MLB Rumors: Oakland Offered Athletics 3-Year Lease Extension Before Sacramento Move

Before the Oakland Athletics announced they would play the next three seasons at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, the team received a three-year, $60 million lease extension from Oakland officials, per The San Francisco Chronicle's John Shea (h/t NBC Sports' Ali Thanawalla).

The deal had a caveat, however, as if the A's took the offer, MLB would allow Oakland one year to find interested owners and investors for a potential future expansion team. That offer seemingly wasn't enough to keep the team in Oakland.

Now, the A's will play the next three seasons at Sutter Health Park, a Triple-A stadium home to the Sacramento Rivercats, as they await the move to Las Vegas.

Oakland originally offered the A's a five-year lease extension that asked the team to pay $97 million with a three-year opt-out included.

The move to Sacramento comes with a major downsize in capacity. The Oakland Coliseum holds 63,000 fans, while Sutter Health Park holds roughly 14,000. The A's have averaged around 6,000 fans through the first seven home games this season.

Since news of the expected move to Las Vegas, A's fans have protested in various ways. On Opening Day, fans protested by watching the game from the parking lot, a contrast to last year's protest where they filled the stadium for two days in a "Reverse Boycott."

After the A's announced the move to Sacramento for the next three seasons, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao issued a statement regarding the city's pitch to the team.

"Oakland offered a deal that was fair to the A's and was fiscally responsible for our city," the statement read. "We wish the A's the best and will continue our conversations with them on facilitating the sale of their share of the Coliseum site. The City of Oakland will now focus on advancing redevelopment efforts at the Coliseum."

Fans will still have the remainder of the season to watch the A's play in Oakland, as they won't make the move to Sacramento until the 2025 season. Unfortunately for fans, they haven't had much to root for so far as the A's have started the season 1-6.