The Sacramento A's Are Happening 2025-2027 (at least)

#92
Fingers crossed that local media/personalities can get past the emotions of today, use common sense and look out for the interests of the city of Sacramento.

For all of Vivek's faults, he's trying to build Sacramento up. The difference between Sacramento and other large metros in the past is that Sac has never had local billionaire's to support their big league aspirations. Now that we have one, don't kneecap him by trying to save another city. This is how sports franchises are acquired and we all know that you can't become a billionaire by being considerate of ppls feelings about how you're making money.

I've said my peace on that subject. Back to the good vibes of the day.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
#93
I would like the A's to stay in Oakland and think there's at least a 0.001% chance of returning if they play in Sacramento and less chance any other locale they move to. If I were in Sac I'd show up despite reservations about helping Fisher because it still helps Sacramento.
 
#94
For anyone that watched matt george on KC and Dlo, wow. He kinda pissed off KC with his talking down to sacramento. I really thought MG lived in oakland the way he was talking.
Im still trying to understand where the vitriol came from. The A's leaving oakland was approved unanimously months ago. No reason to be mad at sacramento for being excited.
 
#95
For anyone that watched matt george on KC and Dlo, wow. He kinda pissed off KC with his talking down to sacramento. I really thought MG lived in oakland the way he was talking.
Im still trying to understand where the vitriol came from. The A's leaving oakland was approved unanimously months ago. No reason to be mad at sacramento for being excited.
Ha! I just listened. KC said "I do a show in Sacramento, for Sacramento fans." That's when I knew KC was through with the conversation.
 
#96
Can this really happen? I would say that 14,000 seats is comically small for an MLB team, but a sell-out every night (and you'd figure they would sell out every night) would be about 4K more tickets sold than the A's have been averaging the last few years. Of course, then what happens to the River Cats? I can't imagine they would be able to schedule both teams.

Also, I suspect that the minor-league facilities would be subpar for MLB teams (the visitors would likely be reasonably upset about the clubhouse) but then again I'm not sure that the Coliseum is all that great itself.

OK get this.. Supposedly they are looking at putting the temp upper deck, and supposedly they are adding bleachers to half of the grass area. They were going to bump it to about 25k from what I had been reading. As for facilities there are going to be a lot of adjustments that will have to be made to the stadium, and they might have to use "portables" or build a bit in the lot to be used as offices. But the stadium is supposedly going to look a lot different than it does now, and after it's all said and done we might be in line for an expansion team if we can sell every night out. I don't doubt that season tickets will be all gone right away. So many fans here. But the team is going to be crap. Probably not even much better than the Rivercats, if at all. So a lot of fans will be for the visiting teams.
 
#97
OK get this.. Supposedly they are looking at putting the temp upper deck, and supposedly they are adding bleachers to half of the grass area. They were going to bump it to about 25k from what I had been reading. As for facilities there are going to be a lot of adjustments that will have to be made to the stadium, and they might have to use "portables" or build a bit in the lot to be used as offices. But the stadium is supposedly going to look a lot different than it does now, and after it's all said and done we might be in line for an expansion team if we can sell every night out. I don't doubt that season tickets will be all gone right away. So many fans here. But the team is going to be crap. Probably not even much better than the Rivercats, if at all. So a lot of fans will be for the visiting teams.
I expect tickets will cost multiples more than what they did at Oakland too. Different situation but in the NHL, the Phoenix Coyotes moved from a 17k capacity stadium that they could never fill (about 5k vacant seats on average for each game) to the ASU hockey arena that sits 5k and is sold out each game. When they played at the Gila River arena, you could get tickets for less than $20. Now, it costs $200+
 
Btw, congratulations to Vivek Ranadive. More that anyone else he facilitated this move to West Sac by the A's. And he's originally Bay Area guy who still owns his primary or at least now part-time residence in Atherton. Vivek has shown again and again he has Sacramento's best interest at heart and long gone as just another Bay Area tech mogul.
 
