The MLB's Oakland Athletics will spend the next three seasons playing in Sacramento, California, ahead of the team's official relocation to its new permanent home in Las Vegas.
The franchise announced Thursday that Sutter Health Park — home of the minor league River Cats — will host A's games for the 2025-2027 MLB seasons, with an option to stay for the 2028 season while the team awaits construction of its new Vegas ballpark. The A's current lease at the Oakland Coliseum expires at the end of this season.
"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," A's owner John Fisher said in a statement. "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."
Las Vegas mayor criticizes A's relocation plan: 'Does not make sense'
Mayor Carolyn Goodman said the professional baseball franchise should "figure out a way to stay in Oakland" rather than relocate to the Vegas Strip.
Despite protests from fans, the A's announced plans to move the club to Las Vegas last spring after failed negotiations with the city of Oakland to secure funding for a new Bay Area ballpark. MLB owners voted unanimously to approve the relocation plan in November, paving the way for Oakland to lose its only remaining professional sports franchise.
The NBA's Golden State Warriors relocated to San Francisco in 2019 and the NFL's Oakland Raiders left the city — for a second time — in 2020 to also settle in Las Vegas. It remains unclear whether the A's will keep its current team name or temporarily brand themselves as the "Sacramento Athletics."
Construction on the team's new $1.5 billion, 30,000-seat stadium on the Las Vegas Strip is slated to begin next year and expected to be completed in time for the 2028 MLB season. The new ballpark will replace the historic Tropicana casino and resort, which has already shuttered its doors and is set to be demolished later this year.
You can now buy items from the shuttered Tropicana Las Vegas
The historic hotel and casino is holding a liquidation sale before the building is demolished to make way for a new baseball stadium.
