Athletics to make home in Sacramento for ’25-27
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Tim Keown, ESPN Senior Writer
The Athletics will leave Oakland after the 2024 season and play at least three years in a minor league ballpark in West Sacramento, the team and Oakland officials announced early Thursday morning.
The move ends the Athletics’ 56-year tenure in the East Bay, a stretch that included four World Series championships, although the current team appears to be headed for its third consecutive 100-loss season.
The agreement with Sacramento is a three-year lease with a team option for a fourth season in case the team’s planned ballpark on the Las Vegas Strip is not completed in time for the 2028 season. The A’s will share Sutter Health Park, which holds roughly 14,000 fans, with the Sacramento River Cats, the San Francisco Giants‘ Triple-A team. Terms of the lease were not disclosed.
Team president Dave Kaval called Oakland chief of staff Leigh Hanson at 7:36 a.m. to inform her of the team’s decision. Owner John Fisher followed five minutes later with a call to Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, and the team announced its move on social media 10 minutes after that.
Within two hours of the announcement, the team held an outdoor news conference in the rain and wind at Sutter Health Park. Fisher spoke for one minute, 45 seconds and left the ballpark quickly afterward, taking no questions.
“I just want to say we’re excited to be here for the next three years,” Fisher said as part of his prepared remarks, “playing in this beautiful ballpark but also to be able to watch some of the greatest players in baseball, whether they be Athletics players or Aaron Judge and others launch home runs out of this very intimate, most intimate ballpark in major league baseball next three years.”
As part of the temporary arrangement with Sacramento, the team will not include a city name in its branding. They will be known simply as “The A’s.” Kaval said he conducted an all-staff Zoom meeting after the announcement, in which he informed team employees that there will be significant layoffs as a result of this decision. He chose not to say what percentage of the workforce would be reduced, saying it has yet to be decided, but said employees will be let go at the conclusion of the season.
The deal in Sacramento was overseen by Kings owner Vivek Ranadive, who also owns the River Cats and is a close friend of Fisher’s. He spoke first at the news conference, calling the announcement “the next chapter of professional sports in Sacramento.” Ranadive purchased the Kings in 2013 when it appeared the team would be sold and moved to Seattle. According to Kaval, the A’s deal in Sacramento includes a partnership with the Kings and River Cats and some employees of those teams will take on responsibilities currently handled by Oakland-based staff.
“The partnership will help us with making sure the games go off successfully,” Kaval said. “They have a lot of track record on that.”
The A’s and the city of Oakland had their final negotiating meeting Tuesday at the team’s offices, where Oakland’s representatives presented a five-year lease offer with a team opt-out after three. In that offer, the team would have been responsible for a $97 million “extension fee” that would have been due in full even if the team chose to opt out. The A’s currently pay $1.25 million per season to rent the Coliseum, and the increased cost to play at the Coliseum was the main sticking point in the negotiations, sources say.
In the hours after that meeting, Oakland officials reached out to the A’s with a revised offer: a previously unreported three-year lease and a $60 million extension fee. That offer was contingent on Major League Baseball agreeing to a one-year exclusive right to solicit ownership for a future expansion team in Oakland. Sources indicate the A’s were receptive to the new offer, but the team met with Sacramento officials less than 24 hours later and quickly agreed to a deal.
“Oakland offered a deal that was fair to the A’s and was fiscally responsible for our city,” Mayor Thao said in a statement. “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.”
Speaking after the news conference, Kaval told ESPN, “At the end of the day, we were just very far apart with Oakland. We worked very hard with them, and we were sincere in our efforts, as were they and the county, but we remained significantly far apart on a deal, even at the last moment. It was the economics, and then things that were asked of us that were out of our control. The major league-related asks were something that were out of our control.”
Fisher owns half of the Oakland Coliseum property and has not attended a game since Kaval called Thao on April 19 of last year to inform her of an agreement to move the team to Las Vegas. The sale of the team’s portion of the Coliseum site was also a requirement of Oakland’s offer, but now the team could conceivably hold on to the property and block any future development on the site. Hanson indicated the A’s remain motivated to sell the site despite the decision to move to Sacramento, but Kaval — while acknowledging that the team remains in talks to sell the property to the local African American Sports & Entertainment Group — refused to answer when asked whether the team would vow not to stand in the way of future plans.
“Like I said, we’re still in open discussions with those groups,” Kaval said. “We’re evaluating our options, and we want to work with the interested parties to see if something could happen.”
