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With the possibility of the Oakland A’s stadium on the Tropicana site, do you think they’ll make it a domed stadium with the Vegas summer heat in mind or do something like the D-backs and put in pools, etc.?
Conventional wisdom unanimously holds that an open-air stadium in Las Vegas is a no-go, a deal-breaker for an Oakland Athletics relocation. Given that Sin City’s heat is almost as durable as the Major League Baseball season (April through October, inclusive), the best one could probably hope for is a retractable roof or a translucent ceiling. Either way, expect a dome of some sort.
Even so, we wouldn’t rule out such added (and potentially lucrative) amenities as swimming pools in the outfield, maybe even something like the fish tanks that the Tampa Bay Rays have at Tropicana Field … which is fully indoors, despite the name. And being Las Vegas, there will probably be a nightclub, as well as one or more nerve-jangling DJs.
The really tricky proposition will be to fill an A’s stadium on a consistent basis for a 162-game season. It’s quite a different thing than luring tourists to one of eight or nine Las Vegas Raiders games. How many people are going to fly in for a four-game homestand (or dome stand, if you prefer) against the Baltimore Orioles?
The biggest impediment to attendance, though, may be the A’s dogged “moneyball” philosophy, which has saved the team plenty of menu, generated much worshipful press coverage, and even inspired a movie with Brad Pitt, but the team is a long way from its heyday in the early 1970s, when it won three World Series in a row (1972-1974).