-jerk P.R. reaction to the tsunami of mockery ensued, with Las Vegas officials circling the wagons to express how excited they are about the A\u2019s imaginary sportsball amphitheater which we have dubbed the \u201cDebacle Dome\u201d until there\u2019s a naming rights deal.<\/p>\n

\"\"
You know it\u2019s legit when Henderson and Summerlin Little League has your back.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The true believers keep on believing, of course, because Las Vegas was built on optimism and short memories.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a nice walk down memory lane at the previous ballpark proposals from the A\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\n

#Athletics<\/a> ballpark proposal renderings over the years\u2026<\/p>\n

First up; Ballpark proposed for Fremont version one: pic.twitter.com\/WkZAzTI67g<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 MLB Cathedrals (@MLBcathedrals) March 6, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Despite the fact Bally\u2019s and the A\u2019s have shown no indications they can pay for anything they\u2019ve announced, the Tropicana casino (the site where all this is supposed to happen) is set to close April 2, 2024.<\/p>\n

Tropicana will be demolished, at which point we will have again witnessed the paving of paradise to put up a parking lot (see also Riviera). Yes, calling Tropicana a \u201cparadise\u201d is a stretch, but even the most mediocre casino is better than anything not a casino.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Shout-out to J\u00f8rn Utzon for designing the Sydney Opera House. Oh, and from here on out, our name is Sc\u00f8tt because it looks cool and we get to say \u201cdipthong\u201d more often.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On the bright side, sources tell us Trop\u2019s glorious stained glass ceiling will be saved, and if a ballpark does end up being built on the site, the ceiling will be integrated into the venue in some way.<\/p>\n

Could the A\u2019s come to Las Vegas? It\u2019s possible. The odds still sit at 60\/40, the new renderings having moved the needle zero percent.<\/p>\n

Will Bally\u2019s build a resort on the Trop site? No. They simply do not have the resources to do so. Bally\u2019s Corp. was going to demolish Tropicana prior to the A\u2019s eye-balling the location, as it has struggled for years.<\/p>\n

Could Bally\u2019s Corp. (and land owner Gaming & Leisure) sell the site? Yes.<\/p>\n

To who? Or possibly whom? Potentially, MGM Resorts could swoop in the save the day. They have resorts all around the site, and would probably benefit most from the ballpark being in that location. The usual suspects, REITs (real estate investment trusts) are unlikely to touch a purchase without a resort on the land. Landlords like to know they\u2019re going to get rent. The viability of a Major League Baseball ballpark in that spot remains a big question mark despite all the breathless cheerleading.<\/p>\n

The A\u2019s could not have chosen a better Las Vegas partner than Bally\u2019s Corp.<\/p>\n

\n

From the official statement from Bally’s Corp. about the closure of Tropicana: “The ballpark is expected to welcome more than 2.5 million fans and visitors annually.” The A’s found the perfect partner in Las Vegas, as both Bally’s and the A’s are untethered from reality.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Vital Vegas (@VitalVegas) January 29, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The A\u2019s proposed ballpark will never fit on the nine acres Bally\u2019s has offered (the entire site is 35 acres), but as we said, this isn\u2019t about \u201creality,\u201d it\u2019s about sales. The A\u2019s and Bally\u2019s Corp. need money, they need something to include in their pitch deck. (We\u2019re pretty sure the A\u2019s are still just trying to make Oakland up the ante by pretending they\u2019re serious about moving. Renderings are serious!)<\/p>\n

The A\u2019s have been trying desperately to get investors, and to sell a minority interest in the team, but there have been no takers to-date.<\/p>\n

The new renderings are just the latest in a series of confounding decisions and unbridled WTF, and the A\u2019s saga is just getting started. If, by some miracle, this project moves forward, the ballpark won\u2019t be completed until 2028, and there\u2019s a lot of guaranteed face-palming between here and there.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Enjoy our macaroni-based ballpark rendering, which has just about as much chance of happening as the A\u2019s renderings.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Props to the A\u2019s for doing something, after months of delays, but most aren\u2019t impressed by the armadillo\u2019s-having-a-threesome design of the Las Vegas A\u2019s ballpark.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re pretty sure these renderings will join the long list of things imagined (and rendered) but never realized in Las Vegas, including All Net Resort<\/a>, Wynns Paradise Park<\/a>, Alon Resort<\/a>, Kind Heaven<\/a>, Bleutech Park<\/a> and many others.<\/p>\n

Still, Las Vegas is only a little bit about reality. It\u2019s more about dreaming big, and some of those dreams come true. In the words of Willy Wonka, \u201cWe are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the case of the A\u2019s, \u201cWe are the yankers of chains.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n