I’ll confess I’m loving the Knights success.

Fwiw you might be surprised at the number of people that can’t afford to pay $55 and a ticket to even a regular season game, even if it’s in the upper section for another $55 (although most seats up there would cost more than that). But sports owners don’t care about those people obviously.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...s?platform=amp

Nevada senate passed a bill to fund it. I didn’t realize how small it was going to be with only a 30,000 person capacity.

I would love to see a Las Vegas baseball stadium where it is surrounded by lots of green spaces interspersed with vendors selling food and drink while the game is played on video screens outside the stadium.

It would be a place where people could gather and watch a few innings and then move on.

Now you may ask why a team would give away their product for free? Wouldn't they be afraid it would cur into their ticket sales?

It wouldn't be a give away, it would be an investment in their future. Anyone who REALLY wants to attend the games would buy a ticket. But by offering a tease of the product for free, they will get casual people interested who will buy tickets to future games.

FWIW, 30k is exactly what the Royals are planning on doing if they get a new downtown ballpark and was also the latest number floated around for a new Rays stadium.

Luxury suites and business seats take up way more space than regular seats. And nobody is making money from $18 bleachers anyway.

If you look at current attendance numbers, 13 of 30 teams average below 22k for the season so far. That's going to rise a bit towards the end of the season but an average of 25k will get a team right around median.

Well, I guess it’s a question of who the target market is. Personally, I like the idea of cheaper seats to appeal to families and allow for more children to go to the game. Petco Park in San Diego is a fine example. They have a 42k+ seat stadium with a “downtown” type area for shops and a grassy field where families can set up blankets for picnics and watch the game.

I guess if Vegas is more interested in appealing to the rich and luxury markets, smaller makes more sense. Especially if they make the playoffs and the forced scarcity of seats drives the ticket prices on the secondary market up to the point where only the rich can afford to go.

Stadium size has been trending down. Gone are the days where the baseball and football teams in each city shared an 70k+ stadium and now each team gets their own. This team is never going to be the Dodgers or Yankees so there is no need for a 40 or 50k stadium.

Not totally sure about MLB ballparks but in other sports the stadium *size* has actually stayed pretty much the same. What's been trending down is *capacity* because suites and business seats and amenities related to that take up way more space. That's why most existing stadiums decrease in capacity (and increase in expensive seats) with each remodel.

Was thinking again last night how awful that 9-3 Cup clinching win to Strip was and we want to bring another team on and put us through more misery?!

But again, no one really has to pay the $55 parking fee and that just NY NY taking advantage.

Ticket prices are of course an issue. But players salaries have seemingly gone up way more than ticket prices have. So it’s not just on owners.

MGM isn’t even that close and it was $40 yesterday (but I have Pearl so to be fair that gets you free parking).

Have you seen the comments from the jealous haters since year one? They argue that Vegas fans should suffer because they suffered for decades. We are really fortunate the team is so good. I doubt the A’s will have similar success anytime soon.

The worst comment is the one that Vegas was gifted a team full of stars.

I went past the arena on the strip last night an hour after the game and traffic was perfectly smooth.

Yeah I’m just joking around on this “terrible” experience of having a pro team on Strip

Yeah I’ve fought off comments such as those saying we got gifted the team in expansion draft.

Karlsson had two season with like 12 total goals with Blue Jackets but went insane in his first year here.

Some teams are just dumb and don’t bring out the best in players. Vegas took the right players and molded a team.

Yeah the A’s won’t be any good. Still we just have to take them. I’ll go to a baseball game on the Strip just to watch other teams. Would be too long to wait for expansion team, as it is we are already waiting for 2027

... on the Strip ?

Which arena is on the Strip ?

I thought the Raiders were the other side of I 15 from the Strip the last time I looked.

Is it possible the current owner plans to sell the A’s once they’re in Vegas? Maybe he’s thinking they’ll get more for the team in a new location with a new stadium. But I wonder if there’s a clause in the contract with the city that wouldn’t allow him to sell for X number of years or something.

He might be talking about the arena where a championship was awarded that evening.

Not sure how you come up with the Raiders. The NFL isn't in season and they play in a stadium (even though you could argue it's an arena because of the roof)

FWIW, T-Mobile isn't even the only arena on the Strip.

Among many issues with that, team sales need approval from other owners.

Yup

$380 million in corporate welfare and only a 30k capacity. After it's built start the countdown for the cries for a new, bigger stadium and still more taxpayer funds handed over to the A's billionaire owner. Pathetic.

I have no problem getting the A's. I DO have a problem getting Fisher.

As a smaller market, with lots up upside, Vegas needs a forward thinking owner. Someone who will make going to to the game an experience. Something people will travel for. Instead Vegas will get Fisher who will invest the minimum in the team and the experience. As a result, in 5 years the stadium will be empty and baseball in Las Vegas will be a bust.

Meh.

the A's better start winning...

And if that happens, it will be decades, if ever, before another team goes there. It will be labeled as “not a baseball town.”

lol, ...... uh, yeah ..... brain fart or maybe onset of Alzheimers on my part?

(....that post I made was -EV, time for me to take a break and do something more productive., I think.)

Yea not only are new stadiums smaller but teams have been taking out seats in a lot of stadiums

Vin Scully would say that a large stadium subsidizes cheap upper deck seats, that is the cost of constructing those seats is much higher than the cost of constructing field box seats.

If however cheap seats can be provided for little cost (for example picnic areas, pool areas, etc.) then that reduces construction costs and encourages cost conscious fans to attend games.

Well it’s happening and fortunately I like baseball so I guess I’ll try to see the positives instead of the negatives.

The A’s won’t be the Knights, the Dodgers or the Yankees. But I do think some of the criticisms of them are harsh because they are so bad right now.

The A’s did win 86 games two years ago, made the playoffs the year before that, and won 97 games in each of the two years before that.

For a long time they have years when they suck, and then get much better as the young players make it to the big leagues, then the players leave leave and the pattern repeats itself.

Taxes are much lower in Nevada and Vegas is an appealing place to play so I wonder how much easier it will be to keep players if the owner ever cares about that.

With the expansion of the baseball playoffs I wouldn’t be surprised to see the A’s make the playoffs the first year they play in Vegas, or maybe even sooner.

And like you said, if the A’s aren’t good it can still be worth going to see other teams that are worth watching.