The Oakland A's play in West Sacramento for three seasons. It's 86 miles from the Colosseum, but still much closer than Vegas

The Oakland Athletics plan to play in the city of West Sacramento, California, starting in 2025, while the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise awaits construction of a stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The A's announced Thursday that the team will play home games at Sutter Health Park – home of the Sacramento Rivers Cats minor league baseball team – during the 2025-2027 season.

The team plans to move to Las Vegas in 2028. Sutter Health Park is 85.7 miles (138 kilometers) from the Oakland Coliseum, but still more than six times closer than Las Vegas is from the A's current home.

According to A's owner John Fisher, the team had planned to remain in Oakland, where it had played since 1968, before traveling to Sin City in 2028, but was unable to agree on an extension to its lease in the city.

“We explored several locations for a temporary home, including the Oakland Coliseum,” Fisher said in a statement. “Despite the long-standing relationship and good intentions of all parties in the negotiations with Oakland, the terms of an agreement appeared unattainable.

“We understand the disappointment this news causes for our fans as this season is our last in Oakland. During this season we will honor and celebrate our time in Oakland and will share more details shortly.

“We thank the Kings and the city of West Sacramento and look forward to making Sutter Health Park our home until our new baseball stadium opens in Las Vegas,” he added.

The A's announced their intention to move to Las Vegas last April and had the move unanimously approved by MLB owners in September.

The nine-time World Series champion will follow in the footsteps of the NFL's Las Vegas Raiders, who also moved from Oakland to Sin City in 2020. The A's become the city's fourth major sports franchise, joining the NHL's Golden Knights, the WNBA's Aces and the Raiders.

Last month, the A's released renderings of their new 33,000-seat ballpark on the Las Vegas Strip, which will be covered by a massive, five-tiered roof.

Inspired by baseball pennants, some have compared the ballpark's design to the Sydney Opera House, while others have compared the individual tiers to the scales of an armadillo.

Despite Fisher's claims that the new ballpark would provide “an unparalleled fan experience,” many fans are still upset about the decision to leave Oakland.

Fans at the Coliseum staged a “reverse boycott” in June 2023, carrying signs criticizing Fisher's ownership and calling on him to sell the team.

Attendance has also taken a hit: The A's recorded a league-low attendance of 832,352 during the 2023 season – less than half their last pre-pandemic attendance total of 1,670,734.

According to ESPN, fans protested in the parking lot outside the Coliseum on opening day. Many fans chose not to enter the stadium and instead watched the A's season opener against the Cleveland Guardians on a screen.

CNN's George Ramsay contributed to this report.

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