What does A's relocation mean for Sutter Health Park upgrades, Sacramento MLB future?
WEST SACRAMENTO — The Athletics are set to temporarily relocate to West Sacramento in 2025 following a final season in Oakland.
Sacramento leaders say they've been pitching this plan to the A's for years, but does Sutter Health Park have the capacity to host a major league team?
The short answer is yes. The stadium can fit roughly 14,000 fans between the seats, the grass behind center field and the standing room.
Compare that to the Oakland Coliseum which can hold up to 63,000 fans. That sounds like a lot, but the average attendance per A's game last year was only about 10,000.
Still, some renovations are needed to turn Sutter Health Park into a major league ballpark.
What changes are coming to Sutter Health Park?
Sutter Health Park is currently home to the San Francisco Giants Triple-A affiliate, the Sacramento River Cats. In the next 12 months, the ballpark will see various upgrades including new stadium lighting, clubhouses and weight rooms with the goal of making it an MLB-level stadium.
"It will be a mix of player amenities as well as actual fan amenities that we are excited about," "So it will be a better fan experience – things like premium and a new video board," said David Kaval, president of the A's.
Some big changes were already made at Sutter Health Park this season well before the announcement of the A's relocation, including to the clubhouses and ways to help players when they're off the field.
Brittney Nizuk, the River Cats vice president of facilities and events took us behind the scenes after 19 weeks of work.
Enhancements were made to the locker room, weight room and training facility with hot and cold tubs. There is now also a larger dining space that can fit the entire team at once and something they never had before: female spaces, including women's locker rooms and meeting rooms.
"Anything that the men kind of aren't in, the women can have an advantage to take advantage of as well," Nizuk said. "It's exciting."
There's also been a big focus on mental health, so that includes the addition of family rooms where players can meet with their spouse or their children in a laid-back atmosphere. A mental health room has also been added where they can meet with a therapist.
All of this makes the ballpark consistent with what's already in the majors, setting it up for this next big push with the A's.
What does this mean for the River Cats and Sacramento's MLB future?
With the ballpark set to be home to two clubs, the plan is for the A's and River Cats to co-exist with some dynamic scheduling by the MLB.
Additionally, the team will drop Oakland from its name and go by the Athletics or the A's, but will also add some Sacramento flavor.
"There are going to be ways, especially with our uniforms, where we are going to honor Sacramento," Kaval said.
In the end, Sacramento Kings owner and Chairman Vivek Ranadivé made one thing clear: this move is to better the capital region, in what he calls Sacramento 3.0.
"I want people to have something to do every single night of the year, and I want them to have multiple options," Ranadivé said in a press conference at Sutter Health Park on Thursday.
"A baseball team is not just what happens on the diamond," Kaval said. "It's also the impact it makes on the community, and this can be a really important aspect and we are really going to invest in them."
As for whether Sacramento can be a permanent MLB home, Ranadivé said this:
"We have to show what we can do and I have complete confidence that if we set our mind to something, this is an incredible city and we have the best fans in the world, and in the end, the best fans in the world will make it happen."
It's a sentiment shared by Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, who, in a press conference at city hall following the announcement, spoke on whether this temporary relocation of the A's is an audition for a future MLB expansion.
"You bet it will be an audition," Steinberg said. "Just like what we showed with the Kings in good years and in many of the tough years, just as we show with [Sacramento Republic FC] year in and year out, just as we are so loyal to everything that is Sacramento, I have no doubt that our fans, our people, our ownership and our community will wow them all."
Ranadive also confirmed that he is in contact with MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and that he was told that the league wants to add two more expansion teams – one on each coast. If all goes right, Sacramento could be in play to be a permanent MLB home.
