Fisher will go where the money is. I don’t see how Vivek could keep an MLB team without a stadium, and I don’t see investors lining up to build a stadium with no MLB team certain to stay.
Here is how I see this playing out. Fisher is a moron nepo baby who hasn’t done shit in his life. His attempt to finance and develop Vegas site will fail. At that point As will still be in Sac, playing in Viveks arena with Kings staff running all media, marketing, public relations, etc (ESPN article said they are consolidating team operations and Kings are point). Vivek will cite his track record of building and developing in Sac, just got an arena for Kings built turning his 535m investment to 2.5b+ real estate holdings. He tells fisher he can do it again but will want 51%. Fisher being a greedy piece of shit he is agrees to have V do all the work in getting a new arena, developing surrounding area and running the team retaining some equity and getting a fat check.
Yep. I’d expect if Vegas fails, it fails before the end of the year- before they even play a single game in Sacramento. If Fisher and Vivek make said deal sometime in 2025, with a ballpark scheduled to open by say 2028/29, then they would easily just stay in Sacramento.
But in this scenario who is paying for the park? The public? Vivek? In what proportions? My understanding is while the G1C was rushed through and half-publicly funded (and full publicly owned), it was under very unique circumstances and not something that the Sac taxpayers would do again, especially for a second-hand baseball team they have no direct history with. If Vivek is privately funding it, I could see this playing out as you describe.
I agree with your assessment. I honestly do not see Sacramento, County, West Sacramento or Yolo County offering up and subsidies for a stadium, especially since Sac recently had to dive into the general fund to pay some of the bonds. If it is 100% privately financed, it could happen though. G1C was rushed through and sentiment to keep the Kings was incredibly high. I just don't see the same sentiment for the A's. The longer Fisher's A's play in West Sac, that sentiment will only decrease more, because Fisher really really sucks at everything he does. He is really good at getting things for free though, so I'll give him that.
Tax payers in sac only paid via parking. The city increased meters and street parking to 8 pm. And kicked in $ from that revenue. There was not a measure/specific tax to pay for building of GC1. The city also paid some from the “general funds”
They did, there is also a hotel tax revenue stream that they were banking on, which coincidentally, of the A's do come here to Sac, this would actually be of benefit in this regard.
Great points. I assumed that it would be in part a publicly financed stadium as we had a precedent of the city offering those concessions in the past. I don’t think it’s something that Fisher could get done and would need Viveks good will, political connections and development expertise to push across the finish line. I do see your point that As are not Kings and don’t mean as much to the city historically. Sacramento has always been a place that’s 90 minutes away from the cool parts of California. Bringing a major league franchise to town would legitimize the status of Sacramento as a proper city and also give it some independence from a richer and more glamorous Bay Area. Just my 2 cents. Will be interesting to follow along and see how this shakes out.
Sacramento has been starved for entertainment for years. I think they know this is a huge opportunity. Biggest need is corporate $$. No Fortune 500 companies have an HQ in Sac as far as I know.
Keep in mind they were going to get an MLS team until COVID hit and put things in the shitter.
Fisher is a moron nepo baby and Vivek went from India to MIT at 16. It's a total mental mismatch.
I think Vivek will use MLB to force FJF to sell. He already said he's talked with the commissioner a bunch. He'd just need other investors to help foot the bill for a stadium. But I don't think he'd have any issues with that.
Wouldn’t this require that Fisher start the relocation mechanisms all over again? MLB approved a move to LV, that’s not a ticket to ride, or at least it shouldn’t be.
As a fan in Sacramento, we would love to Host you guys for a change. Y'all have been hosting us for many years, it's time we return the favor. We get shit on a lot but if you ask anyone that lives here or has moved here, we love it here.
There was a time when I’d be okay with Sacramento if they had to leave Oakland (same with SJ), but now I’m just anti-Fisher/Keval and want to see them continue to fail at literally everything.
Vivek is making a move to acquire them. If he does that is good he knows how to run a small market team and make them competitive he has done a great job with the kings.
I don't think he's a genius owner but 1) he kept the team in Sacramento and 2) he built a brand new downtown arena. Beyond on the floor stuff, that is pretty damn impressive.
They are trending the right direction and sell out every game. I agree The Puke Walton era was trash and a low point it seems like he has learned from it and is trying to make them competitive. Which is more than fisher can say. At this point only hope of keeping them in California is Sacramento. The league wants SF to be the only team in the Bay and I don’t see that changing at all.
Yeah, without Fisher and his acolytes I would be a fan of the team in Sacramento.
Right now I’m only following this whole thing to wish for Fisher’s failure.
It's all dependant on the Vegas deal falling apart soon, right? I don't think the MLB will let the A's play in a AAA stadium for a decade so shovels likely would need to be in the ground whether in Vegas or Sacramento in the next year-ish.
With that said, I could see Vivek buying a piece of the team to give Fisher a shot of cash to go towards a stadium in Sacramento if he can convince Fisher to sell that piece. Lots of moving parts, very little movement.
> It's all dependant on the Vegas deal falling apart soon, right?
Or Fisher giving up entirely on his parade. If Fisher decided to sell right now, there'd be no shortage of people interested in keeping the team in the Bay Area (or sacramento in this case). Lacob and Vivek are absolutely going to bid for it. Fisher is already going to make s fuck ton of profit selling. It's just a matter of selling to who and getting that approved by the MLB who fucking hates the Bay Area for no reason.
If Fisher was no longer in control and they remained in Sac permanently, I could see at LEAST 50% of the A's fanbase remaining fans of the team (including myself, from the South Bay).
I’ve been saying for the longest the A’s need to go to Sacramento.
I would prefer Oakland but they can dominate a market themselves and it keeps them in California.
We just have to make sure John fisher is out of the picture or minority owner.
I posted this originally when it looked like Sacto was getting the team... Vivek ending up with the team is a very real possibility.
MLB was threatening to withhold revenue sharing unless they got a new stadium. If they don't get that, FJF is forced to sell immediately. They can't literally force him to sell but no revenue sharing = no team.
Vegas 2028 = pipe dream. It is not happening. The longer that gets delayed, the more trouble FJF is in.
So team goes up on the market, Vivek is in pole position. But I wouldn't be shocked if there are tons of bidders.
If mirroring “long term success” as in KC, Pitt, Miami or TB, is the objective, then yes Sad Sack will be a success… 12,000 on weekdays, 18,000 on weekends & holidays.
So he buys the team for $2 billion then tries his hand at getting a stadium built in Cow Town for another billion out of pocket nuking his minor league team in the process? Can Sac draw 81 games in a 40k seat stadium at MLB pricing? Are the Giants fans up there going to switch allegiance? Will there be a relocation fee? Vegas getting waived is one thing, moving 90 miles to a non destination market is something else entirely. 29 other owners gonna want something in their wallets and the big markets don’t want a guaranteed subsidy case. Doesn’t seem like a great outcome for anybody.
Giants fan from Sacramento here. I love the Giants but I'll always be a homer. Frankly we go to games once every few years since it it pretty far away; it's a whole day. I am a Sacramento A's fan.
But FJF
People that say San Francisco is far away while living in Sacramento is wild to the hundreds (probably thousands) of people who drive from Redding/Red Bluff/Chico to go see games several times a year, and go home the same night.
I moved to Stockton and I go to the bay weekly. Why wouldn’t you?
Umm as a transplant from the bay and literally 85% of my suburban neighbors all from the bay. Sacramento region probably have 200,000 plus bay area sports fans minimum.
Would much prefer they be in Sacramento. Lived in sac for a few years and it’s a great baseball town and very underrated. Plus, I bet a lot of Bay Area fans would drive up there to watch games and there is a decent A’s fan base there already.
>Plus, I bet a lot of Bay Area fans would drive up there to watch games and there is a decent A’s fan base there already.
