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Oakland A's announce team will play in Sacramento at Sutter Health Park for 2025-2027 seasons

A's headed to Sacramento for 3 seasons ahead of Las Vegas move
A's headed to Sacramento for 3 seasons ahead of Las Vegas move 03:40

The Oakland Athletics announced Thursday the team will play in Sacramento for the 2025 -2027 MLB seasons at Sutter Health Park ahead of the team's planned move to Las Vegas in 2028.

The announcement appears to bring an end to the team's 57-year run at the Oakland Coliseum. The Kansas City Athletics moved to Oakland for the 1968 season, two years after the stadium opened.

Sutter Health Park is in the city of West Sacramento, across the Tower Bridge just west of the State Capitol.

"We explored several locations for a temporary home, including the Oakland Coliseum. Even with the long-standing relationship and good intentions on all sides in the negotiations with Oakland, the conditions to achieve an agreement seemed out of reach," said A's owner and managing partner John Fisher in a prepared statement. "We understand the disappointment this news brings to our fans, as this season marks our final one in Oakland. Throughout this season, we will honor and celebrate our time in Oakland, and will share additional details soon.

"We extend our appreciation to the Kings and the City of West Sacramento, and look forward to making Sutter Health Park our home until our new ballpark opens in Las Vegas."  

The announcement was made jointly with the Sacramento Kings, the majority owner of the Sacramento River Cats which play at Sutter Health Park. Later Thursday morning, Fisher spoke at a press conference at the ballpark to make the announcement official.

"I just want to say how excited I am to be here in West Sacramento, in Sutter Health Park celebrating a momentous day for this community and a momentous day for our 123-year-old franchise," said Fisher.

Oakland A's announce team to play in Sacramento for upcoming seasons by KPIX | CBS NEWS BAY AREA on YouTube

Fisher thanked Kings co-owner and chairman Vivek Ranadivé for his efforts in striking the deal and said he was looking forward to seeing the team play in the intimate setting.

"We're excited to be here for the next three years, playing in this beautiful ballpark, but also being able to watch some of the greatest players in baseball, whether they be Athletics players or Aaron Judge and others, launch home runs out of this very intimate, most intimate ballpark in all of Major League Baseball for the next three years," Fisher said.

"It's an incredible day for the City of West Sacramento!" said West Sacramento Mayor Martha Guerrero in a statement. "We are a baseball town and on behalf of the City we extend a warm welcome to the A's and their dedicated fanbase throughout Northern California." 

On Wednesday, A's executives visited the ballpark, a day after negotiations for an extension agreement with the City of Oakland were dubbed "far apart" by the team. It was the second time this year that A's leadership had visited the park, which currently can seat about 14,600 fans. 

The A's drew 6,436 at the Coliseum for the finale of an opening homestand in which they went 1-6 and dropped to an AL-worst minus-29 run difference.

It was unclear how the A's move to Sutter Health Park would impact the River Cats, the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants.

The Athletics' current lease at the Oakland Coliseum is set to run out at the end of this season. Aside from the failed negotiations to extend the Coliseum lease and the Sacramento move, the A's also looked into playing in Salt Lake City.

Oakland reportedly planned to offer the team a five-year, $97 million extension for five years with a chance to opt-out at three years. However, the plan was reportedly contingent on MLB committing to giving the city an expansion team. Oakland officials said the plan would also require the A's to assume field conversion costs and sell its stake in the Coliseum to a local developer. 

"Oakland offered a deal that was fair to the A's and was fiscally responsible for our city, said Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao in a statement. "We wish the A's the best and will continue our conversations with them on facilitating the sale of their share of Coliseum site. The City of Oakland will now focus on advancing redevelopment efforts at the Coliseum."

The A's are planning for a new stadium in Las Vegas to be ready for the 2028 season, but they need a place to play until then. The legendary Tropicana Las Vegas hotel and casino, on the site where the new stadium will be built, closed for good on Tuesday with demolition slated for October.

MLB owners cast their votes supporting the team's proposed move to Las Vegas in November.

This is a breaking news update. More information to be added as available.

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