Sutter Health Park a panoramic view. The Park will be the interim home of the A’s for the 2025-28 seasons.
Sacramento Baseball: A’s and River Cats
That’s Amaury News and Commentary
By Amaury Pi-González
The most recent statistics from the State of California list the Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom Metro Area with 2,397,382 residents. Only the Los Angeles-San Bernardino-Ontario-Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura Metropolitan Area, the nine-country San Francisco-San José-Oakland Metropolitan Area and San Diego and the surrounding area have a higher population concentration than the Sacramento Metro.
The baseball question many have in mind. Are there enough baseball fans to support a Major League team in the Sacramento Area? Since 2016, these are the official attendance records for the Minor League Sacramento Rivercats. 2016: 609,666. 2017: 562,237. 2018: 538,785. 2018: 549,440. 2020: Covid. 2021: 256,714. 2023: 388,246.
Sutter Health Park, West Sacramento’s capacity is 10,624 (fixed seats), 14,014 total. Including Fixed Seats, Lawn, and Standing Room). If you are wondering about minor league baseball parks, Sahlen Field, home of the International League Buffalo Bisons, has the highest seating capacity of all active Triple-A teams in the US, 16,600, while Tacoma’s Cheney Stadium has the lowest capacity, 6,500.
It could be complicated for the A’s and the Rivercats to share Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento starting in 2025; with such a small capacity that it is not close to Major League standards, they need many improvements.
In a recent release from NBA Sacramento Kings, the majority owner of the River Cats said MLB is working with both teams to ensure that their schedule meets MLB and MiLB guidelines and that they have dedicated facility space.
They plan to modify Sutter Health Park, which had just undergone a multi-million dollar renovation, which includes upgrading LED lighting and adding a clubhouse scheduled to be completed before the 2025 season.
By now, it is known that Mr.Vivek Ranadivé, owner of the Kings and the River Cats, is the most powerful man in Sacramento regarding sports. Tony Clark, the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, will have to approve all of the above for the 2025 season and for the Oakland A’s to play in Sacramento before the 2025 season.
This is what is happening with Sutter Health Park in Sacramento to date. According to the Las Vegas Business Review, the Nevada Supreme Court did not decide Tuesday after hearing arguments regarding a challenge to the Oakland Athletics public funding bill of $380 million.
Schools Over Stadiums were each given 17 minutes to argue their sides to the seven Supreme Court justices on why a lower court’s 2023 decision regarding a petition opposing Senate Bill 1, the A’s stadium public financing bill signed into law last year, should be upheld or appealed.
That one is now in the hands of the lawyers, and when lawyers get involved, only God knows. Mark Twain (1835-1910) observed correctly about lawyers: “Lawyers are like other people–fools on the average; but it is easier for an ass to succeed in that trade than any other.” And this is how the ball bounces.
Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead play by play voice on the Oakland A’s Spanish radio network at 1010 KIQI San Francisco and KATD 990 Pittsburg and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
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