SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Excitement over the Athletics coming to West Sacramento in 2025 continues, but there are still a lot of questions lingering about logistics.
One of the main questions is who will the fill the seats inside Sutter Health Park and how will ticket prices change?
The Athletics, a Major League Baseball team, will go from the Oakland Coliseum with a maximum capacity of 60,000 to 14,000 at Sutter Health Park where the Minor League Baseball team the River Cats currently play.
River Cats owner Vivek Ranadive is excited to see MLB in West Sacramento.
“This is like having lower bowl seats at a basketball game, every seat is amazing,” said Vivek.
Athletics owner John Fisher says he's excited to watch home runs be launched out of Sutter Health Park, which he calls the "most intimate ball park."
But who will fill these seats?
The boycott on A’s opening day in Oakland and fiery social media posts suggest fans aren’t making the drive to the capitol city.
Tion Bukue One, former DJ of the A’s from 2017 to 2020, saw the low attendance firsthand.
“There will be a portion of them that will go because they are for the players, for the culture and despite the owner, they will probably still go,” said Tion Bukue One.
The average attendance for the Oakland Athletics is now at less than 10,000 people, according to Baseball Reference.
Ball Park Digest puts River Cats attendance at less than 5,000.
So technically all the fans could fit in Sutter Health Park.
"Early in the season they will go just to kind of check it out but I can’t that level of support sustaining the whole baseball season especially if the tickets go up,” said Tion Bukue One.
Right now, a family four pack for next weekend starts at $25, whether you're at the Coliseum watching the A’s take on the Nationals or watching the River Cats take on the El Paso Chihuahuas.
Dan Wells is used to paying those prices. He’s been an a’s fan for 30 years and is a former season ticket holder who used to drive to the bay for games.
“Tickets are going to go up a lot but you’re also paying for the highest level professional baseball. I think they are going to double or triple at least,” said Wells.
He’s not wrong about the price — right now, River Cats seats behind home plate are $40, but are $80 for the A’s.
“I know 20 people in the last 24 hours that have already applied for season tickets, including myself,” said Wells.
But who are fans paying to see? The Athletics, or other big-name teams and players?
It’s the same trend we saw for the Sacramento Kings in the 2010s. Even Vivek Ranadive and John Fisher were talking about seeing the likes of Aaron Judge and Shohei Otani.
”I was reading a bunch of comments last night about people excited to see the Red Sox, the Yankees and the Dodgers,” said Wells.
A’s season ticket holders get priority, River Cats members get next priority. You can register for the ticket list online here.
