Aerial view of the Oakland Alameda County Sports Complex as the Oakland A’s and the Oakland Coliseum Joint Authority meet on Tue Apr 2, 2024 to negotiate a lease extension for the A’s (photo by NBC Bay Area News)
Sacramento is the place for the A’s? That’s Amaury News and Commentary Amaury Pi-González
Like it or not, TODAY, all the signs point to the Oakland A’s playing in Sacramento from 2025 until they complete the new stadium in Las Vegas. In the business world, friendships and connections are paramount. Many might not have known that A’s owner, John Fisher, is good friends with Mr. Vivek Ranadivé, who happens to own the Sacramento River Cats and also the NBA Sacramento Kings.
Sports business owners run in a different lane than many other billionaires who are not in the sports world. nonetheless, they do business with each other in many circumstances, they support each other and even invest in each other’s teams. This could be the key to why they are moving to Sacramento. I will be speculating, but, I am not the first or the last to speculate in this long-moving A’s saga.
On Tuesday, the A’s will meet again with the City of Oakland after the city submitted a proposal to the team to stay in Oakland for five more years (3 years while they build in Las Vegas), which is supposed to be inaugurated in 2028, and the other two years in case there are constructions delays, or in case the whole Las Vegas move falls through. It could very well be that the City of Oakland’s proposal strikes out, and the A’s then would be temporarily moving to the State Capital.
Sutter Health Plan stadium in downtown Sacramento, if you drive, is a couple of blocks after the bridge and by the river; it was once the home of the Oakland A’s Triple-A team, the Rivercats (2000-2014) later from 2015 to the present They became affiliated with the San Francisco Giants.
According to published reports. Tuesday, the 2nd of April, the city of Oakland will present Athletics ownership with an offer to extend the team’s lease that includes a five-year contract with an opt-out after three years, as well as a requirement the team pays a $97 million “extension fee,” according to a document obtained by ESPN and KGO in San Francisco, plus other stuff to be negotiated.
Recently, the city withdrew the request for the A’s name colors and insignia to remain in Oakland when they leave for Las Vegas, as well as the possibility that Oakland be granted some preference for a new expansion team. Both are off the table. Oakland also wants the A’s to run the cost to fix the field for the Oakland Roots FC when they play at the Coliseum; the Roots are members of the USL. Also, this proposal suggests that A’s sell its 50% stake in the Coliseum ownership.
This Tuesday meeting could be just an exercise in futility for Oakland, who (if the A’s chose Sacramento) can claim to their citizens that “we tried to keep the team and still want the team to stay in Oakland, willing to work with them.”
Considering that MLB and the Commissioner want the A’s to make a decision soon, Commissioner Manfred has said he wants the A’s to play in California while they are building in Nevada, which takes Salt Lake City out of the equation. Time is of the essence now, and MLB needs a schedule for 2025, pronto!
We will have the answer by mid-week when the series between Oakland and Boston ends. I am biased; as a Bay Area resident, I would like the Oakland A’s to stay in Oakland, period, and would like these two Bay Area entities to work together. However, like many of you, I have no say. We are all spectators. Is the City of Oakland coming a day late and a dollar short with this proposal? Or are the A’s following In-and-Out?
Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead play by play voice on the Oakland A’s Spanish radio network at 1010 KIQI San Francisco and 990 KATD Pittsburg and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice
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