While the Athletics' Coliseum lease extension talks with the city of Oakland and Alameda County currently are "far apart," the team reportedly has plans to meet with another city Wednesday to discuss a different site.
The A's are set to meet with Sacramento officials on Wednesday about potentially using Sutter Health Park as their interim home while they await construction of their new stadium in Las Vegas, Casey Pratt of ABC7 News reported in a video posted to YouTube on Tuesday.
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As the A's continue working on their possible move to Sin City, the team's lease to play at Oakland Coliseum expires after the 2024 MLB season. They'll need somewhere to play in the meantime, with their stadium expected to be finished by 2028, and a meeting Tuesday between the team, city and county officials didn't seem to go well.
“We appreciate Oakland’s engagement and also we are far apart on the terms needed to agree on an extension," read a statement issued by an A's spokesperson after the meeting (h/t The San Francisco Chronicle's John Shea and Scott Ostler).
Pratt also shared a statement from Oakland mayor Sheng Thao regarding the ongoing negotiations.
Athletics
Oakland planned to present A's ownership with an offer to extend the team's lease that included a five-year contract with an opt-our after three years, and require the A's to pay a $97 million "extension fee," per a document obtained by ESPN and ABC7.
The city lowered its demands and is no longer requesting the guarantee of an MLB expansion team nor demanding the team to leave its name and colors behind, per the offer sheet.
While it remains unclear if the A's will play at the Coliseum next season, they now appear more than ready to consider Sacramento's Sutter Health Park as a temporary home with this week's meeting in the state capital reportedly set.
The stadium currently is home to the Sacramento River Cats, the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, and is approximately a 1-hour, 20-minute drive from the Coliseum.
