Report: Oakland Athletics could play 2025 season in Sacramento

Jan 17, 2024, 9:24 AM | Updated: 9:38 am

(Minor League Baseball)

Editor & Kings Beat Writer

While the possibility of Major League Baseball choosing the city of Sacramento as a temporary home for the Oakland Athletics seemed like a long shot just months ago, there is a chance we could see the A’s play at Sutter Health Park in the near future.

As the Athletics navigate their impending move from the Bay Area to Las Vegas, Nevada, the ball club is scrambling to find a home for 2025 as their lease at the Oakland Coliseum is set to expire following the 2024 season.

Multiple reports have indicated that the A’s have no intention of playing at the Coliseum beyond 2024, meaning they will have three seasons (2025-2027) to play in a new home–or, quite potentially, multiple home stadiums.

According to The San Francisco Chronicle’s John Shea, Sacramento has re-emerged as a possible solution for the Athletics as they search for a stadium to call home during the 2025 season.

A’s still need to provide renderings, financing plan, interim ballpark site — an update: https://t.co/VfsoAbYdLV via @sfchronicle

— John Shea (@JohnSheaHey) January 15, 2024

A’s president Dave Kaval initially said the Coliseum, Oracle Park and Summerlin, Nev. (home of the A’s Triple-A team) were the the options for where the A’s will play in 2025, but industry sources with knowledge of MLB’s and the A’s thinking said Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park, home of the San Francisco Giants’ top farm team, has emerged as a possible A’s landing spot.

The San Francisco Chronicle’s John Shea – January 15, 2024

Sutter Health Park, home of the San Francisco Giants’ AAA affiliate, the Sacramento River Cats, could be where Oakland calls home during the 2025 season.

The 10,624-seat stadium could require some potential upgrades to bring the park to MLB standards, but this wouldn’t be the first time a Major League team has spent a season playing in a minor league stadium.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Toronto Blue Jays played the majority of the 2020 season and a bulk of the 2021 season at their minor league stadiums in Buffalo, New York, and Dunedin, Florida due to Canadian government restrictions on travel.

In the case of Oakland and Sacramento, it could come down to the A’s TV deal with NBC Sports California, as Shea reports that the agreement with the network requires the A’s to play their games in the Bay Area.

Seeing that Sacramento is outside of the Bay Area, Oakland wouldn’t be eligible to receive its yearly payment (received $67 million in 2023) from NBC Sports–unless the two sides work out an agreement, which is reportedly on the table.

The A’s contract with NBC Sports California runs through 2033, payable so long as they continue playing in the Bay Area. Kaval has said Sacramento isn’t contractually in the boundaries of the team’s regional sports network, meaning the A’s wouldn’t benefit from their RSN by playing in Sacramento.

However, sources said the sides could negotiate a deal for Sacramento so that the A’s would receive some kind of payout even if it’s far less than the $67 million they received in 2023. Such a financial compromise could benefit NBC Sports California; the network wouldn’t need to pay what would be required if the team stayed in the Bay Area, and could retain the A’s in its programming lineup.

The San Francisco Chronicle’s John Shea – January 15, 2024

With the possibility of Oakland playing games in the San Francisco Giants’ Oracle Park and a return to the Coliseum after 2024 looking unlikely, a temporary move to Sacramento doesn’t look like as much of a long shot as it did months ago.

A lot has to happen before fans can watch Major League Baseball with the Tower Bridge in the background, but it appears that it’s a scenario with more steam behind it than previously thought.

Oakland Athletics Schedule

Spring Training

February 13-15th – Pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training workouts
February TBD – Full squad workouts
Saturday, February 24th – Spring Training opener vs. Colorado Rockies – 12:05 PM PST

Regular Season