Play ball! Be honest, if the water wasn't in this photo you'd have trouble telling the difference between the A's new stadium randering and the Sydney Opera House.

We are nothing but baffled by the Oakland Athletics – or should we say soon-to-be Las Vegas A’s. Ever since they started sniffing around the valley, things have always been a bit weird. They were scoping out several different stadium sites. Then they bought land at the former Wild Wild West site.

Then inexplicably they abandoned that to enter a deal to steal a corner of a redeveloped Tropicana land for their stadium. The renderings were obviously “fugazi,” but worry not! New renderings are coming! Not when they said though. They decided to delay their press conference due to tragedy. But months went by. When would they show us what Nevadans never got a chance to vote to give $380 million for?

Well, today is the day. And crikey, mate. It’s pretty… and it’s pretty unrealistic.

Say Hello To The Athletics New Las Vegas Stadium Renderings

The long awaited “real” renderings are here and… once again… there is so much wrong here.

Don’t get us wrong, we don’t want to be haters. At first glance, the stadium looks really fancy! Look at those lines! That screen in right field looks incredible! It is almost as though they dreamt what a futuristic baseball stadium would look like in Australia and AI popped out these images.

Once you get past the obvious window dressing, you start to realize things don’t necessarily line up. The long t0rtured fan base of the Oakland Athletics are used to the bait and switch at this point. As Nevadans we need to keep our eye on the dishonesty today, because that will turn into the budget woes and shortfalls that we will all pay for tomorrow, and for years and decades to come.

So lets look at the renderings and see exactly why these pictures are anything but a homerun.

  • Sydney Opera House Would Like A Word

    You don’t need to be a world traveler to know the biggest landmarks. China has a great wall. England has Big Ben. New York has the Statue Of Liberty. Australia has… yep. The Sydney Opera House. Las Vegas Review-Journal journalist Mick Akers says he spoke with the team’s owner that said the Sydney Opera House “was not a direct inspiration” for the stadium. No. The difference is this one has a baseball field inside. Otherwise… we digeridoo think there are some real parallels.

  • No, Bally's Didn't Give Up On Their Casino

    When the rumor started to break that the A’s were coming to Las Vegas, the Rio site seemed like a perfect spot. But it didn’t go there. Then the Wild Wild West land seemed like a decent spot… but after supposedly buying that they gave it up for a deal with Bally’s, owners of the Tropicana Las Vegas. The plan? Give the A’s 9 acres on the southeast corner of a freshly bulldozed Tropicana site, and develop the rest with a new resort. The first renderings didn’t show that resort… and wouldn’t you know it this one doesn’t either. You can likely kiss that perfect view of the Strip goodbye.

  • There's No Retractable Roof

    The entire time we’ve heard about the stadium, we’ve heard it would have a retractable roof. Of course, anyone paying attention (hat tip to Brodie Brazil) would note that there is no baseball stadium in the country with a retractable roof on such a postage stamp of land. Remember, the A’s don’t get the whole plot of land. Only 9 acres of it. With this rendering it looks like they are giving up on that dream. That said, if it is anything like the lanai doors at Allegiant Stadium, it would seldom retract anyways.

  • This Rendering Is Not To Scale

    The Tropicana resort takes up 35 acres at the southeast corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Trop. The proposed A’s stadium would take up about 9 acres, or a quarter of the land. But look at these renderings. Doesn’t it look a little…large to you? Nevermind the lack of the planned Bally’s casino. The stadium looks to be taking at least half of the Tropicana land. Like the renderings before it, it doesn’t seem to pass the smell test.

  • Where The Hell Are The Lights

    It looks like they took a little sliver of the Sphere and placed it on the roof. Interesting looking scoreboard! We kind of like it! Hey, curious. Where are the lights? Wrigley Field was the last stadium to go without lights, until 1988. There are no lights to be found in this plan. Exactly how will this park be illuminated? Could someone shed some light on this?

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