Oakland A's to temporarily play in Sacramento for 2025-2027 seasons ahead of Vegas move

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KRNV) — The Oakland Athletics announced Thursday that the team will temporarily play in Sacramento, California, for the 2025-2027 seasons ahead of their move to Las Vegas.

A's owner and managing partner John Fisher released the following statement about the move:

"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. 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."

The team will play at Sutter Health Park, which is currently home of the Sacramento River Cats, the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants.River Cats officials told KCRA they have no plansto cut down on home games.

The A's lease at the Oakland Coliseum ends after this season so the team was facing a tight timeline to decide where to play next.According to ESPN, the city of Oakland initially offered to bridge the gap with a five-year lease with a team opt-out after three, with $97 million due to the city regardless of the length of the term.

MLB owners unanimously approved the A's relocation to Las Vegasafter Fisher entered into an agreement to build a ballpark in the parking lot of the Tropicana Casino and Resort on the Las Vegas Strip,which shuttered earlier this week. The team received $380 million in public funding from the state legislature to build an estimated $1.5 billion stadium which is slated to open ahead of the 2028 season.

Still, the public funding element is facing a challenge from Schools Over Stadiums, a political action committee formed by the Nevada State Education Association. The PAC has filed a lawsuit to have the bill overturned and seek a ballot referendum that would put the funding up for a vote next year.

Sutter Health Park has a capacity of 14,000 which won't be problematic as the A's attendance this season has been at a record low as fans protest the team's move. The team said current A's season ticket holders will get priority purchase access, but ticket pricing for A's games at Sutter Health Park are yet to be determined.

Any move to a minor league ballpark has to gain approval of the Major League Baseball Players Association. There had been some discussion on the Reno Aces' Greater Nevada Field potentially being a location for the A's as it waited for its Las Vegas ballpark to be built, but that did not gain much traction over the last several months.