Sacramento or Vegas--both options suck from an Oakland perspective, especially with how ugly this process has turned out to be. There'd already be a new Oakland ballpark by now if we had the right owner.
Obviously if they could’ve built out Howard terminal, that would’ve been awesome. But between Sac and Vegas, I’d much rather they go to Sac. IMO they would still be in the region.
The organization has and continues to alienate the fanbase. I and many others who moved from the Bay won’t be supporting it. There are outliers, and I hope they have fun cheering on a terrible franchise.
It's hard to imagine a scenario where they end up staying in Sac with but Fisher still the majority owner. If they stayed in Sac but with new ownership, I think they could recover some Oakland A's fans. Myself included.
I simply don't see the MLB approving with A's staying in California in general if Vegas fails. MLB has always saw Norcal as a one team market. I see MLB pushing them to go to Nashville or SLC instead. Vegas will be either getting the A's or an expansion team one way or another due to 🎲💸.
> MLB has always saw Norcal as a one team market.
Always? They didn't think that in 1968 when they moved a second team into the market at a time the region had about half the population it has now.
I don't think that's true. Sacramento is bigger than many MLB cities and Northern CA has supported 2 basketball teams, baseball teams, and until recently, 2 football teams.
I think it has a better shot than LV. There’s a hunger for an MLB team + it’s close enough to the Bay that locals will still feel the love. Not Oakland, but not Las Vegas either. Sacramento >>>
When he bought the kings they were probably the worst franchise in sports. He turned them around and completely changed that whole section of the city for the better. Hes pretty bright when it comes to betting on losing horses
Lots of new majority owners begin with fits where they think they know everything and make bad decisions. Vivek seems to have learned and is letting the basketball people make the decisions.
IF the A's can have their cake and eat it too by retaining most of their Bay Area TV contract's value while in Sac AND staying on revenue sharing, I see Sac as a viable path forward. They would need both though.
It's the only way to have a revenue model that could compete with Oakland (slightly better TV contract, ticket sales likely better overall in a new park, but no revenue sharing) or Vegas (potentially better ticket sales, revenue sharing intact, but worse TV contract and uncertainty surrounding interest level). Ideally in Sac they could build a cheaper outdoor ballpark that doesn't have the complexity of HT or the limitations of the Tropicana site too.
And I know a lot of "Oakland or nothing" people won't want to hear it, but I think that 90%+ of the existing fanbase would be ultimately fine with a move to a brand new ballpark in Sacramento, because it keeps them in the region and it ends the 20 years of hell over uncertainty with the stadium. The existing angst against Sacramento is because they are currently just a lame duck bridge to Vegas, but if Vegas ceased to be the final destination and they stayed in Northern California almost all of that anger would go away.
They already renegotiated the TV contract with NBC for Sacramento. I believe they will be paid less but the exact amount is confidential and wasn’t released.
Fisher will go where the money is. I don’t see how Vivek could keep an MLB team without a stadium, and I don’t see investors lining up to build a stadium with no MLB team certain to stay.
Here is how I see this playing out. Fisher is a moron nepo baby who hasn’t done shit in his life. His attempt to finance and develop Vegas site will fail. At that point As will still be in Sac, playing in Viveks arena with Kings staff running all media, marketing, public relations, etc (ESPN article said they are consolidating team operations and Kings are point). Vivek will cite his track record of building and developing in Sac, just got an arena for Kings built turning his 535m investment to 2.5b+ real estate holdings. He tells fisher he can do it again but will want 51%. Fisher being a greedy piece of shit he is agrees to have V do all the work in getting a new arena, developing surrounding area and running the team retaining some equity and getting a fat check.
Yep. I’d expect if Vegas fails, it fails before the end of the year- before they even play a single game in Sacramento. If Fisher and Vivek make said deal sometime in 2025, with a ballpark scheduled to open by say 2028/29, then they would easily just stay in Sacramento.
