Sacramento A’s TV talent Jenny Cavnar (front) and Dallas Braden (back) decribe and analyize A’s baseball on NBC Sports California (photo from Jenny Cavnar to Diablo Magazine)
Who watched the A’s on TV this season?
That’s Amaury News and Commentary
By Amaury Pi-González
The Sacramento A’s saw the biggest drop in television audience in Major League Baseball this season. It is hardly a surprise for anybody who follows baseball, especially here in the Northern California. As I noted in my previous article on this site, the WNBA Golden State Valkyries drew over 9,000 more fans per home game than the Athletics at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento.
NBC California will have to take less money when it sets rates for next season (if there is a season). Maybe you like me were removed from the Xfinity package without notice, and I truly didn’t miss the A’s, didn’t attend a game since they moved to West Sacramento, and didn’t watch a single A’s game during the 2026 season. I have been to Sacramento but not to their park. The last time I was at that park was as VP of The Hispanic Heritage Baseball Hall of Fame, invited to throw the first pitch on Hispanic Day, but with another team: the AAA Sacramento River Cats. Years before the A’s made that their temporary home.
The team is scheduled to play again in Sacramento during the 2027 season. But how about Las Vegas in 2028? Well ,their 33,000-seat stadium, located at the former Tropicana resort site, is under construction, with an original total cost of $ 2 billion. For the record, and according to the most recent Nielsen Media Market rankings, Oakland/SF Bay Area is #9, Sacramento is #20, and Las Vegas is #40
Aside from the Casinos in Las Vegas, where every sporting event is on television 24-7, it will be hard to tell how many people will watch the A’s on TV or at home in their new digs on the Strip. As for attendance at their games, they originally projected drawing 30,000-plus every home game, “to make it work.”
Perhaps the A’s ownership can just pay fans to attend their games, as they do in Hollywood when they hire extras for movies, who usually get paid between $100 and $200 per day, more if they’re in the film industry Union, SAG-AFTRA. But if not, the team can always bring back the “cardboard fans” that they used at the Coliseum during the Covid years. Or they could make a deal with the famous Las Vegas Neon Museum and use some of its props as fan seats. I am sure the casinos would be happy to have replicas of all the entertainers that have worked in Sin City, from Sinatra to Elvis, Streisand, and dozens more.
The Athletics hold the record for the most cities an MLB franchise has called home, a total of five: Philadelphia, Kansas City, Oakland, Sacramento, and Las Vegas, Nevada. So…let the longest-running relocation Soap Opera continue “The Edge of Disaster”.
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.
Whether you’re pre-gaming with the Kings or celebrating an A’s win, Cyprus Grille at the Holiday Inn Sacramento Downtown – Arena is your downtown go-to.
⚡Craft cocktails? Check.
🔥Game-day bites? Oh yeah.
🏟️Steps from Golden 1 Center? You bet.
Open daily, Cyprus Grille is serving up local flavor with a front-row seat to the action. Stop by before or after the game—or make it your new downtown hangout.
Cyprus Grille—where fans fuel up.
📍Located inside the Holiday Inn Sacramento Downtown – Arena @ 300 J Street
Happy Hour – 4pm-6pm
Show your ticket for additional discounts when dining in.
