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Sacramento Launches Formal Bid for MLB Expansion

Owners' public objections over revenue sharing plus unresolved league rules have left expansion possible but without a timetable.

Overview

  • Sacramento held a public pitch this week that formally entered the city into MLB's expansion conversation and promoted a West Sacramento site for a new team.
  • Local backers told reporters they have assembled roughly $1.8 billion in proposed public‑private commitments for a 35,000–40,000-seat ballpark, though no controlling lead investor has been publicly confirmed.
  • The Athletics' temporary stay in Sacramento is being used as a market test, but A's home attendance has been the lowest in the league and organizers acknowledge that ticket demand remains a concern.
  • Several anonymous owners and executives have publicly questioned expansion's finances, saying one-time expansion fees would not cover recurring revenue‑sharing costs and at least one owner called expansion "stupid."
  • MLB says key prerequisites — a new collective bargaining agreement, formal expansion‑fee and ownership rules and other stadium outcomes — must be settled before it sets a process or timetable for adding teams.