Athletics In Geographic Transition: Book Is Closed In Oakland, Three Years In Sacramento, Las Vegas Bound In 2028; Fans Want To See Stadium Construction Start In Vegas Before Believing A’s Move
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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
PEORIA, Arizona — So, this is where the Las Vegas-bound Athletics are playing their first game after leaving Oakland.
The last time we saw the A’s play a game in Oakland it was Sept. 26 and their manager, Mark Kotsay, emotionally said goodbye to heartbroken fans at the Coliseum. The A’s say they are building a $1.75 billion, 30,000-seat domed stadium on the Strip for the 2028 season and will play in Sacramento in 2025, 2026 and 2027.
The Athletics are back on the baseball diamond here in Peoria, a pleasant northwest suburb of the sprawling Phoenix metro area. The A’s play their spring games in Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, about 43 miles away by car.
Tom Hotchkin, a friendly A’s fan from Seattle was here with his two sons, including nine-year-old Otis, who adores the Athletics.
When young Otis heard that the A’s were moving to Las Vegas with three years in Sacramento, the youngster said, “I told dad and I was sad.”
Would father Tom take his kids to the Strip where the A’s hope to hope their stadium on the Strip in 2028?
“I have to live that long,” the 57-year-old Hotchkin said.
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Anthony Solis left his seat before the A’s-Padres game to grab a beer and we chatted on the way to the beer stand.
Solis, a 44-year-old who oversees a dozen 7-Elevan convenience stores in northern California, threw out the first pitch before a A’s game at the Coliseum in May after he was picked as a Little League coach of the month.
He adores the A’s, but could not bring himself to attend the final A’s home game at the Coliseum in Oakland Sept. 26.
But Solis will one day attend an A’s game at the Athletics ballpark on the Strip on the site of the former Tropicana hotel-casino at the southeast corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue.
The funny thing is his wife Heather still does not believe the A’s will leave Sacramento to play in Las Vegas.
A’s owner John Fisher. who has pledged more than $1 billion toward the construction of the Athletics stadium on the Strip, is friends with Vivek Ranadive, owner of the NBA Sacramento Kings, Triple-A minor league Sacramento River Cats and Sutter Health Park where the A’s are slate to play from 2025-27.
The A’s stadium is being built in Las Vegas thanks to $380 million in a public subsidy under a Nevada state bill approved by the state legislature in 2023. Gov. Joe Lombardo signed the bill into law and is an A’s stadium subsidy backer in much the same way former Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval backed the Raiders stadium $750 million construction subsidy. The A’s say they will end up using $350 million of the $380 million in approved public resources for their Vegas venue.
The stadiums for the Raiders and A’s have very different public funding methods, though. But either way, fans expect the A’s stadium to be a big tourist attraction. especially because the Strip’s two big hotel companies — MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment — view the A’s stadium as a tourism driver.
Solis said that it exactly what the A’s stadium on the Strip will be: “It’s going to be a road show for MLB.”
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The A’s are playing in a spring training ballpark in Peoria that’s part of a mixed-use commercial, retail and restaurant business area that’s peppered with places like Texas Roadhouse, Chipotle and Target. It’s a commercial section of Peoria not too far from Glendale, where the NFL Cardinals’ domed stadium is located.
The first pitch was tossed at 1:08 PM and the weather was gorgeous at 74 degrees and sunny at the game start.
There was not shortage of A’s fans.
They were sad about the club leaving Oakland. But they love baseball and wanted to be here, like Adam Young, 40, of Pleasanton, California. He plans on attending a couple of A’s games in Sacramento and games in Las Vegas.
Young said he might not like the current owner, but he will by loyal to the A’s mark.
Here’s his view:
As for the A’s spring training opener, the Padres plated five runs in the second inning and another four in the fifth and were enjoying a comfy 9-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning.
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Steve and Jessica Althoff from Midland, Texas were catching the A’s game today because the A’s have a minor league team in their city.
Jessica Althoff wants to get to Las Vegas in 2028 to see the A’s.
But her husband, Steve, wants to see a groundbreaking and dirt fly to start construction at the former Tropicana hotel-casino site before he believes the A’s will have a stadium on the Strip.
“I don’t believe it until they have the ceremonial dig,” Althoff said.
Meanwhile, Brent and Deborah Soldati were at the game looking to get mini-helmets signed. They were like many other A’s fans there — loving baseball in Arizona in February.
The Padres added a run in the bottom of the eighth and cruised to a 10-3 win.
See you in Mesa Sunday at Hohokam Stadium for the A’s spring game with the Colorado Rockies.
PROMO