The A’s will require approval from the Major League Baseball Players Association to play in a minor league park. Kaval says that MLB is working on that approval and that the A’s will be announcing changes to the ballpark for “both players and fans.” An MLBPA spokesperson told ESPN’s Jeff Passan, “The MLBPA has had preliminary discussions with MLB about a range of issues related to the temporary relocation, and we expect those discussions to continue.”
The A’s are off to a 1-6 start to the season and have drawn an average of 6,438 fans at the Coliseum through those seven games, a number that figures to drop even lower with the team cutting all ties to the East Bay. The team has a payroll of roughly $60 million, by far the lowest of the 30 big league teams and $25 million below the next-lowest team, the Pirates. Fans dubbed this the “Summer of Boycott,” which began on Opening Day, when thousands of fans protested Fisher’s ownership by going to the game that night but remaining in the parking lot throughout.
“We know it’s a sad day [in Oakland],” Kaval said. “But there are many good memories in that building. We’re hopeful we can make some more memories this season and have a proper send-off.”
The Oakland 68s, along with Last Dive Bar, are the two fan groups that have organized boycotts and consulted with the city on its sports future. In response to the Sacramento announcement, Jorge Leon, the president of the 68s, said, “Just really disappointed. Seems like everyone is against Oakland, even regionally. You’d think a guy like Vivek and Sacramento would’ve understood what we’re fighting for, but yet they’re facilitating the move. It just goes to show you that the structure of American sports fails communities. It won’t change until actual change has been made at the legislative level, but even then, those in the capital have also failed us.”
MLB owners unanimously approved the A’s relocation to Las Vegas after Fisher entered into an agreement to build a ballpark in the parking lot of the Tropicana casino and resort on the Las Vegas Strip. The team received $380 million in public funding from the Nevada State Legislature to build an estimated $1.5 billion stadium that — if all goes according to plan — will open for the 2028 season.
“Throughout this season, we will honor and celebrate our time in Oakland,” Fisher’s initial statement read, “and will share additional details soon.”
The first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs has heated up, and the end of many series is approaching. How many teams will move on with clinching games Wednesday night?
There are two potential elimination games on the docket. First up is Montreal Canadiens–Washington Capitals (7 p.m., ESPN), with Alex Ovechkin & Co. on the verge of sealing the deal over the Habs.
Staggered just 30 minutes later is the possible final game of the 2025 edition of the Battle of Florida (7:30 p.m., ESPN2). Will the Florida Panthers get win No. 4, or can the Tampa Bay Lightning draw the series to 3-2?
Finally, the St. Louis Blues visit the Winnipeg Jets (9:30 p.m., ESPN) in a series that sits at 2-2 following the first four, including major intrigue as leading Vezina Trophy candidate Connor Hellebuyck continues to struggle in goal.
Read on for game previews with statistical insights from ESPN Research, recaps of what went down in Monday’s games, and the Three Stars of Monday Night from Arda Öcal.
Matchup notes
Montreal Canadiens at Washington Capitals
Game 5 (WSH leads 3-1) | 7 p.m. ET | ESPN
Historically, teams that have a 3-1 series lead have gone on to win the series 90.8% of the time in Stanley Cup playoff history. The Capitals’ record in that scenario is 8-5, which is 62%.
Cole Caufield is taking many shots. His 21 shots on goal are the second most in the playoffs (trailing Nathan MacKinnon, with 31), and he has had 11 shot attempts blocked, which is tied for second most in the playoffs, behind Jack Eichel.
Rookie defenseman Lane Hutson is the sixth first-year blueliner in playoff history to record at least five assists in his first postseason series, joining Ray Bourque (1980), Janne Niinimaa (1997), Erik Karlsson (2010), Marc-Andre Gragnani (2011) and Quinn Hughes (2020).
Alex Ovechkin has scored the most goals in NHL regular-season history, and he is 13th on the all-time playoff list with 75. His next will tie Mario Lemieux for 12th.
Anthony Beauvillier is the first player in Capitals history to record an assist in each of his first four playoff games with the club, and the fourth with at least one point, following Dave Christian (five GP in 1984), Adam Oates (four GP in 1998) and Mike Knuble (five GP in 2010).
Florida Panthers at Tampa Bay Lightning
Game 5 (FLA leads 3-1) | 7:30 p.m. ET | ESPN2
In the 2025 playoffs, home teams have a 23-10 record. That script has flipped in the Battle of Florida series as the road team has won three of four games.
