Sutter Health Park in Sacramento aerial view the future home of the Sacramento A’s for the 2025 season (CBS TV file photo)
On the Sacramento A’s Relocation podcast with Daniel:
#1 Daniel, as this season winds down and the post season starts the renovations at Sutter Health Park the next step for the Sacramento A’s for their new home will face many new challenges.
#2 The Players Union who we’ve talked about several times, the idea of playing in a minor league park doesn’t not sit well and there are legitimate health and safety concerns that need to be addressed.
#3 One of those challenges the A’s will face at Sutter Health is accommodating sell out crowds but how to fit all the employees, press, front office employees, and players to make it all work.
#4 Daniel we didn’t get a chance to talk to you about the last day at the Oakland Coliseum last Thursday for the thousands of fans and the millions watching on TV it was on doubt one of the saddest days in baseball history seeing this storied franchise playing that last home game.
#5 One thing for sure Sutter Health Park is on the map with all the buzz about the remodeling of the park and trying to see if they can accommodate everyone. Sacramento is know for it’s NBA team the Kings but will further it’s position in the sports world with their adapting the A’s.
The Major League Baseball Players Union have not agreed to the upgrades at Sutter Health Park pictured which includes playing on artificial turf in 2025. MLB players do not want to play in a minor league facility with smaller clubhouses, weight rooms and alot less benefits. (AP file photo)
On the Oakland A’s Relocation podcast with Daniel Dullum:
#1 KFBK 1530 Sacramento reported that the Major League Baseball Players Union, the MLB Players and super agent Scott Boras said on Thursday that the MLBPA has not agreed to the upgrades which include the artificial turf that is to be installed at Sutter Health Field. The players said that on 100 degree days the temperatures could go up another 70 degrees playing on the plastic made surface.
#2 MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said that the solution is simple just spray some cool water on the artificial turf and it will bring the temperature down on the plastic surface. The players are not having none of that.
#3 The plan right now is to rip out the natural grass surface and replace it with artificial turf. Scott Boras who is considered one of the top baseball agent in MLB and who is a native to the Sacramento area from Elk Grove said that baseball doesn’t not have any turf surfaces that are outdoors, Boras said that you have players who worth millions and millions of dollars and their value and their stake in their ball club and they need more room so the players can workout and have their pre game and environment ready for them.
#4 Boras who comes from Sacramento would love to see MLB come to Sacramento but now is not the right time he says because Sutter Health Park is not a Major League Baseball facility. From everything Boras and the Players Association can see in front of them it’s not going to work as a MLB facility size and turf wise.
#5 So the question was raised if not Sacramento where would the A’s play for the 2025 season? Boras said the answer was pretty easy and that is the A’s should go back to Oakland. Boras also indicated that the A’s could stay permanently in Oakland as new property owners the African American Sports Entertainment Group have taken over the property. The A’s no longer will have to deal with the City of Oakland or Mayor Sheng Thao who wanted to charge the A’s $92 million rent. AASEG would offer the A’s a deal both parties can be happy with. Besides the A’s sold their half of the property to AASEG. The A’s would get their TV rights and money back in the neighborhood of $70 million per year if the came back to the sixth largest market.
#6 A Major League Baseball statement said, “It is a certainty that the A’s will play their 2025 season in Sacramento as planned. MLB is continuing to work productively with the MLBPA on the details of the transition.”
Outside view on Fri Apr 5, 2024 of what will be the permanent home of the Las Vegas A’s on opening day April 2028 at the Tropicana Hotel that was closed down on Apr 2, 2024. Schools over Stadiums are attempting to put together a petition that will try and stop SB1 public funding for the A’s Tropicana ballpark (photo by Sports Radio Service Staff)
On the A’s relocation podcast with Daniel:
#1 Daniel, Schools over Stadiums is in the Nevada State of Appeals Court trying to get the language for a petition drive to get an initiative on the state November ballot to stop SB1 public funding for the Tropicana ballpark for the A’s. In appeals court on Wednesday Schools over Stadiums remarks to the court were “John Fisher does not pay his lawyer because he cares about the finer points of constitutional law in Nevada…” and “What this has been about from the beginning is delay, driving up our bills, and keeping this off the ballot.”
#2 NBC reported that Schools over Stadiums also said in court on Wednesday that polling results from Jackson County MO an Emerson Poll show that 52% say no to the public funding and 32% say yes that “a majority of Las Vegas voters oppose public money going towards a baseball stadium for the A’s, taxpayers should have the opportunity to vote on where this public money goes.”