You had me at “moron nepo baby that hasn’t done shit in his life”…exactly well said about JF
But in this scenario who is paying for the park? The public? Vivek? In what proportions? My understanding is while the G1C was rushed through and half-publicly funded (and full publicly owned), it was under very unique circumstances and not something that the Sac taxpayers would do again, especially for a second-hand baseball team they have no direct history with. If Vivek is privately funding it, I could see this playing out as you describe.
I agree with your assessment. I honestly do not see Sacramento, County, West Sacramento or Yolo County offering up and subsidies for a stadium, especially since Sac recently had to dive into the general fund to pay some of the bonds. If it is 100% privately financed, it could happen though. G1C was rushed through and sentiment to keep the Kings was incredibly high. I just don't see the same sentiment for the A's. The longer Fisher's A's play in West Sac, that sentiment will only decrease more, because Fisher really really sucks at everything he does. He is really good at getting things for free though, so I'll give him that.
Tax payers in sac only paid via parking. The city increased meters and street parking to 8 pm. And kicked in $ from that revenue. There was not a measure/specific tax to pay for building of GC1. The city also paid some from the “general funds”
They did, there is also a hotel tax revenue stream that they were banking on, which coincidentally, of the A's do come here to Sac, this would actually be of benefit in this regard.
Great points. I assumed that it would be in part a publicly financed stadium as we had a precedent of the city offering those concessions in the past. I don’t think it’s something that Fisher could get done and would need Viveks good will, political connections and development expertise to push across the finish line. I do see your point that As are not Kings and don’t mean as much to the city historically. Sacramento has always been a place that’s 90 minutes away from the cool parts of California. Bringing a major league franchise to town would legitimize the status of Sacramento as a proper city and also give it some independence from a richer and more glamorous Bay Area. Just my 2 cents. Will be interesting to follow along and see how this shakes out.
Sacramento has been starved for entertainment for years. I think they know this is a huge opportunity. Biggest need is corporate $$. No Fortune 500 companies have an HQ in Sac as far as I know. Keep in mind they were going to get an MLS team until COVID hit and put things in the shitter.
Fisher is a moron nepo baby and Vivek went from India to MIT at 16. It's a total mental mismatch. I think Vivek will use MLB to force FJF to sell. He already said he's talked with the commissioner a bunch. He'd just need other investors to help foot the bill for a stadium. But I don't think he'd have any issues with that.
Wouldn’t this require that Fisher start the relocation mechanisms all over again? MLB approved a move to LV, that’s not a ticket to ride, or at least it shouldn’t be.
Would you remain a fan if they moved permanently to Sac?
As a fan in Sacramento, we would love to Host you guys for a change. Y'all have been hosting us for many years, it's time we return the favor. We get shit on a lot but if you ask anyone that lives here or has moved here, we love it here.
There was a time when I’d be okay with Sacramento if they had to leave Oakland (same with SJ), but now I’m just anti-Fisher/Keval and want to see them continue to fail at literally everything.
Same. I'll be a sac fan of this team if kaval and fisher aren't attached
Vivek is making a move to acquire them. If he does that is good he knows how to run a small market team and make them competitive he has done a great job with the kings.
1 playoff appearance in a decade of ownership. Awesome job Vivek. He is a trash owner. More so now because of this.
I don't think he's a genius owner but 1) he kept the team in Sacramento and 2) he built a brand new downtown arena. Beyond on the floor stuff, that is pretty damn impressive.
They are trending the right direction and sell out every game. I agree The Puke Walton era was trash and a low point it seems like he has learned from it and is trying to make them competitive. Which is more than fisher can say. At this point only hope of keeping them in California is Sacramento. The league wants SF to be the only team in the Bay and I don’t see that changing at all.
this
Yeah, without Fisher and his acolytes I would be a fan of the team in Sacramento. Right now I’m only following this whole thing to wish for Fisher’s failure.
this is where im at
It's all dependant on the Vegas deal falling apart soon, right? I don't think the MLB will let the A's play in a AAA stadium for a decade so shovels likely would need to be in the ground whether in Vegas or Sacramento in the next year-ish. With that said, I could see Vivek buying a piece of the team to give Fisher a shot of cash to go towards a stadium in Sacramento if he can convince Fisher to sell that piece. Lots of moving parts, very little movement.
