ESPN: A's in Talks to Play in Utah Before 2028 Las Vegas Move amid Sacramento Rumors

The Athletics exploring various options as they try to find a city that will host them when their lease with Oakland expires after the 2024 season.

Per ESPN's Jeff Passan, the A's have been in discussions with Big League Utah about potentially using the Triple-A stadium in Salt Lake City that is set to open in 2025 before their planned move to Las Vegas in 2028.

The A's are entering the final year of their lease at the Oakland Coliseum. They recently met with Oakland city and Alameda county officials about extending the lease for additional seasons starting in 2025.

Per The Athletic's Evan Drellich, Sacramento is considered the frontrunner to host the A's from 2025 to '27 before its move to Vegas. Oakland and Salt Lake City were considered the other "remaining possibilities" for the club.

Of course, it's not even clear at this point if the A's will end up in Las Vegas for the 2028 season.

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said earlier this month on the Front Office Sports Today podcast (h/t ESPN.com) the A's have "go to figure out a way to stay" in Oakland.

Goodman later issued a statement to express her excitement "about the prospect of Major League Baseball in Las Vegas, and it very well may be that the Las Vegas A's will become a reality that we will welcome to our city," but that "in a perfect world" A's ownership would be able to work out a deal with the city of Oakland for a new stadium.

On the same day Goodman's podcast interview dropped, a teachers' union political group in Nevada filed a lawsuit to block the state from using taxpayer funds to build a new baseball stadium on the current site of the Tropicana Resort.

Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo signed a bill into law last June approving $380 million in public financing to help build a ballpark for the A's on the Las Vegas strip.

The new Salt Lake City ballpark is broke ground in October 2023. It is set to be the home for the Salt Lake Bees, who are the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels.