Well, that happened fast.
One day after Oakland A’s president Dave Kaval had a positive meeting with Oakland and Alameda County officials about extending the A’s lease at the Coliseum until 2028, Sacramento emerged as the front-runner to host the A’s from 2025-27.
According to a report in The Athletic on Friday, the A’s are eyeing Sutter Health Park, the 14,000-capacity Triple-A home of the San Francisco Giants, to host them until their ballpark in Las Vegas is ready in 2028.
The A’s could not confirm the report but a club spokesperson offered the following comment: “We had a constructive and positive meeting with the City of Oakland and Alameda County and are focused on continuing conversations around a lease extension at the Coliseum.”
The A’s have already met with Sacramento officials and toured the park. They’ve also met with officials in Salt Lake City and toured Smith’s Ballpark, the 15,400-capacity Triple-A home of the Los Angeles Angels’ affiliate there.
There is incentive to continue playing at the Coliseum, given the team would retain a reported $67 million in regional broadcast rights from NBC Sports California if they remain in their media market.
But according to The Athletic, the A’s could retain some of that money by moving to Sacramento, where NBC Sports California already carries the Kings’ games.
And given the City of Oakland’s demands in exchange for a lease extension at the Coliseum, leaving town might be necessary.
Friday, the Chronicle reported that Oakland officials have begun preliminary discussions with the MLB commissioner’s office about guaranteeing the city an expansion team in exchange for a lease extension.
“Our office has been in dialogue with the Commissioner’s Office recently, and in part, I think that (the conversations) helped to support this recent meeting with the A’s,” Leigh Hanson, chief of staff to Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, told the Chronicle. “I anticipate those conversations will continue.”
Hanson did not respond to this news organization’s request for comment. The MLB commissioner’s office declined to comment.
Guaranteeing an expansion team is improbable.
In November, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said he could not promise an expansion team to Oakland because MLB has yet to formally decide on expansion. Owners have been discussing an increase from 30 to 32 teams, but they haven’t shown the desire to move forward with expansion until both the A’s and Tampa Bay Rays are in new stadiums.
Meanwhile, Manfred announced on Thursday that he’d be stepping down as MLB commissioner before the 2029 season, and he said earlier this month that he did not expect the league to expand before he steps down.
As it pertains to the A’s ballpark in Las Vegas, Manfred said he’s confident the team will open the 2028 season there.
“The reality of the situation is that whenever you’re leaving a market where you’ve been for decades, and you’re going to make a move to a different city where there’s not a stadium, that’s a really difficult undertaking, and it’s not going to be seamless, smooth,” he told reporters, including The Athletic.
The A’s have yet to finalize several pieces necessary to begin construction. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the A’s still haven’t filed a non-relocation agreement nor a development agreement, and they’ve submitted three different renderings for their ballpark without deciding where their nine-acre stadium will be built on the Tropicana hotel’s 35-acre lot.
“We believe that parcel’s adequate for a major-league ballpark,” Manfred said. “I think the delay in the renderings is due to the discussions between Bally’s and the A’s as to how the ballpark — and what else is going to happen there — is going to be most efficiently designed to make it the best possible experience for fans. I wouldn’t read too much into that.”
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There are also several legal challenges involving a Nevada teachers’ union that could put a pause on the $380 million in public funding that the A’s are counting on.
Still, Manfred said Thursday he’s confident the deal in Vegas is “solid.”
He was asked how MLB will continue serving baseball fans in the Bay Area after the A’s leave town and implied that A’s fans could turn to the Giants.
“First of all, we do have a major-league team in the Bay Area; it’s not like there is not an available option,” Manfred said. “The Giants obviously still play there. But in terms of the other side of the Bay, the Oakland side of the Bay, our community involvement in terms of youth programming, all of the things that we do in major-league communities will continue. And I think it’s a sign of our commitment to the community that we will continue that kind of programming. And as I said, most important, there is a fan opportunity that’s not so far away.”
