A's have officially arrived. What will it take to permanently bring MLB to Sacramento?
Monday's home opener for the A's
was the first time they played on
West Sacramento
soil.
From first pitch, and for the next three years, this is a trial run for the Sacramento region before
the A's
move to Las Vegas.
But the region is already buzzing with speculation: Can we prove our worth and convince the MLB to bring a permanent team to town?
"I think over the next three years or so, we do have the opportunity to show that a team belongs in Sacramento full time," said Mike Testa of Visit Sacramento.
For Testa, the momentum is there, but what will the MLB look for?
Sports economist Patrick Rische said that Sacramento's competition for a new team will be cities like Portland, Salt Lake City and Nashville.
"If you [fill stadiums] at the higher price point, it does send a pretty strong message to MLB that maybe there is more support in this market than they realize," Rische said.
Look at the Sacramento Kings and you'll find a faithful fan base plus deep pockets. Kings owner Vivek Ranadive also owns the Sacramento River Cats and
Sutter Health Park
. The River Cats are the San Francisco Giants' Triple-A affiliate and will share Sutter Health Park with the A's during their tenure in the city.
Ranadive has expressed early interest in owning an MLB team in the Sacramento region. What Rische argues Sacramento lacks is enough corporate sponsors.
"Unless they have someone like Vivek to come in and say, 'I want to put down the expansion fee and I'm willing to build the stadium,' then it just makes Sacramento less attractive," Rische said.
Testa said he believes the Sacramento Kings and their downtown home, the Golden 1 Center "have demonstrated there is a path to that."
"You've got a lot of corporate sponsorship in that building, whether it's people buying suites or buying lofts or advertising in the building," he added.
So this season, Sacramento has something to prove.
"You can't look at Sacramento and say we are not doing big things. We are doing big things," Testa said. "I think the exclamation point for that becomes the A's."
When it comes to other resume builders for the Sacramento region, right now, the city is
building a new minor league soccer stadium
in the nearby railyards.
It's hosting the
X Games for the next three summers
. Also, this summer is the release of
a major movie called "Sacramento."
Every fall, the city is home to
the largest hard rock festival on the west coast
, plus the biggest
Ironman race
in the country.
These are things that Testa and Visit Sacramento, when they marketi our region nationally, will bring up. The A's can be added to that list now.
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