The Athletics inched closer to officially moving to Las Vegas on Monday. The team held a groundbreaking ceremony for their new ballpark on the Las Vegas Strip.
Team owner John Fisher and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred were present at the event, which was hosted by Athletics commentator and former player Dallas Braden.
The team’s new ballpark isn’t expected to be ready until the start of the 2028 MLB season. In the meantime, the Athletics will play games at Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park, the home of the Sacramento River Cats, a minor-league affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Sutter Health Park has a capacity of roughly 14,000 people, per CBS News. The Athletics’ new park in Las Vegas is expected to seat roughly 33,000 fans. The cost of the new park is estimated at $1.75 billion.
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The team’s move is not without controversy. After struggling to settle on a new stadium site near Oakland, Fisher received approval from MLB and Manfred to relocate in 2021. Two years later, the team purchased land in Las Vegas, with the intent to move the team to the city. The move received unanimous approval from MLB owners during the 2023-24 MLB offseason.
During the 2023 season, Oakland fans staged a reverse boycott at the ballpark. In an attempt to prove fans were not the problem, Oakland supporters showed up in droves to protest Fisher’s attempt to sell the team. Fans wore green T-shirts with the word “SELL” in capital letters and chanted “sell the team” to Fisher.
The protests received massive attention but did not stop Fisher from moving the team. In anticipation of the team’s move to Las Vegas, the Athletics were more active than normal in free agency, inking pitcher Luis Severino to a deal that could total $67 million, the largest ever handed out by the team in free agency.
