Oakland A's Might Move To Utah Until New Las Vegas Ballpark Is Ready

After this season, the Oakland A's will be homeless.

Their lease at the decrepit Oakland Coliseum will expire at the end of 2024. But their new ballpark in Las Vegas won't open until — at the earliest — January 2028.

Truly a stunning display of architecture. (Photo by Brandon Sloter/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

So now A's leadership is looking far and wide for another ballpark to call (temporary) home. And we mean really far. Like, more than 700 miles far.

On Thursday, team executives met with Steve Starks, the CEO of the company that built Smith's Ballpark in Salt Lake City. Smith's is currently home to the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees, but they plan to move to a new ballpark in 2025.

Unless the A's need to borrow the new park for a few years.

"We hosted team officials on Thursday, and demonstrated we can accommodate their ballpark needs," Starks said in a statement. "Our organization and the state are excited and able to welcome the Athletics until their new stadium in Las Vegas is completed."

That shiny new Minor League ballpark holds a whopping 7,500 fans — a laughable number for a normal big league club. But it would work just fine for the A's.

The Athletics have the lowest attendance, by far, in Major League Baseball. Oakland averaged just 10,276 fans at home games in 2023. For comparison, the league's most popular club, the Los Angeles Dodgers, averaged 47,371.

But don't book your flight to Salt Lake City just yet.

Oakland officials also toured the Sacramento Rivercats stadium as a possible destination. The Aviators' Las Vegas Ballpark, the San Francisco Giants' Oracle Park and the Reno Aces' Greater Nevada Field are all on the table as well.

(Photo by Brandon Sloter/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

One thing is for sure, though: Whether they're in some cozy confines in Utah or they find some other solution, the Oakland A's have four years to figure out how to put runs on the scoreboard and butts in seats.

Because that brand new $1.5 billion, 33,000-seat facility in Las Vegas isn't going to pay for itself.

Follow Amber on X at @TheAmberHarding or email her at Amber.Harding@OutKick.com.