The Oakland Athletics will be shifting to West Sacramento as they are awaiting their Vegas stadium approval. They are going to be there for three years, as per the sources. And whether long-term or short-term, for any team, the fans and the city are what matter right? Well, not really it seems, in this case! Why? Because the Athletics don’t want to be associated with the Sacramento name at all!

The team has recently rolled out strict brand transition guidelines. There they insisted on being referred to as Athletics or A’s with the ATH initials. But the home-based newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle, is pushing back. National baseball writer John Shea mentioned they would continue calling the team the Sacramento Athletics or Sacramento A’s. And wait till you hear what they have decided to name their initials—SAC!

Shea also revealed that their sports editor, Christina Kahrl, a longtime A’s fan from Sacramento, signed off on the decision, simply regarding it as ‘common sense.’ However, not everyone seems bothered or hurt that the team wouldn’t even take on the Sacramento name; in fact, they won’t even put the city’s name on the jerseys, it turns out.

San Francisco Chronicle (and other Hearst Communications properties) will be ignoring A’s guidelines, will refer to team as “Sacramento Athletics”
byu/GuyOnTheMike inbaseball

Shea highlighted, “Meantime, for many Sacramentans residing in this great baseball city, the fact there’s an MLB team coming to town, even one that prefers not to identify the city, is fabulous news.” Darrel Steinberg, who was Sacramento’s mayor for eight years, said, “I might be wrong, but I don’t think anybody in the community is taking offense.” He played a key role in keeping the Kings from moving to Seattle. And he sees this move as a good opportunity for the city to prove its worth.

Steinberg said, “Sacramento is happy to have the opportunity to showcase why we’re such a great city and great region and how crazy we are about sports. I think the community is grateful to showcase what makes us so special. It would be nice if they called themselves the Sacramento A’s, but I think maybe, over time, they’ll want Sacramento as part of the name because they’ll see what we are about.” Sadly, the residents of the place might not subscribe to that thought. And the outrage has spilled over on Reddit.

Fans outraged about Oakland Athletics’ messy Sacramento move

Now the Chronicle article did stick a nerve with some people. One user said, “The San Francisco Chronicle wanted the A’s gone?” Well, the Chronicle doesn’t really want the Oakland Athletics gone. It’s just that some people feel there is a certain lack of respect from the team’s end. Sure, they are in there temporarily, but it will be their home. People will be buying the tickets to go watch and root for them. And well, the fans are in the end interested no matter what; the Oakland Athletics have registered more than 74,000 ticket requests for the team’s Sacramento home opener.

Another person on Twitter said, “Lol, why would Giants ownership want to just give away a massive portion of their market and turn them into a secondary team in the area?” The debate over the territorial rights between the A’s and the Giants dates back to the 90s. That’s when Oakland allowed the San Francisco Giants to claim the South Bay to help get votes for a new ballpark. Though that ultimately never happened, the rights remained and became financially valuable when the Giants were sold in 1992. Now the Giants see them as an asset, while the Oakland Athletics argue they were never meant to be permanent. MLB is yet to solve this issue, leaving A’s without a long-term future now.

A disheartened fan mentioned, “This is so fu****g criminal that this fuck was allowed to do this. Unfettered capitalism is the ruin of this country.” Now clearly fans are heartbroken about A’s leaving Oakland. But the attendance there in the Coliseum tells a different story. Even during the final stretch at the Coliseum, the crowds were thinning out. So the truth of the game is that the crowds are needed, but the question is, who is to blame for fewer crowds?

Echoing the same sentiment one fan mentioned, “Wow, almost makes up for the years of ignoring the A’s when they were in Oakland.” However, Oakland Athletics were selling over two million tickets a year when Fisher got the team – number he managed to reach once in 2014. But subsequently, attendance plummeted not because of lack of interest but because of mismanagement. Fisher, according to several fans, straight up gutted the team, raised prices, cut back on stadium upkeep, and alienated loyal fans on the way. So ownership seems to be where most are pointing fingers.

A user on Reddit summed everything up the best. “Talk about pointless.” The entire ordeal seems overstretched from the team’s end. What’s the harm in taking the name of Sacramento and embracing it? Sure, for them it’s temporary, but for the city, it’s a huge deal. The King’s owner, Vivek Ranadive, called it the next chapter in Sacramento’s sports legacy, highlighting the passion of the local fans. Meanwhile, the team’s official store offers merchandise without the Sacramento A’s branding, giving back no love.

However, there is some respite. The place is flooded with knockoff hats and T-shirts rooting for their ‘home’ team, and don’t be surprised to see them at Sutter Health Park this season! Fans are just too excited to get a local MLB team, whether the franchise supports it 100% or not.