MLB’s Manfred says A’s ballpark ‘looks fantastic’ following tour of $2.1B facility

Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred had high praise for the Athletics’ new stadium following a tour of the $2.1 billion project earlier this week.

“The stadium looks fantastic,” Manfred told the Review-Journal via email. “It will be great for fans and an iconic part of the Las Vegas skyline. I can’t wait for opening day 2028.”

Manfred was among the many with ties to the MLB who toured the under-construction ballpark during the league’s annual general manager meetings at Aria.

Manfred said he left the facility impressed and looking forward to the completion of the new landmark structure on the Strip in just around 15 months for the 2028 season.

Making progress

The 33,000-fan capacity ballpark is just over 50 percent complete, with crews making steady progress inside and outside of the building.

On Tuesday, crews installed the sections of the fourth of five roof trusses on the project. The final piece, completing the fourth truss, was installed Friday.

The fifth and final roof truss will be fully installed by the end of the year.

Just after Thanksgiving, crews will begin to remove the massive green steel shoring towers that are located inside the stadium where the field will be. The large structures have been supporting the roof, while it is being installed.

Once the shoring towers closest to the main seating area are removed, crews will then begin to install the final seating risers, which will be the closest seats in the stadium.

Ballpark features

Bowen said he and A’s executives toured just about every MLB stadium and asked each of those teams’ executives what would they add if they had to build their stadium again, He took those responses and the design team went to work.

The A’s will have the closest suites to the field in MLB, with some as close as 42 feet away from home plate, said Ross Bowen, A’s senior vice president of strategy and business.

The stadium roof’s lowest point is 230 feet above the playing surface, which is higher than the Texas Rangers’ Globe Life Field’s 220-feet clearance. The A’s did the research and in the last 15 years, there were about a dozen times where a ball hit the stadium’s roof. So, the team remains confident that the dome won’t be an issue to gameplay.

Ease of access

The stadium’s concourses are designed as free-flowing spaces with food and beverage atriums placed so fans can get their goodies without blocking those walking through the stadium, Bowen said.

The back of house was designed to create an ease of access for all users of the ballpark. That includes dedicated entrances from home and visiting players, VIP ticket holders, staff and media. The home and visiting entrances feature a hall that leads directly to each team’s locker room. The A’s also have a family room located near the home locker room where families will gather, with daycare service available.

Player spaces

The A’s will offer their players an array of amenities from an in-stadium barber shop to batting cages, a weight room, cold plunges and recovery pools, hyperbaric chambers and red light therapy, with a high-end gym or spa feel.

The ballpark will feature the largest visiting team locker room in the majors, with an upscale feel. Both the A’s and visiting locker rooms have full kitchens, with the ability for both teams’ staff to cook meals that meet the players’ dietary needs, Bowen said. The spaces are already framed out and the pools’ concrete was also poured.

Bowen said if visiting players are in awe of their locker rooms and amenities, they could begin to think what the A’s locker rooms will look like and possibly drum up interest from free agents.

Parking garage underway

Crews have begun to build a 1,500-space parking garage and central utility plant on the south side of the stadium. The A’s executive office will be built within the parking garage structure.

Like Allegiant Stadium, the A’s ballpark will use a dispersed parking plan, with fans being able to park onsite or at the more than 30,000 parking spaces around the stadium on the Strip, or arrive via taxi, ride hail, public bus or the Boring Co.’s Vegas Loop.

North, south entrances

The main entrance on the north side of the stadium is where 50 to 60 percent of fans will enter, Bowen said. That space will either have a multi-level podium topped with an event plaza built by Bally’s Corp, or a below-grade plaza, with fans being able to go from the ground up 36 feet to the main entrance.

Bally’s is still securing financing from landowner Gaming and Leisure Properties, pending Bally’s and A’s working out a few outstanding business items, which will be the subject of a Dec. 3 Las Vegas Stadium Authority meeting.

Another entrance is south of the ballpark’s parking garage. That area will have stairs, escalators and elevators fans can take to reach the elevated deck where they can enter, Bowen said.

Las Vegas Stadium Authority president and CEO said on Tuesday that it has been fun to watch the stadium being built, but there is still a ways to go toward completion on the Strip’s latest landmark.

“You can see them come to life,” Hill told the Review-Journal. “Then they get all structurally built and it takes what seems like way too long to get them up and open, but there’s an awful lot of work to do inside once you get the structure built. But we’ve talked about that being an iconic stadium on one of the most important intersections in the city and frankly in the world. There’s just not going to be a better facility and a better location to go see a baseball game.”

Contact Mick Akers at [email protected] or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.