The A’s Have A New Design For Their Vegas Stadium Already
The Oakland A's move to Las Vegas is at a crucial juncture, with Major League Baseball owners set to vote on it next week.
Despite legal challenges, so far the state's $380 million in public funding is still set, making approval a near certainty. The A's also released renderings of their proposed stadium over the summer, sparking excitement over the design and ease of access to the Las Vegas Strip.
Except, turns out those renderings weren't actually what the stadium looks like.
MGM Resorts International CEO Bill Hornbuckle spoke on an investor call Wednesday and revealed that the A's recently showed him new renderings that have a different design to what's previously been released.
“I was literally with their (A’s) team and their owner yesterday; they’re excited to be coming,” Hornbuckle said according to the Las Vegas Review Journal. “They actually showed me the (stadium) design, which was spectacular, I might add. So we’re all excited by that.”
Hornbuckle also said that MGM will rework and improve the corner of the strip next to the stadium, where the MGM Grand and Tropicana meet.
“I think you’ll see us invest in how people move around that corner and make it in concert and synergistic with the design I saw yesterday,” Hornbuckle said. “We’ve already connected our architect with theirs to kind of talk about all of that.”
LAS VEGAS - JANUARY 11: Hotels and attractions, including The Tropicana, The MGM Grand, New York New York and Aria Hotels & Casinos, along the Las Vegas Strip. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images)
A's Stadium Set To Open In 2028
The team has yet to announce who they've chosen as an architect, or what differences there are in the new design.
But they did reveal their timeline, which points to an opening date in early 2028.
READ: TIMELINE FOR A’S NEW STADIUM IN VEGAS REVEALED
Once the owners officially sign off and legal challenges have been completed, the existing Tropicana Hotel would be demolished, with construction starting in 2025.
The process of the A's move to Vegas has been unusual, with initial reports suggesting they'd be at an off-Strip site. That changed to the Tropicana site several months ago, and now there's a new design that differs from their already-released renderings.
Given how poorly run the franchise is, that's not too surprising. But there's free public money on the table, so despite any hiccups, the move still seems like a near certainty.