The biggest reaction so far to the A’s reveal of their Vegas ballpark plans is sheer incredulity to the idea of a ballpark in the 21st Century only taking up nine acres of space. At the time I said it wasn’t a big deal. I mentioned that the proposed ballpark would be the smallest since Fenway or Wrigley, which many affirmed by comparing to several newer parks, which are much larger. Those parks are usually 11-15 acres in size. Most of that pursuit was for the purpose of making a more inviting building to visit, one with greater space to both circulate and queue, and even to hang out for a bit. To that I mostly agree, as these creature comforts can help make a place better for repeat visits. Then again, take a look at the next two pictures, both from Globe Life Field in Arlington, TX, and tell me if you don’t think it’s excessive.

Over the decades, concourses grew from narrow hallways to 30 foot-wide corridors like at the Coliseum to the capacious 40-50 foot indoor mall-like spaces in the new parks. Concourses also include new separate standing and ADA wheelchair areas, which helps free up the through foot traffic. If you take a 30 foot corridor and expand it to 50 feet, you increase your acreage by about a half acre. And that’s on just one level. So it adds up.

It was also customary to have a lower deck with 35-40 rows in it, not counting for separate adjacent club seating. The new trend is to separate those completely, so that there’s a premium club running along the infield and up both baselines. The club may have only 12 or 16 rows followed by a special concourse with a field view or suites. Above that is the main lower level of seating. It’s not something an architect can retrofit to an existing ballpark because it removes some very expensive seats while compromising other views, since it is best accomplished by adding height to every seating position. 

For the A’s, separating the lower level creates two benefits every game day. Foot traffic separates between the club and regular levels, creating a feel of exclusivity for both. Having fewer rows to traverse to get concessions or go to the restroom makes for quicker access as well, though architects have to plan for twice the number of restrooms and concession stands and teams have to employ more staff. The downside, which you’ve probably seen at Globe Life Field and LoanDepot Park in Miami, is that the upper decks on both are ridiculously tall. It also prevents fans from accessing the field from the main concourse. That’s the price of progress.

From a purely data-driven perspective, I decided to do a quick sketch of a nine-acre ballpark. I took one of my old sketches and and dropped it on a circular plot, 704 feet in diameter. The result has plenty of space for seating and the amenities you’d expect in the newest ballparks. The premise is that there are four shorter decks (five or six if you count suites) practically stacked on top of each other like balconies at a theater. Make no mistake, this method of design severely increases the cost of any stadium as it increases square footage by at least an order of magnitude. If you’re wondering why these things keep getting more expensive with each passing year, it’s because they’re getting more complex. They’re building more building. The upper decks get tougher since they have to be pulled back a bit and are more cramped, so those concourses might look more like this:

I would love to see a return to simplicity similar to the retro ballpark movement 30+ years ago. As these movements are all naked efforts to drive revenue growth, I’m not getting my hopes up.

P.S. – As part of this exercise I took the 704’ diameter circle and matched it up with the Coliseum. It looks like that circle would include almost all of the pre-Mount Davis Coliseum save for the top 7 rows of seats. During that era, the capacity of the Coliseum was 49.219. Do you really think the A’s and Brad Schrock won’t be able to fit 30,000 seats plus standing room in such a space? Think out of the box. There are a number of solutions out there.

P.P.S. – The dimensions of the generic sketch ballpark are 325-376-408-376-325. They would adjust up for dry, slightly elevated desert of Las Vegas.