#3 Also reported when the A’s president David Kaval turned down the Oakland Coliseum’s five year $97 million offer Kaval said it was above market rate and Oakland Mayor Chief of Staff Leigh Hanson countered saying while the deal was above market rate the city is not receiving parking revenue from the Coliseum, the city gets no cut from concessions from food or beverages and is only getting a small share of the ticket revenue. Kaval then said “this isn’t going to work for us.” Hanson said this isn’t about getting the cheapest deal for you but what is going to work for the city.
#4 Daniel, the national media has been working on this story about Schools over Stadiums being in the Nevada Court of Appeals and there is an indication that if allowed by the court to put the language on the petition drive it could spell trouble for the A’s financing for the Tropicana ballpark could it force John Fisher and David Kaval to possibly return to the table with the City of Oakland or hatch a deal with Sacramento. There could be a legal fight to try and keep the A’s in Oakland that’s a ways down the road right now.
#5 June 1st is the due date to have 102,000 signatures in from the petition drive. The language on how a ballot initiative will read to stop SB1 the decision will rest in the hands of a seven member Supreme Court. Lawyers from both sides of the argument from the labor union arguing this measure will prevent jobs and have an economic impact on Las Vegas and Nevada. Schools over Stadiums lawyers argued that being the 48th state in education and 49th in class room sizes the $380 million of public money going to a stadium should be going to education and the time is critical to get the petition started.
#6 Daniel, deputy executive director of government relations for the NSEA Chris Daly said that time is running out that once the court is to approve the legal language for the ballot initiative that gives Schools over Stadiums just less than 75 days to get these petitions printed and petition gatherers on the ground and start seeking over 102,000 signatures.
Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman just recently won the hearts and minds of Oakland fans saying “the A’s belong in Oakland” this week in an interview with Front Office Sports (photo by the City of Las Vegas)
On the Oakland A’s Relocation podcast with Augie:
#1 Augie, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman’s remark’s that the “A’s belong in Oakland” after seeing that the Oakland A’s missed the deadline on presenting renderings and that owner John Fisher is asking the Las Vegas business community to help invest in the team.
#2 Later Goodman partially walked back what she originally said saying that she wanted what was best for Las Vegas, Paradise, and Clark County and that she wanted to welcome the A’s to Las Vegas and that the A’s only belonged in Oakland if they can’t get the financing their looking for.
#3 The interview with Mayor Goodman was conducted with Front Office Sports and it was audio recorded as well. Goodman said that the A’s “need to listen to the people that are up there (in Oakland). It’s there team.”
#4 Fisher has said that he is seeking financial assistance and that had put doubt in Goodman’s mind that Fisher doesn’t have the money. Goodman is not mayor of the A’s future home at the Tropicana location which is located in the Paradise city limits and ran by Clark County. Goodman and her husband former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman have been trying to bring MLB to Vegas for 20 years.
#5 Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao upon hearing what Goodman had to say that the A’s are Oakland ‘s team said with excitement in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle’s John Shea, “100%! Keeping the A’s in Oakland is what’s best for everyone including Las Vegas. My door is open to John Fisher and to anyone else that has the means and desire to purchase the A’s and keep them in the town. We have the plan, the sites, and the money. Let’s keep the A’s rooted in Oakland.”
#6 John Fisher is a vilified figure as many fans in Oakland want Fisher to sell the team and find a buyer who will keep the team in Oakland. Fisher repeatedly has said the team is not for sale. Daniel, in the hypothetical circumstance that Fisher can’t pay for the costs of the stadium in Vegas or if the whole Las Vegas ballpark plan fails can you see him going back to Oakland as Mayor Thao who says she has a existing offer on the table.
#7 Augie, a political action committee group Strong Public Schools has filed a lawsuit on Monday which also named the State of Nevada, Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo and state Treasurer Zach Conine as defendants saying that the state is “financing a world class Stadium for a California billionaire while ignoring Nevada’s second class education system.” The A’s nor anyone from Major League Baseball would not make a comment on the lawsuit that argues the SB1 bill violated the Nevada constitution because it was passed on a majority vote and not a two thirds vote. The A’s nor anyone from Major League Baseball are named as defendants.
#8 Schools over Stadiums according to sources has raised funding for their legal fees to get the proper petition language to put an initiative on the November ballot that would stop the public funding for the A’s ballpark on the Las Vegas strip with legal counseling. Schools over Stadiums can thank Oakland A’s fans namely the Oakland 68s and the Last Dive Bar who helped raise funds to help pay for the legal fees.
Augie Mesenburg filled in for Daniel Dullum who hosts the Oakland A’s Relocation podcasts Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
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