Sutter Health Park on Apr 4, 2024 the day the Sacramento A’s announced they will play all their home games in Sacramento at a press conference. The A’s have hosted two homestands into the 2025 season and have won two out nine home games so far. (AP News file photo)

A’s not selling out a 14,000-seat park?

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Although A’s players will not speak about it publicly, I am sure they will be pleased when they go on the road. It is not good business for any team not to sell out home games than when they play on the road, especially in a 14,014 capacity park, in Sacramento. MLB’s gate revenue (ticket sales) is typically split roughly 95-5 between the home and visiting teams.

The home team keeps approximately 95% of the gate, while the visiting team receives approximately 5%. So this could be terrible revenue news for the Athletics, win or lose, because when you go on the road to play, even if you win the game, you never win in money/ticket sales, that is ‘to be expected’, but at home?

Throughout decades in this business, I have learned that players usually like to win at home, where they get the most respect from fans and the best following, where generally more people come to see you play. It is only normal, this is your home park, you sleep on the same bed for 81 games, home cooking most of the time.

But not for the ATH playing at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, at least not this 2025 season. However, the A’s will not be embarrassed this year for having the lowest attendance in baseball. Why is that? Because the Tampa Bay Rays are playing this 2025 season at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, their temporary home while Tropicana Field in St Petersburg is under repair from damage during Hurricane Milton, their capacity is only 11,026.

By the way, Steinbrenner Field is the spring training home of the New York Yankees. My good friend and Spanish broadcaster for the Tampa Bay Rays, tells me that although a small park is kept in “beautiful condition”, in his words.

Rare situation: While it is not the first time an MLB team has played in a minor league park, it’s unusual for two major league teams to do so simultaneously this season, for different circumstances. One is a temporary relocation, the other an act of God.

So, why are the A’s not selling at home regularly? There are many factors. It is a new city(never been a Major League town) with a smaller population and a much smaller park than Oakland. The A’s are not a team favorite to win anything this year. They share the field with the Triple-A Sacramento Rivercats.

What is already happening is embarrassing. More people attending the A’s game in Sacramento are rooting for the visiting team, which is not “normal” in baseball. It did happened in Oakland during the last few years, but ‘let’s face it’ when you play in a 14,014-seat stadium and 10,000 are rooting for the Cub and not the A’s, the Giants and not the A’s, the Yankees and not the A’s and so on during the whole season and that in any language is Embarrassing. The A’s are the most toxic franchise today in all sports, so this should not surprise anybody.

Such is the story for the 2025 A’s/ATH in Sacramento, originally one of eight franchises that founded the American League in 1901. The United States Steel Co. was created the same year, becoming the first billion-dollar corporation.

1901 Trivia: Nap Lajoie of the Philadelphia Athletics achieved the highest batting average in a single season, a record still standing today, a .426 batting average. He also became the first American League player to win the Triple Crown, leading in batting average, home runs, and RBIs.

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Amaury Pi-Gonzalez – Cuban-born Pi-González is one of the pioneers of Spanish-language baseball play-by-play in America. Began as Oakland A’s Spanish-language voice in 1977 ending in 2024 (interrupted by stops with the Giants, Mariners and Angels). Voice of the Golden State Warriors from 1992 through 1998. 2010 inducted in the Bay Area Radio Hall of fame.