I was listen
OK get this.. Supposedly they are looking at putting the temp upper deck, and supposedly they are adding bleachers to half of the grass area. They were going to bump it to about 25k from what I had been reading. As for facilities there are going to be a lot of adjustments that will have to be made to the stadium, and they might have to use "portables" or build a bit in the lot to be used as offices. But the stadium is supposedly going to look a lot different than it does now, and after it's all said and done we might be in line for an expansion team if we can sell every night out. I don't doubt that season tickets will be all gone right away. So many fans here. But the team is going to be crap. Probably not even much better than the Rivercats, if at all. So a lot of fans will be for the visiting teams.
I was listening to a national show last night talking about what kind of upgrades might need to be done to make it viable for Major League Baseball. The host who is retired baseball was using what had to be done to the blue jays minor league stadium when they had to play their during COVID. They had to upgrade the clubhouses, practice facilities, warm up mounds etc. The players union had a list of needs before the stadium was approved for use.
 

Warhawk

Give blood and save a life!
Staff member
I was listening to a national show last night talking about what kind of upgrades might need to be done to make it viable for Major League Baseball. The host who is retired baseball was using what had to be done to the blue jays minor league stadium when they had to play their during COVID. They had to upgrade the clubhouses, practice facilities, warm up mounds etc. The players union had a list of needs before the stadium was approved for use.
My son works at Sutter Health Park and said that they had completed a lot of improvements for the clubhouses, etc., over the past year or so. Sounds like more improvements might be in store with this decision? I wonder if the River Cats and A's will be sharing clubhouses or if they will have separate facilities or ???
 
I was listen


I was listening to a national show last night talking about what kind of upgrades might need to be done to make it viable for Major League Baseball. The host who is retired baseball was using what had to be done to the blue jays minor league stadium when they had to play their during COVID. They had to upgrade the clubhouses, practice facilities, warm up mounds etc. The players union had a list of needs before the stadium was approved for use.

The reason I was bringing it up was because I was looking up different upgrades that could be done to the stadium when it was originally built. They were talking about it being able to handle another deck, but was only if we had to put a major league team there. It also has a place for bleachers opposite the grassy area. If I was not mistaken I think it was 25k that they could max it out at, but I assume they will probably go with 20k and keep it comfortable and intimate since the A's don't even come close to averaging 20k people anyway. It's sad.. I remember sitting in the upper deck of the Oakland Colosseum and the place was full. I was there with a lot of my cub scout friends and was about 8 years old. It sucks what Oakland, and the A's have turned into.

The whole bay area is a mess, and I vowed never to go back after witnessing a mass of car break-ins all at once when putting my flipflops on ready to go down to ocean beach. Glad I didn't leave my vehicle in the lot yet, because a truck with 5 people must have broke into 50 cars in 5 mins tossing all the valuables into the bed of the truck. Happened in 2022.
 
My son works at Sutter Health Park and said that they had completed a lot of improvements for the clubhouses, etc., over the past year or so. Sounds like more improvements might be in store with this decision? I wonder if the River Cats and A's will be sharing clubhouses or if they will have separate facilities or ???

I was thinking that they will probably be bringing in portables for offices. At least if the A's take the clubhouse and the cat's are left to the portables.
 
There is talk that Sutter Health park can't be expanded because of the foundation pillars used during construction were not the original planned ones. Builders had to cut some corners because of severe weather and a tight construction schedule.

I'm of the belief that if you throw enough money at a problem, you can overcome any issue.

Vivek bought the River Cats two years ago with this exact scenario in mind, I have no doubt. I'm curious to see how he expands the stadium. Fisher may be cheap but Vivek likes his products to be first class.
 

Warhawk

Give blood and save a life!
Staff member
There is talk that Sutter Health park can't be expanded because of the foundation pillars used during construction were not the original planned ones. Builders had to cut some corners because of severe weather and a tight construction schedule.

I'm of the belief that if you throw enough money at a problem, you can overcome any issue.

Vivek bought the River Cats two years ago with this exact scenario in mind, I have no doubt. I'm curious to see how he expands the stadium. Fisher may be cheap but Vivek likes his products to be first class.
Based on what I've read, I think this is correct (and there is no way Vivek would have gotten to this point if there was no way to construct the desired improvements that didn't involve replacing the existing structure - that's just not happening).

Having no specific knowledge about the site or existing structure foundations (and some quick Googling and looking at Google Earth photos over time didn't really help), there are often ways to retrofit a building to enable additional foundation loading capacity. Structure foundations are kind of my thing. :)

If they are adding foundation capacity outside of the current building footprint, they can use one of several kinds of pile foundation types (CIDH piles, auger cast piles, etc.) - but probably not driven piles since the vibrations would not be good for the adjacent structure(s). Still, they have plenty of options that have been used all the time in the Sacramento area (CIDH [cast-in-drilled-hole] foundations are used for many bridges, for example, and the Golden 1 Center is supported on auger-cast piles, as are numerous other tall structures downtown - the company I work for has helped design foundations for several of them).

