There was a huge uproar when the Oakland Athletics moved to Sutter Health Park in Sacramento for the 2024 season as an interim plan before their permanent move to Las Vegas by 2028. Sacramento was never on the MLB radar. Apart from Sutter Health Park’s minor league ballpark, which seats around 14,000, the city couldn’t offer much to be represented by an MLB franchise.

But the A’s entry in the city may have changed the scene, and the city’s mayor is hopeful to leverage this to get an MLB representation.

“It’s a great advantage, and let’s face it, that was the reason that we got excited about this. You know, when uh the VCron Diva and the Kings arranged for the the A’s to come here for a couple years, we thought, Wow, that’s amazing. We got a three-year run of professional baseball. We thought, Huh, what if we can parlay this into an opportunity to apply for expansion when the time comes? Like I mentioned earlier, lo and behold, in their first year, after a couple months, just by coincidence, the commissioner’s office came out and laid out the most definitive plans so forth as far as expanding by two cities by 2029,” Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty said via EssentiallySports Exclusive.

MLB was last expanded in 1998 when the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Rays were added, which made the league 30 teams. Back in January, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred talked about expanding the league further to 32 teams. “I think that one of the things that we’ve begun to think about is expansion. There are a lot of markets in the United States and North America, quite frankly, Canada, and Mexico, that would like to add Major League Baseball. When people want your product, I think it’s kind of incumbent on you to try to figure out a way if you can deliver that product to them,” Manfred said via Pat McAfee show.

According to Manfred, there are cities that have the baseball market but are yet to be represented. Moreover, expansion means MLB could have an NFL-style system featuring four divisions. Each will have four teams organized primarily by geographic zones. In this scene, each of the potential cities, like Nashville, Salt Lake City, Portland, and Charlotte, is pitching its own propositions. Sacramento has been hosting an MLB team for around 4 years successfully. The Sutter Health Park is averaging around 10,340 fans per game in 2026, which includes a high attendance bump compared to last season.

So, while most other cities are pitching their potential market, Sacramento has the opportunity to project it in reality. They have the fans and market, and if proper infrastructure can be offered, the baseball experience will leap. “We are ready to compete for a permanent MLB team,” West Sacramento Mayor Martha Guerrero said last month. “What excites me most about this vision is what it could mean for the future of our city. For years, we had envisioned the Bridge District as a vibrant, waterfront destination where people can live, work, and gather. And that it has become.”

The city is pledging $1.8 million in funding as part of “The Sacramento Pitch.” They aim to build a 50-acre site in West Sacramento in the Bridge District that could house an MLB team of their own. While the A’s will leave by 2028, Sacramento will have the evidence to prove its baseball market.

The A’s may have utilized Sacramento’s minor league park as a temporary solution, but it helped the city to build its portfolio for a permanent MLB franchise.