Is West Sacramento on deck to be temporary home to Oakland A's?
SACRAMENTO — As the Oakland Athletics' relocation to Las Vegas continues to twist and turn, California's capital region is once again on the list as a potential temporary home for the major league ball club.
Sutter Health Park has hosted Major League Baseball teams before, but could they be a semi-permanent home for an MLB club? There are rumblings that it could be a possibility.
But how real are those rumblings?
"Sacramento's a better financial deal than Las Vegas, a better team environment, a better fan environment, a better merchandising and TV environment, and the A's are going to lose money in Las Vegas," Barry Broome, president of the Greater Sacramento Economic Council said last spring.
The Athletics run the risk of leaving California early and relinquishing tens of millions of dollars annually for a TV deal.
"The fans do not want Jon Fisher. We love the team, we love the A's, but not so much Jon Fisher and Dave Kaval and how they've handled everything," said lifelong A's fan Jered Isham.
Isham said Sacramento could provide an out for A's leadership.
"How can the Giants help us out and how can we retain part of our Bay Area TV licensing deal?" Isham said.
He is correct. Keeping the team in Sacramento could conceivably allow the team to keep some money and have a temporary home. But will A's fans follow?
The jury is still out, while a source close to West Sacramento City Hall said the team has not made contact about being a tenant.
"The ability to mess things up seems to have solidified through all of this," Isham said.
There are still several roadblocks for the A's to be in Las Vegas and even more to be in Oakland, but Sacramento leadership has said before that if the A's wanted to be a permanent tenant in the city, to come reach out.