If they have to work within the existing building footprint, or will underpin the existing foundation perimeter, they have a few options as well. One frequently used method is micropiles, which were used to underpin the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas, for example. Another might be helical anchors, which are often used for foundation underpinning applications. There are probably a few others as well.

So yes, foundation capacity can typically be increased, if necessary.

Now, that's assuming that the foundations are the issue. When they say "expanded", they issues may be due to above-ground structural limitations and not foundation capacity. The axial (or lateral!) capacities of the columns, beams, shear walls, trusses, their connections, or other items may not be sufficient to support another level of loading on top of the existing structure (or for a retrofit/remodel of some kind). That's a bit outside my specialty area so I'm not going to elaborate on this too much. But structural engineering firms have been helping out with structure retrofits for additional seismic loads (or other loading capacity) for what, 40+ years? (There was a statewide push for bridge seismic retrofits in the 80's, for example, and updated building codes over decades have required structure upgrades during remodels, etc.) I'm sure they can figure something out, if necessary.
 
Yeah, they are only saying that now for some reason. Though I’m not sure why. Maybe not to rub Oakland’s nose in it or something. Maybe they don’t want Sacramento to become possessive and want that reminder that they aren’t Sacramento’s team.

But 3-4 years is a long time in a city without affiliation and kissing off merchandise dollars. I do think the affiliation is key to the sustained support over their whole stay.

They also need to cover their bases in case they’ll stay. The more you read about Vegas, it seems the only thing they have in place at all is league approval for the move. I thought that was a more foregone conclusion than it is. I certainly wouldn’t be comfortable that was going to happen if it was Sacramento’s stadium deal
 
Based on what I've read, I think this is correct (and there is no way Vivek would have gotten to this point if there was no way to construct the desired improvements that didn't involve replacing the existing structure - that's just not happening).

Having no specific knowledge about the site or existing structure foundations (and some quick Googling and looking at Google Earth photos over time didn't really help), there are often ways to retrofit a building to enable additional foundation loading capacity. Structure foundations are kind of my thing. :)

If they are adding foundation capacity outside of the current building footprint, they can use one of several kinds of pile foundation types (CIDH piles, auger cast piles, etc.) - but probably not driven piles since the vibrations would not be good for the adjacent structure(s). Still, they have plenty of options that have been used all the time in the Sacramento area (CIDH [cast-in-drilled-hole] foundations are used for many bridges, for example, and the Golden 1 Center is supported on auger-cast piles, as are numerous other tall structures downtown - the company I work for has helped design foundations for several of them).

If they have to work within the existing building footprint, or will underpin the existing foundation perimeter, they have a few options as well. One frequently used method is micropiles, which were used to underpin the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas, for example. Another might be helical anchors, which are often used for foundation underpinning applications. There are probably a few others as well.

So yes, foundation capacity can typically be increased, if necessary.

Now, that's assuming that the foundations are the issue. When they say "expanded", they issues may be due to above-ground structural limitations and not foundation capacity. The axial (or lateral!) capacities of the columns, beams, shear walls, trusses, their connections, or other items may not be sufficient to support another level of loading on top of the existing structure (or for a retrofit/remodel of some kind). That's a bit outside my specialty area so I'm not going to elaborate on this too much. But structural engineering firms have been helping out with structure retrofits for additional seismic loads (or other loading capacity) for what, 40+ years? (There was a statewide push for bridge seismic retrofits in the 80's, for example, and updated building codes over decades have required structure upgrades during remodels, etc.) I'm sure they can figure something out, if necessary.
I both have no clue what you're talking about and understand completely. :D

Means you explained this well and confirmed my educated guess on what Vivek may have been thinking when he bought the team.

It made my day to hear from someone in the industry say that the site can be expanded.

Vivek can't let the narrative for the next 3 years be centered on the size of the ballpark.
 
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Yeah, they are only saying that now for some reason. Though I’m not sure why. Maybe not to rub Oakland’s nose in it or something. Maybe they don’t want Sacramento to become possessive and want that reminder that they aren’t Sacramento’s team.

But 3-4 years is a long time in a city without affiliation and kissing off merchandise dollars. I do think the affiliation is key to the sustained support over their whole stay.

