MLB commissioner, A’s and Kings owners talk Sacramento’s baseball future in private event
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred made a visit Wednesday to Sacramento where, in a private event, he gave the city another shot at making its case to become the permanent home of an expansion team.
Manfred’s arrival to the capital region, not publicly announced in advance, came as part of a tour of Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, where the Athletics will play from 2025 through 2027 before relocating to Las Vegas.
Manfred was accompanied by A’s owner John Fisher, Sacramento River Cats and Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé and team radio announcer Ken Korach. The visit was first reported by ABC 10 after a reporter saw Fisher and Manfred near the still-in-progress clubhouse.
Following the tour, Fisher and Ranadivé hosted Manfred for a private event, a team source with knowledge of the situation said. The event was not held at Sutter Health Park, the source said.
A program shared with The Sacramento Bee listed the event’s title as “A Luncheon with Commissioner of Baseball Robert Manfred” with Fisher and Ranadivé as the hosts. Manfred participated in a Q&A session with attendees, moderated by Korach, according to the program.
Ranadivé used the luncheon for yet another opportunity to pitch the city and Sacramento region as a whole as a permanent home for an expansion team — this time, to the commissioner’s face. He can be heard telling Manfred about the idea in an audio recording from the event, which was not open to media, that was shared with The Bee.
Ranadivé has previously made it clear that part of his goal in bringing the A’s to Sacramento was to showcase the city as a viable option for a permanent team.
“When you think of Sacramento and this whole mega region, it’s really one of the biggest economies in the world,” Ranadivé said Wednesday. “So I’m just going to keep pitching you and saying ‘Sacramento, Sacramento, Sacramento.’”
Manfred responded: “I’m not going to forget the 10 million people,” referring to residents of the greater Sacramento region and immediately surrounding areas. “I’ve got that one.”
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The audio did not include Fisher’s remarks at the event.
This was Manfred’s first confirmed visit to Sacramento since the A’s announced in April that the team would play for at least three years in the park. He praised leadership for the move, saying Wednesday they are “off to a great start.”
“This community wants Major League Baseball to be part of the culture here,” Manfred said.
He also highlighted Ranadivé’s work with the Kings and said “someone embedded in the community makes a huge difference in terms of the long-term success of the franchise.”
“You got a great basketball program going here, with a really creative owner who’s had a great franchise,” Manfred said. “You know, it kind of follows on. He’s going to be a leg up when it comes to baseball.”
The A’s announced Wednesday tickets for their home opener had sold out, and that more than 74,000 people registered to buy them.
Single-game tickets for other A’s home games will go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday.