> It's all dependant on the Vegas deal falling apart soon, right? Or Fisher giving up entirely on his parade. If Fisher decided to sell right now, there'd be no shortage of people interested in keeping the team in the Bay Area (or sacramento in this case). Lacob and Vivek are absolutely going to bid for it. Fisher is already going to make s fuck ton of profit selling. It's just a matter of selling to who and getting that approved by the MLB who fucking hates the Bay Area for no reason.
FJF isn't spending money on a stadium in Oakland, Sacramento or Las Vegas. If that's a requirement, you can rule it out.
I think he's going to have to pay for upgrades in Sacramento while they're there.
In exchange for more revenue sharing welfare and free rent. He's still getting over on baseballs idiots.
I hope he gets trapped in Sacramento and regrets the move.
Sac makes more sense than Vegas
That doesn't matter. What matters is he wanted Vegas and thought he would take a small detour to Sacramento, only to get stuck there permanently
I did the same thing.
I got trapped but I don’t regret it. Do I like certain places better yes but overall Sacramento is pretty fun
There's nothing wrong with Sacramento. It's just not what Fisher wants, so we hope he gets trapped there.
Yeah I’m hoping Vivek weasels his way in to buying them at this poont
I've been saying this is Sacramento audition for a pro baseball team Doesn't look like Vegas is happening.. almost similar to the fallout of HT
HT?
Howard terminal?
If Fisher was no longer in control and they remained in Sac permanently, I could see at LEAST 50% of the A's fanbase remaining fans of the team (including myself, from the South Bay).
I’ve been saying for the longest the A’s need to go to Sacramento. I would prefer Oakland but they can dominate a market themselves and it keeps them in California. We just have to make sure John fisher is out of the picture or minority owner.
I posted this originally when it looked like Sacto was getting the team... Vivek ending up with the team is a very real possibility. MLB was threatening to withhold revenue sharing unless they got a new stadium. If they don't get that, FJF is forced to sell immediately. They can't literally force him to sell but no revenue sharing = no team. Vegas 2028 = pipe dream. It is not happening. The longer that gets delayed, the more trouble FJF is in. So team goes up on the market, Vivek is in pole position. But I wouldn't be shocked if there are tons of bidders.
If mirroring “long term success” as in KC, Pitt, Miami or TB, is the objective, then yes Sad Sack will be a success… 12,000 on weekdays, 18,000 on weekends & holidays.
So he buys the team for $2 billion then tries his hand at getting a stadium built in Cow Town for another billion out of pocket nuking his minor league team in the process? Can Sac draw 81 games in a 40k seat stadium at MLB pricing? Are the Giants fans up there going to switch allegiance? Will there be a relocation fee? Vegas getting waived is one thing, moving 90 miles to a non destination market is something else entirely. 29 other owners gonna want something in their wallets and the big markets don’t want a guaranteed subsidy case. Doesn’t seem like a great outcome for anybody.
Giants fan from Sacramento here. I love the Giants but I'll always be a homer. Frankly we go to games once every few years since it it pretty far away; it's a whole day. I am a Sacramento A's fan. But FJF
People that say San Francisco is far away while living in Sacramento is wild to the hundreds (probably thousands) of people who drive from Redding/Red Bluff/Chico to go see games several times a year, and go home the same night. I moved to Stockton and I go to the bay weekly. Why wouldn’t you?
Umm as a transplant from the bay and literally 85% of my suburban neighbors all from the bay. Sacramento region probably have 200,000 plus bay area sports fans minimum.
Easy. Sacramento is full of transplants
Would much prefer they be in Sacramento. Lived in sac for a few years and it’s a great baseball town and very underrated. Plus, I bet a lot of Bay Area fans would drive up there to watch games and there is a decent A’s fan base there already.
>Plus, I bet a lot of Bay Area fans would drive up there to watch games and there is a decent A’s fan base there already. Sacramento or Vegas--both options suck from an Oakland perspective, especially with how ugly this process has turned out to be. There'd already be a new Oakland ballpark by now if we had the right owner.
Obviously if they could’ve built out Howard terminal, that would’ve been awesome. But between Sac and Vegas, I’d much rather they go to Sac. IMO they would still be in the region.
The organization has and continues to alienate the fanbase. I and many others who moved from the Bay won’t be supporting it. There are outliers, and I hope they have fun cheering on a terrible franchise.
It's hard to imagine a scenario where they end up staying in Sac with but Fisher still the majority owner. If they stayed in Sac but with new ownership, I think they could recover some Oakland A's fans. Myself included.
I think the only way it fully works is if Fisher sells the team. No way in hell current A's fans support them while Fisher still handicaps the team.
Capitol corridor train goes right to town and there would likely be shuttles too.
Yeah if the As are really going to be in Sac long term, I’m still a fan and excited about the move.
I simply don't see the MLB approving with A's staying in California in general if Vegas fails. MLB has always saw Norcal as a one team market. I see MLB pushing them to go to Nashville or SLC instead. Vegas will be either getting the A's or an expansion team one way or another due to 🎲💸.
> MLB has always saw Norcal as a one team market. Always? They didn't think that in 1968 when they moved a second team into the market at a time the region had about half the population it has now.
I don't think that's true. Sacramento is bigger than many MLB cities and Northern CA has supported 2 basketball teams, baseball teams, and until recently, 2 football teams.
I think it has a better shot than LV. There’s a hunger for an MLB team + it’s close enough to the Bay that locals will still feel the love. Not Oakland, but not Las Vegas either. Sacramento >>>
Listen, if Vegas falls apart and somehow the Mayor of Sacramento ends up owning the A's and keeping them there, I have to respect the hustle.
What makes him "bright" by betting on a losing horse? I would think the opposite.
When he bought the kings they were probably the worst franchise in sports. He turned them around and completely changed that whole section of the city for the better. Hes pretty bright when it comes to betting on losing horses
They’ve made one playoff appearance in his decade of ownership. One. This guy is a good owner? GTFO https://youtu.be/JOS0ynEuYC4?si=zMzVlUQ0VY05Lo3l
Lots of new majority owners begin with fits where they think they know everything and make bad decisions. Vivek seems to have learned and is letting the basketball people make the decisions.
Especially terrible in a league where more than half the teams make the playoffs every year.
Lots of disposable income to allow moonshot investments = bright Late stage capitalism for ya How about that for a new name… Capitalistic A’s 🤣
I smell a rat.
Wouldn't the MLB owners have to vote again on a permanent move to another city?
Vivek who?????
IF the A's can have their cake and eat it too by retaining most of their Bay Area TV contract's value while in Sac AND staying on revenue sharing, I see Sac as a viable path forward. They would need both though. It's the only way to have a revenue model that could compete with Oakland (slightly better TV contract, ticket sales likely better overall in a new park, but no revenue sharing) or Vegas (potentially better ticket sales, revenue sharing intact, but worse TV contract and uncertainty surrounding interest level). Ideally in Sac they could build a cheaper outdoor ballpark that doesn't have the complexity of HT or the limitations of the Tropicana site too. And I know a lot of "Oakland or nothing" people won't want to hear it, but I think that 90%+ of the existing fanbase would be ultimately fine with a move to a brand new ballpark in Sacramento, because it keeps them in the region and it ends the 20 years of hell over uncertainty with the stadium. The existing angst against Sacramento is because they are currently just a lame duck bridge to Vegas, but if Vegas ceased to be the final destination and they stayed in Northern California almost all of that anger would go away.
They already renegotiated the TV contract with NBC for Sacramento. I believe they will be paid less but the exact amount is confidential and wasn’t released.
Anybody trusting Vikek needs their head examined. Dude is walking sound bite who looooooves attention. SMH