Sacramento bid for MLB expansion team looks beyond A's multi-year stay
Three years of the Athletics in Sacramento and the appetite is whetted, and a push for a major-league expansion team is on.
For more than a month, there have been rumblings that the Sacramento area was preparing to launch an expansion bid. On Thursday, it became official when the "Sacramento Pitch" campaign was unveiled, with former San Francisco Giants manager Dusty Baker part of the proceedings.
"I have always believed Sacramento is a major-league city," Baker said in a news release announcing the bid. "Throughout my career, I've traveled across the country, and there's something different about the people here. This community truly loves baseball.
"For more than a century, this region has built a proud baseball legacy and developed generations of Major League Baseball players. I could not be more excited for the prospect of bringing a permanent MLB team here."
The proposal includes a 50-acre stadium site in downtown West Sacramento and what the campaign touts as nearly $2 billion in backing, public and private, including $1 billion that West Sacramento expects to raise from tax-increment financing, hotel taxes and other sources. (MLB's expansion fee is expected to be upward of $2 billion, and construction costs would run close to that amount.)
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The city said that there will be no effect on its general fund, nor will a taxpayer vote be required.
"This is a defining moment for West Sacramento, and we're ready," said West Sacramento Mayor Martha Guerrero said in the release. "Major League Baseball is already seeing firsthand the passion, energy, and civic pride that exists here. This region offers a practical and achievable path for long-term MLB success, and we have the financial capacity, community support, and clear vision needed to bring Major League Baseball permanently to West Sacramento. We're built for this. We're ready. Bring it on."
The A's currently play at West Sacramento's Sutter Health Park as they await the scheduled 2028 unveiling of their new Las Vegas ballpark. The Giants' Triple-A River Cats also call Sutter Health Park their home.
According to the Sacramento Pitch, the state capital's metro area has 2.7 million residents and has grown at a 10% rate in the last 10 years.
The expansion bid's steering committee includes Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty, Kings chief operating officer Matina Kolokotronis, former Pittsburgh Pirates owner Kevin McClatchy and former big-leaguer Derrek Lee, who like Baker is from Sacramento.
Major League Baseball has discussed expanding by two teams after the A's and Rays have achieved their new stadiums. The Rays' plans to build within the Tampa/St. Petersburg area are less clearly defined at the moment, with the A's stadium already under construction.
Nashville is widely considered the top site for expansion, with Salt Lake City, Charlotte and Portland also potential considerations.
Oakland would be a possibility, were a group to fund a new stadium there. The Giants' territorial rights to San Jose extended only to the A's, and San Jose is the third-largest city in the state after Los Angeles and San Diego. The San Jose metro area is 36th largest in the country according to census information, while Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom is 26th, larger than Nashville (35) and Salt Lake City (46).
The fact that the A's have not sold out consistently at Sutter Health Park, however, might not help the bid. The team averaged 9,487 fans per game last year, last in the American League. That number has improved to 10,634, still last, in a ballpark with a current capacity for 14,014 fans.
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