In reply to: I don't think that they'll get the stadium in Vegas done posted by jt
(That said, its location still sucks.)
The best stadium site is probably still the originally-proposed spot just west of 15, across from T-Mobile Arena and a short distance north of Allegiant. It would get all three venues close.
I think that the stadium barely seats 25k people (maybe a bit more, but I don't think so) and in order to make the numbers work they need constant sell outs, which is tough even for the best teams to do, let alone a team that's been among the worst in the game for years and is coming from a minor league stadium. They're counting on opposing fans going to the games like they do for NFL games, but baseball isn't the same; unless they can figure out a way to make all of the home games Fri-Sun, that is (and I doubt that's even possible).
Say what you want about the Trop, it wasn't that bad of a place to stay. They just re-did it about 10 years ago, the pool area was pretty nice, and it was easy to get around in. This is a prime location for a casino/resort, and putting a stadium there sounds odd to me.
As an architect I have pretty strong feelings about the firm that was chosen and what the design looks like in the press renderings. Picking Europeans to design a baseball stadium in Las Vegas is just insane to me.
But I agree, unlike hockey and football which are much easier as one-off travel events for fans, trying to fill a mid-week A's-ChiSox series in the middle of August when both squads are well below .500 is a big ask.
To be clear, Oakland was going to lose the team regardless. Their local politicians fucked this up so epically that there was no chance of coming back.
But if you play this out a few years, you give Salt Lake City and Portland a chance to get their ducks lined up for a serious relocation pitch.
As it stands, SLC might just be moving towards getting the second expansion slot when MLB decides to go to the ATM again.
in order to be eligible for this year's round of MLB revenue sharing (also known as "welfare for the billionaire assholes").
And the A's are definitely going ATM, and they'll likely end up in Sacramento IMO.
This whole process has been a massive disaster for everyone involved.