The Panthers are 5-0 all time when leading a playoff series 3-1, closing out three of the previous series in Game 5. The Lightning are 1-5 all-time in a best-of-seven series when trailing 1-3.
Lightning forward Jake Guentzel is tied with Brad Marchand for the fourth most playoff goals since 2017 (40), behind Nathan MacKinnon (51), Leon Draisaitl (44) and Brayden Point (44).
Andrei Vasilevskiy has been doing his part: He allowed five goals combined in Games 2-4 (.936 save percentage) after allowing six goals in Game 1 (.647).
Matthew Tkachuk is tied with Nate Schmidt for the Panthers’ goal-scoring lead this series (three), and has 20 in 48 career playoff games with Florida; that is third most in franchise history, behind Sam Reinhart (22 in 59) and Carter Verhaeghe (27 in 65).
With each game and win, Sergei Bobrovsky adds to his lead in each category since the start of the 2023 playoffs (47 games played, 31 wins).
St. Louis Blues at Winnipeg Jets
Game 5 (series tied 2-2) | 9:30 p.m. ET | ESPN
Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck has encountered another postseason rough patch. He allowed 11 goals combined in the past two games, and has now allowed four-plus goals in 10 of 14 starts the past three postseasons. That is a 71% rate, and his regular-season rate for that same stat is 17% in the same three-season span.
After starting the series hot — with five points in the first two games, both wins for the Jets — Mark Scheifele has been pointless in the two losses in Games 3 and 4. Kyle Connor has been just slightly better, with four points in the first two and just one goal in the ensuing two.
Although the Jets outshot the Blues 31-23, Jordan Binnington was up to the task in Game 4, stopping all but one. Overall this postseason, Binnington has a .907 save percentage and 2.29 goals-against average. In the Blues’ Stanley Cup run in 2019, he finished with a .914 save percentage and 2.46 goals-against average.
In-season trade addition Cam Fowler is playing in his first postseason since 2017, and he’s making up for lost time, leading the Blues with eight points (one goal, seven assists) through four games. Fowler’s career-high postseason point total was 10 in 16 games in the 2015 playoffs.
Arda’s three stars from Tuesday night
Ullmark recorded his first career playoff shutout, becoming the second goalie in Senators franchise history (with Craig Anderson) to secure a shutout in a potential elimination game.
Two goals, including the overtime winner, to cap a three-point night to send the Hurricanes to the second round with a 5-4 win. The Canes scored three goals in four minutes in the second to tie the game after going down 3-0 early. This was Aho’s 10th career postseason power-play goal, which ties Eric Staal for the franchise record.
Tkachuk and Stutzle are the first Senators teammates to have three points when facing elimination in franchise history. They’ll get another chance at it Thursday at home.
Tuesday’s scores
Ottawa Senators 4, Toronto Maple Leafs 0
TOR leads 3-2 | Game 6 Thursday
Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark faced questions heading into this postseason, as his playoff career performances had not been up to par with his regular-season success. On this night at least, he was stellar. Ullmark stopped all 29 shots the Maple Leafs directed at him, and the Senators got goals from Thomas Chabot and Dylan Cozens, with empty-netters by Tim Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk capping the evening. Full recap.
0:32
Dylan Cozens doubles lead for Senators in Game 5
Dylan Cozens’ goal in the third period gives the Senators some breathing room in Game 5 vs. the Maple Leafs.
Carolina Hurricanes 5, New Jersey Devils 4 (2OT)
CAR wins 4-1, plays winner of WSH-MTL
It was a wild one Tuesday night in Raleigh, with eight goals between the two teams through two periods. The goalies shut it down for 40 minutes thereafter, with the teams going scoreless in the third period and first overtime. It wasn’t until 4:17 of the second OT when Sebastian Aho scored the game- and series-winning goal. Full recap.
0:43
Sebastian Aho slots in a goal for Hurricanes
Sebastian Aho answers with the Hurricanes’ fourth goal of the second period to tie the game 4-4 vs. the Devils.
Vegas Golden Knights 3, Minnesota Wild 2 (OT)
VGK leads 3-2 | Game 6 Thursday
The teams traded a pair of goals early on the same Minnesota power play — William Karlsson scoring short-handed and Kirill Kaprizov notching the power-play tally — and Mark Stone capped off the first period with a goal at 13:24. The score would remain 2-1 Knights until 3:31 of the third, when Matt Boldy tied things the game at two. The Knights needed just 4:05 of the first OT period to score the game-winner off the stick of Brett Howden. Full recap.
