LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – FOX5 spoke with new Athletics President Marc Badain Thursday.
Reporter Victoria Saha spoke with him as new renderings were released of the A’s Las Vegas Ballpark.
PHOTOS: New renderings show inside of A’s Las Vegas ballpark
See the full conversation with Badain below:
FOX5’s Victoria Saha: What are some of the hurdles when it comes to paving the way for the A’s that you may not have experienced with the Raiders?
How do you plan on dealing with that?
Marc Badain: I think the situations are very similar.
The baseball team is going to have to relocate twice, so unfortunately have to go through that painful process. There’s a talented team of people that have been working on the project in Sacramento as it relates to Las Vegas. They’ve followed a pretty good blueprint so far.
The team of people that are working on the spectacular stadium are a lot of the same people that helped build a legion and bring it to completion.
It’s been an incredible success for Las Vegas and I expect that this one will be as well.
Saha: Raider Nation, very dedicated group of people here. You expecting that with the A’s?
Badain: Obviously not. As widely known, baseball fan bases don’t tend to be as passionate. But there are millions of these fans all around. You see their merchandise everywhere, and I think they’ll be excited to have a brand new venue and a brand new building to come see their team.
Saha: What did you make of the blueprints that were unveiled today?
Badain: I thought they were spectacular. Over the last couple weeks, as I started to finalize this with with John and Sandy.
Wanted to see what they wanted to build here. I’d obviously seen the initial renderings, but it’s what gets you into the building. And you look at it both from a sales standpoint and an operation standpoint, you want to make sure that it’s a building that the food and beverage operator can operate efficiently.
You heard today talking about the circulation, and that was something very important to the team. We wanted to make sure it was an easy stadium to navigate. They’ve done that here and and that’s important.
Saha: In terms of transitioning from the Raiders, just as a sports management executive, is there much of a difference?
Badain: They’re obviously different sports, different passions within the fan base. Obviously a lot more games. But you’re still trying to provide a great entertainment experience for your fans. That’s fundamentally what you’re trying to do.
Saha: The Aviators are in town in the Las Vegas Valley. Why do you think that there’s so much potential for Major League Baseball here?
Badain: Well, you have the success of the other franchises that you can point to, and and I think any sports property is going to want to have a footprint in Vegas right now. You’ve seen it. Baseball is an American pastime. And baseball is a great sport.
Tourists are coming to town, right? If you’re here for a convention and you have some time on a Wednesday night, we have a ball game against somebody. Why wouldn’t you want to go there?
They’re always looking for something new to do, and this city continues to evolve and deliver those things. This is just another entertainment experience, and it’s going to be great.
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