Oakland A's headed to Las Vegas

A "partially retractable roof" according to this one.
A's release first renderings of proposed new Las Vegas ballpark

Looks like a lot uncovered and exposed to the desert heat.
Avg. high temps by month:
June: Vegas 102, Arlington 90
July: Vegas 105, Arlington 95
August: Vegas 106, Arlington 95
September: Vegas 96, Arlington 88

That ain't gonna work any better than Name Du Jour Coliseum has.

 

That image is with the roof open. I've seen others with it closed all the way. I think by "partially retractable" they mean part of the roof opens, but a substantial part of the stadium always has a roof overhead.

 

Economic boost or big business hand-out? Nevada lawmakers consider A's stadium financing

 

All I ask is that Jose Madrigas throws out the first pitch for Opening Day.

 

https://www.si.com/mlb/2023/06/01/o...-times-expected-move-las-vegas-strip-tourists

If the game times were scheduled to accomodate casino workers, I'd understand it more. 4 p.m. is such an awkward start time. It will also drive down the local media rights deal. And they are kidding themselves if they think tourists will make up a third of their attendance. Baseball isn't football.

 

Baseball is going to be far more attractive to tourists than football. Easy to get tickets, right on the Strip. I'm guessing 30% tourists is a conservative estimate.

 

This is a brilliant idea.

• Games should be over before the shows at night
• The restaurants get a second wave of diners (pre-show diners and post-ballgame diners)
• Blue hairs don't need to stay up late
• For East Coasters visiting Vegas, it's not much of a change to their biological clock
• TV revenue will be shit anyway, and AT&T Sportsnet won't be a thing for much longer

Now they'll probably need to put solar panels across the entire state to harvest enough energy to cool down the place with high-powered AC, but that's for another day.

 

Las Vegas games at 4 pm local time will be in the 7 pm Eastern time zone, as far as TV exposure is concerned.

 

I wonder what 4 p.m. start times would do to concession sales. It would have to at least marginally depress food and alcohol sales on weeknights, I’d think.

 

They'll probably have a sports book in the ballpark with the A's getting a cut, so it's less of an issue.

Also if it's 112 outside, even if it's a dry heat and folks are in air conditioning, people are going to want to (de)hydrate — they'll be buying lots of waters or lots of beers.

 

When Vegas had an ECHL team playing at the Orleans Arena, it had 3 or 4 games start at midnight. They realized the percentage of Vegas residents work in the entertainment/food industry and are busy at 7 p.m. I think those games were fairly well attended. I think the arena sat about 9,000.