Another city in the West now wants an MLB expansion team

The former Oakland soon-to-be Las Vegas Athletics are playing in Sacramento until their 33,000-seat domed stadium under construction on the Strip opens ahead of the 2028 season.

But Sactown isn’t satisfied with a temporary Major League Baseball fix. The city formally announced its pursuit of a big league expansion team Thursday. Local investors are seeking an anchor investor to lead the effort, according to Sport Business Journal.

Sacramento real estate developer Mark Friedman, the founder/chairman of Fulcrum, said the city would be a could fit for baseball, citing its population and media market size; a ballpark site already zoned and entitled; significant public investment; and the potential for a strong ownership group.

“We’re, I think, the most underserved market in the country if you sort of measure population and sports opportunities,” Friedman told Sports Business Journal. “Sacramento is a growing community that is really hungry for sports.”

Friedman said $1.8 billion already been raised — $800 million through local investors and $1 billion from the city of West Sacramento in the form of tax increment financing

A projected 35,000- to 40,000-seat ballpark would be built on the West Sacramento site of Sutter Health Park, home of the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats and the temporary home of the A’s. It would also include privately financed mixed-use development. Friedman controls 50 of the 180 acres on the site, per Sports Business Journal.

“We know overwhelmingly we’re the best market for Major League Baseball,” said Barry Broome, president and CEO, Greater Sacramento Economic Council.

The A’s are averaging 10,634 fans at home so far this season, lowest in the league, per ESPN. The stadium’s capacity is 14,014.

More competition in the West

Sacramento is the latest team in the West to make a pitch for a baseball expansion franchise.

In April, the city council in Vancouver, British Columbia, approved a motion to initiate a process that attracts potential ownership groups interested in pursuing an expansion team for the Canadian city. Mayor Ken Sim no taxpayer money is contemplated in the process.

The council could decide on a private sector investor in July.

The Globe and Mail in Canada reported in April that there is at least one lead investor group and that actor and Vancouver native Ryan Reynolds could be involved, per the Seattle Times. A stadium site near the Olympic Village from the 2010 Winter Games has been identified.

Vancouver currently has one major league sports team, the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks. The NBA’s Vancouver Grizzlies played there from 1995 to 2001 before moving to Memphis. The city will host seven FIFA World Cup soccer matches in June and July.

Front-runners to land MLB expansion team

Salt Lake City and Nashville are widely considered the leading contenders to land an MLB expansion team. Commissioner Rob Manfred favors one new team in the East and one in the West when baseball starts looking at expansion no earlier than 2029. Nashville is the leading contender in the East, while many observers see Salt Lake City as the top prospect in the West.

If Vancouver and Sacramento emerge as a serious contender, they would have to compete not only with Salt Lake City but with Portland.

A February story in The Athletic called Salt Lake City the frontrunner in the West. But fans in its MLB fans survey didn’t quite see it that way. The publication limited the choices to the six cities that had expansion efforts underway at the time — Austin, Nashville, Orlando, Portland, Raleigh and Salt Lake City. Survey respondents were asked to choose two.

While Nashville was the runaway winner at 73%, Portland was second at 47% and Salt Lake City further back at 30%.

The Rose City has a head start on the Beehive State, with a group of investors, including NFL quarterback Russell Wilson and his singer/songwriter wife Ciara, launching the Portland Diamond Project in 2017.

A coalition of prominent Utahns led by the Larry H. Miller Company, which had owned the Utah Jazz for decades, created Big League Utah in 2023 to pursue an MLB team for the state.