1:09
Brett Howden nets OT winner for Golden Knights to seal Game 5
Brett Howden’s close-range snap shot finds the back of the net to win it in overtime for the Golden Knights and claim a 3-2 series lead vs. the Wild.
Edmonton Oilers 3, Los Angeles Kings 1
EDM leads 3-2 | Game 6 Thursday
After wins in the first two games of the series, the Kings are now looking up at the Oilers — the team that has beaten them the past three postseasons. The Kings were on the board first via an Andrei Kuzmenko power-play goal in the second, but Evander Kane would tie things up less than three minutes later. The eventual game-winner came off the stick of Mattias Janmark 7:12 into the third, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins added an empty-net goal to put the game further out of reach. Full recap.
0:40
Mattias Janmark puts the Oilers ahead in the 3rd
Mattias Janmark scores off the rebound to give the Oilers the lead in the third period vs. the Kings.
Will the Presidents’ Trophy curse claim a new victim this year?
For the past 11 NHL seasons, the winner of the trophy — awarded to the team with the most regular-season points — has failed to win the Stanley Cup. In fact, none of the last 11 Presidents’ Trophy winners have even played in the Stanley Cup Final.
All told, of the 38 seasons when the trophy has been awarded, just eight of its victors have also lifted the Stanley Cup. With the Winnipeg Jets‘ series against the St. Louis Blues in the first round of the playoffs knotted at two games apiece, could the curse be looming large again?
Here’s a look at the eight squads the Jets will be hoping to emulate that defied the curse:
Chicago Blackhawks, 2012-13
The most recent team to take home both the Presidents’ Trophy and Stanley Cup, the Blackhawks earned the regular-season crown in a campaign that didn’t start until January due to lockout. Patrick Kane would go on to earn Conn Smythe Trophy honors after a postseason in which he posted nine goals (tied for second on the team) and 10 assists (third on the team).
Detroit Red Wings, 2007-08
Winning the Central Division by an impressive 24-point margin, the Red Wings bolstered the best goals-against record in the league and raced to an impressive 115-point regular season. Henrik Zetterberg, the team’s top goal scorer in the regular season, won the Conn Smythe after a 27-point postseason.
Detroit Red Wings, 2001-02
Not to be outdone by their franchise counterparts six years later, the Red Wings turned in a regular season that not only saw them win the Central Division by 18 points, but top the overall league standings by a 15-point margin as well. The Conn Smythe went to Hall of Fame defenseman Nicklas Lidström, capping off the third of his three Stanley Cup triumphs in Detroit.
Colorado Avalanche, 2000-01
Combined with the Red Wings’ subsequent title, Colorado’s Stanley Cup win marks the only time in league history teams won both the Presidents’ Trophy and Stanley Cup in back-to-back years. Goalkeeper Patrick Roy was awarded his third Conn Smythe — a record that still stands today.
Dallas Stars, 1998-99
Dallas led the league in goals allowed, a trend that continued into the postseason. In just one of the Stars’ 12 postseason wins did the team concede more than two goals. Centers powered the squad’s offense — Mike Modano’s 81 regular-season points led the team by a sizable margin, while Joe Nieuwendyk earned the Conn Smythe.
New York Rangers, 1993-94
After the regular season saw the Rangers beat local rivals the New Jersey Devils to both the Atlantic Division crown and the Presidents’ Trophy, New York’s postseason didn’t lack for rivalry thrills either.
The Rangers met New Jersey in the Eastern Conference finals, coming away victorious in a seven-game series that featured three games decided by double overtime. New York’s subsequent Stanley Cup Final series with the Vancouver Canucks would go seven games as well, with Conn Smythe winner Brian Leetch scoring the opener in the decisive final game.
Calgary Flames, 1988-89
The 1988-89 NHL season was all about Calgary and the Montreal Canadiens, who posted 117- and 115-point regular seasons respectively — no other team in the league amassed more than 92. Fittingly, the two squads met in the Stanley Cup Final, where the President Cup champion Flames bested Montreal again, topping the Canadiens in six games. Defenseman Al MacInnis racked up 24 postseason assists en route to Conn Smythe honors.
Edmonton Oilers, 1986-87
Led by Wayne Gretzky at his peak, Edmonton raced to a 106-point regular season as Gretzky led the NHL in goals, assists and plus/minus as he earned his eighth Hart Trophy. Unsurprisingly, Gretzky was a driving force in the Oilers’ postseason march as well — he totaled 29 assists as Edmonton won its third Stanley Cup in what would end up being a run of four Cups in five years for the franchise.
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