SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, April 4, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — Sorry, Utah baseball fans: The Oakland Athletics have selected Sacramento as their temporary home ahead of their move to Las Vegas.
Sutter Health Park in west Sacramento — home of the Sacramento River Cats — will host the A’s for the 2025-27 seasons ahead of their move to Las Vegas in 2028, the team announced Thursday.
Team officials had been considering the current and future homes of the Salt Lake Bees as possible places to play while their new stadium is built in Las Vegas. The River Cats are a Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants.
A’s owner John Fisher and president Dave Kaval visited several sites — including Salt Lake City — in January to figure out where the team will play when their lease at Oakland Coliseum ends following this season.
“We explored several locations for a temporary home, including the Oakland Coliseum,” Fisher said in a news release. “Even with the long-standing relationship and good intentions on all sides in the negotiations with Oakland, the conditions to achieve an agreement seemed out of reach.
“We understand the disappointment this news brings to our fans, as this season marks our final one in Oakland. Throughout this season, we will honor and celebrate our time in Oakland, and will share additional details soon.”
Steve Starks, CEO of the Larry H. Miller Co., said the local pitch to the A’s included sharing Smith’s Ballpark in Salt Lake City and then the Bees’ future home in South Jordan’s Daybreak community when it opens in 2025.
At the time, Starks said the Bees “demonstrated we can accommodate their ballpark needs.”
Billboards also went up along the Wasatch Front in January in an effort to lure the A’s to Utah.
The billboards were part of Big League Utah‘s bid to bring a Major League Baseball team to Utah. The group is led by Gail Miller, co-founder and owner of the Larry H. Miller Co.
Big League Utah ultimately wants an MLB expansion team and has selected the 100-acre Rocky Mountain Power site near the Utah State Fairpark on Salt Lake City’s west side as the preferred location for a new ballpark.
The A’s are expected to move into their $1.5 billion, 33,000-seat Las Vegas ballpark in 2028. The ballpark is scheduled to be built on 9 acres of the 35-acre Tropicana hotel site.
The Nevada Legislature last summer approved up to $380 million in public funds for the MLB ballpark.