They also need to cover their bases in case they’ll stay. The more you read about Vegas, it seems the only thing they have in place at all is league approval for the move. I thought that was a more foregone conclusion than it is. I certainly wouldn’t be comfortable that was going to happen if it was Sacramento’s stadium deal
A's also did NOT trademark Las Vegas A's. Make of that what you will.
 

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
A's also did NOT trademark Las Vegas A's. Make of that what you will.
Well, the first thing I would make of that is that, stadium negotiations aside, they never had an active agreement to play a single game in Las Vegas. No venue, nothing is final. Nothing is final, so don't apply for the trademark, regardless of how close to 99.9% your intentions are to go to Vegas. In Sacramento, there is an active agreement for a minimum tenure of three years. Agreement exists, apply for trademark, even if you still intend to go to Vegas in the end.

I am not a trademark lawyer, but this just makes sense to me.
 
Well, the first thing I would make of that is that, stadium negotiations aside, they never had an active agreement to play a single game in Las Vegas. No venue, nothing is final. Nothing is final, so don't apply for the trademark, regardless of how close to 99.9% your intentions are to go to Vegas. In Sacramento, there is an active agreement for a minimum tenure of three years. Agreement exists, apply for trademark, even if you still intend to go to Vegas in the end.

I am not a trademark lawyer, but this just makes sense to me.
The A's delay allowed someone else to apply for the trademark ahead of them. There is a financial impact of trying to buy it back, IF the trolls who own the trademark want to give it up.

Either the A's made a big mistake or they were never convinced the LV was happening.

This whole A's saga for the last few years is definitely strange and lends itself to conspiracy theories.
 
I’m hopeful we can land the A’s long term or get an expansion franchise, but

1) Does Vivek have the money for the expansion/relocation fee? He’s wealthy, but that fee is quite hefty.

2) does he have the money to pay for the stadium? If not, does the Sacramento public have the appetite to pay for a new stadium? (I personally would be cool with paying for it, but I’m a sports fan and wanna see Sac grow…)
 
I’m hopeful we can land the A’s long term or get an expansion franchise, but

1) Does Vivek have the money for the expansion/relocation fee? He’s wealthy, but that fee is quite hefty.

2) does he have the money to pay for the stadium? If not, does the Sacramento public have the appetite to pay for a new stadium? (I personally would be cool with paying for it, but I’m a sports fan and wanna see Sac grow…)
He'll definitely need an ownership group. Anyone buying a team this day and age will require wealthy partners. The model Vivek used to buy the Kings won't work.

Kings are valued at about 3.5 billion and he owns something like 65%, so he's got a good starting point.

There will definitely need to be some creative financing to build a ballpark though. If Vivek owns Sutter Health Park, some of the hardest work is done. Finding and purchasing a suitable site. If the stadium can be expanded, he's looking at renovation, which can be done in stages, instead of building from scratch.

I'm very curious what the plan is, but positive Vivek is not flying by the seat of his pants or wasting anyone's time.
 

hrdboild

Moloch in whom I dream Angels!
Staff member
The A's delay allowed someone else to apply for the trademark ahead of them. There is a financial impact of trying to buy it back, IF the trolls who own the trademark want to give it up.

Either the A's made a big mistake or they were never convinced the LV was happening.

This whole A's saga for the last few years is definitely strange and lends itself to conspiracy theories.
It's been like this for more than just a few years. They announced they were moving forward with their plan to build a stadium in San Jose without securing the territory rights first. They announced they were going to build a stadium on the Laney College site without getting approval from their board of trustees first. They used the 9th overall pick on Kyler Murray in 2018 without getting a commitment from him to give up football. I used to defend this organization but eventually I've come to realize that there is no master plan at work. Somehow they really are this incompetent.
 
He'll definitely need an ownership group. Anyone buying a team this day and age will require wealthy partners. The model Vivek used to buy the Kings won't work.

Kings are valued at about 3.5 billion and he owns something like 65%, so he's got a good starting point.

There will definitely need to be some creative financing to build a ballpark though. If Vivek owns Sutter Health Park, some of the hardest work is done. Finding and purchasing a suitable site. If the stadium can be expanded, he's looking at renovation, which can be done in stages, instead of building from scratch.

I'm very curious what the plan is, but positive Vivek is not flying by the seat of his pants or wasting anyone's time.
The rumor is that Joe Lacob (Warriors owner) has had interest in buying the A's. So maybe Ranadive's connections to the Golden State Warriors are not over yet? :oops: