One Way the A's Could Embrace Sacramento (and Make Money)

One common refrain we heard when people would point out the Athletics attendance woes at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento was "wait until school is out." Well, school was out for the last homestand, and the Athletics still failed to crack 10,000 announced fans even once. The high water mark from the last homestand was the Wednesday night game against the Minnesota Twins which drew 9,211.

Over the weekend, the A's drew a total of 26,445 fans, good for an average of 8,815 per game. The ballpark holds around 13,500, so these numbers have to be disappointing.

Part of the reasoning for the low attendance figures is believed to be the way that the franchise has treated the people of Sacramento. They have made it clear that Sutter Health is just a rest stop for them, and in the meantime have put up plenty of Las Vegas signage along the walls in the outfield. The team won't even put Sacramento across their chest, which is common practice.

Instead, they're going by "The Athletics," which has been made fun of on visiting broadcasts numerous times this season, as well as on broadcasts that aren't even playing the A's. There are some in Sacramento that believe that the A's stay is making their town look bad.

While this may never have been a "trial period" for the city to get its own expansion club, there are some that think that the A's mistreating of their town is detrimental to that goal.

Suffice it to say, the A's need to do something to appease the fans in Sacramento to help draw them to the ballpark more often. It's not like there are other options for where the team can play (aside from Oakland), and at the rate things are going, there will be loud "Sell the team" chants in the stands sooner rather than later.

Now, I'm not sure how the timelines on these things has to work in order to get them ready for 2026, but the simplest way that the A's could throw a bone to the people of Sacramento would be to unveil a new alternate jersey next season. Not just an alternate, but a city connect jersey.

These are meant to reflect the place the team resides in their design, and typically there is some storytelling that goes along with the jerseys. The team could even continue to go by "Athletics," but having one jersey in the rotation that's used for home games would certainly draw more fans to the ballpark when the team is in Sacramento.

They could go with the Tower Bridge, which they already have on their jerseys in patch form, or something similar to what the Washington Nationals did with their latest city connects, where they made the jersey a map of the capital. They could also go with a Sacramento Kings inspired jersey. There are plenty of options.

While they may not change the team's name, and it could still be too little too late, it would be a nice gesture to the people of Sacramento, to at least acknowledge their role in this period of A's history. It could serve as a "thank you" of sorts to the fans for putting up with them.

On the one hand, this would certainly be seen as a slap in the face to the people of Oakland, who never had a city connect jersey of their own, and they would rightfully be riled up. On the other hand, this would probably be a smart business decision. Not only should it help ticket sales, but the jerseys themselves would sell extremely well.

There isn't a ton of "Sacramento A's" merchandise (official at least), and collectors would be all over these (like hats with accidental expletives). The fans in Sacramento would gobble them up too. Financially it would be a win-win for the A's, and that's even if the olive branch doesn't increase the team's ticket sales.

When they were leaving Oakland with designs on landing in Las Vegas, owner John Fisher was adamant that they keep the name, colors, and history of the franchise. This would be a way to add a note to the franchise's history, and a nod to the team's temporary home.