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Could Sacramento be the site of the next Major League Baseball expansion team? In light of the Athletics' temporary relocation to the capitol region, local leaders are looking to capitalize on the momentum. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has expressed interest in an expansion team on both the east and the west coast. Sacramento, already considered a top-three contender for a new team, made their bid for the team official. Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty, in his State of the City address on Monday, announced that both he and West Sacramento Mayor Martha Guerrero are working together to launch a campaign to attract the expansion team. "We are an MLB ready city," McCarty said in his address. They mayor touched on major issues in Sacramento like homelessness and housing, but ended his address with the MLB announcement. "Look, we need to grow our economy," McCarty said. "That's going to really dramatically impact our city budget and the mood of Sacramento and our economy for decades ahead." A new ballpark would have to be built, but an exact location is yet to be determined. "Most likely is the city of West Sacramento. Some people say, 'Wow, you're the mayor of Sacramento, and you don't want to fight for the ballpark in Sacramento?' No. I don't. Wherever it makes the most sense, you know, West Sacramento is the most likely logical location," McCarty said. Right now, the Athletics are one season into a three season stint playing temporarily in West Sacramento at the home of the minor league Sacramento River Cats before their big move to Las Vegas in 2028. "The City of West Sacramento is conducting preliminary studies to evaluate the long-term feasibility of permanently bringing Major League Baseball to West Sacramento, including the financing and infrastructure investments required to build a new stadium," Guerrero said. "While this work is still in its early stages, we are confident that West Sacramento offers one of the most attractive and strategically positioned locations for Major League Baseball expansion on the West Coast." It comes as West Sacramento's city council also recently voted in support of establishing a tourism marketing district, allowing hotels in the city to better market themselves as a tourist destination. But is the Sacramento region behind in this bid for the proposed expansion team? The Capitol region is facing some competition. The other front-runners are Portland, Oregon and Salt Lake City, Utah. Both cities already have active campaigns ongoing giving their bid for the big league a head start. Contenders for the east coast expansion include Nashville, Tennessee and Charlotte, North Carolina. Portland and Salt Lake City's organized campaigns called the Portland Diamond Project and Big League Utah both already have prime locations picked, stadium renderings released and potential owners ready to pay big bucks for Major League Baseball. "What do we have that no one else has? A team here today," McCarty countered. Still, Sacramento still has some work to do in proving it can pack the stadium. For the A's inaugural season at Sutter Health Park, attendance on average was 9,487 fans per game in a stadium that seats nearly 14,000. The A's only saw seven sellout games this season, accounting for the worst attendance record in the MLB. "There's one thing that we can do to dramatically increase our odds. It's making sure that we support the A's here, show that we are worthy of a Major League franchise," McCarty said. The A's had nearly 770,000 total fans come through the turnstiles this season. Compare that to Sacramento's closest MLB neighbors, the San Francisco Giants, which saw nearly 3 million total fans in attendance this season. Other than attendance, Sacramento also needs to work on corporate sponsorships, a hurdle that McCarty said Monday he and Guerrero are already making a top priority. "Mayor McCarty and I share a commitment to building on the momentum surrounding the Athletics by continuing to drive strong attendance and engaging local corporate partners to demonstrate that our community is ready to embrace and sustain Major League Baseball," Guerrero said.
