The Oakland Athletics plan to move to Las Vegas in the next few years has been well documented. But on Thursday, the team completely reversed course, as they will reportedly be moving to another city entirely while negotiations work themselves out for the team to eventually end up in Las Vegas.
The Athletics aren’t expected to ultimately play in Las Vegas for a few years, with the new stadium expected to be completed in 2028.
In the meantime, they will be moving to Sacramento, California, playing in Sutter Health Park, the current home of the Sacramento River Cats, the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. They will reportedly play at the stadium from 2025-2027, then eventually move to Las Vegas in 2028.
While they are in Sacramento, the team will be the only team in baseball not have any city attached to their name. They will simply go as the A’s or Athletics, obviously instead of the Oakland Athletics.
For a major league team like the Athletics to be playing in a minor league stadium is certainly a bit odd. And Athletics fans will suffer pretty severely from the move.
Their current stadium, the Oakland Collisseum, has a capacity that seats 63,000. Meanwhile, Sutter Health Park, seats around 14,000.
Naturally, this can cause some issues. And understandably, A’s fans aren’t exactly thrilled about the move, taking to social media to offer their negative input towards the team.
The Oakland Athletics were relegated today. #MLB #Athletics
— Darryl ♠️ (@_DarrylC) April 4, 2024
The Oakland Athletics of Sacramento. pic.twitter.com/JQz85ufWqM
— Oracle Park Seagull (@OracleSeagull) April 4, 2024
Long live the Oakland Athletics.
Thank you @LastDiveBar.
Thank you @AsHotDog.
Thank you to every person in the East Bay that took us in and made us feel at home.
Manfred, Fisher, and Kaval can go kiss a moving train on the lips. pic.twitter.com/ZkshfSY0sO— Timmy Boy (@tcinternets) April 4, 2024
Do the Oakland Athletics have the most piss poor ownership in professional sports history?
— JAKE ELLENBOGEN (@JKBOGEN) April 4, 2024
Wait, so you’re telling me the Oakland Athletics will literally be in a Sacramento AAA stadium next year? I feel horrible for those fans. This franchise is an embarrassment to MLB, and MLB is horrible for letting this happen.
— J XC (@iRunfastXC) April 4, 2024
What’s happening with the Oakland Athletics franchise is so shameful it almost defies belief.
— Nick Nelson (@NickNelsonMN) April 4, 2024
Not only will Athletics fans living in Oakland have to travel to Sacramento to support their team. But they may not even be able to support their team if they aren’t quick to buy tickets with only 14,000 in seating at their new home park.
If Athletics owner John Fisher wasn’t already unpopular enough amongst the fanbase, he certainly became even more unfavorable on Thursday.
[ESPN]
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.