A’s owner John Fisher says he’s confident, not nervous, as team begins Sacramento tenure

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WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — On Day One in Sacramento, John Fisher said he isn’t nervous.

Sitting in a picnic area in the left-field stands during batting practice on Monday at Sutter Health Park, the owner of the Athletics paused when asked what emotions he had before his team’s first game in a new city, whether any nerves were afoot. He started to talk about Opening Day generally and how hopeful a time spring is, “when everything is kind of reborn,” before circling back.

“Am I nervous about all of this?” Fisher said before a night game against the Chicago Cubs. “No, actually, I really am — I’m confident, without being overconfident, and I’m excited about where we’re going.”

Fans have long ridiculed Fisher’s choice to move the club out of Oakland after 57 years in the city, and have often implored him to sell the team. He hasn’t obliged, and on Monday, didn’t directly answer whether he ever considered doing so. 

The top reason he left Oakland, he said Monday, was “that our lease was ending … and there was not really a legitimate offer on the table to extend.” Fisher plans to keep the team here at least three years before moving to Las Vegas, and perhaps the greatest unknown before Monday’s Opening Day was how vehemently fans in this ballpark will demonstrate their displeasure with Fisher and the team’s relocation as they did at the Oakland Coliseum.

About an hour after Fisher spoke to a small group of reporters — with still 60 minutes to go before first pitch — a “Let’s Go Oakland” chant briefly broke out, a pretty tame exercise considering some of the other messages A’s fans have been known to deliver.

“I think most of us are just kind of anxious and excited to see what kind of reception we get from this crowd, and then what kind of what kind of crowd shows up, what kind of energy it is, what kind of atmosphere we can create,” said the Athletics’ best hitter, Brent Rooker, early in the afternoon. “Opening night is not indicative of everything, but it can kind of set the tone of what we could possibly build here for these next three years.”

A’s star designated hitter Brent Rooker talks his excitement for the first game in Sacramento, the new facilities at Sutter Health Park, his hopes for the atmosphere and how it can be a unique home-field advantage. pic.twitter.com/CSr56o1DWP

— Matt George (@MattGeorgeSAC) March 31, 2025

When Fisher was asked about the atmosphere, the owner said he expects passion and that the A’s are going to draw a lot of fans who otherwise wouldn’t have to come games.

“All I can say is, I’m excited about the fans that are going to show up at our games,” Fisher said. “In Oakland, we had sometimes very small crowds, but they were passionate, and they loved their team and our crowds here, we’ll have 10 to 14,000 fans who are passionate about the game, passionate about watching the A’s and supporting their hometown team, at least for a while. 

“And I’m sure we will get a lot of fans who are new to baseball, and want to see what this is going to be like. And then we’ll also get a lot of fans who will be, you know, Chicago Cubs fans and Yankees fans and Kansas City fans, who are going to come out and and support their team against the Athletics. And for us it’s all about bringing a lot of passion into the ballpark, and we think that we’ll be able to achieve that.”

But Fisher acknowledged that some fans who used to frequent the Oakland Coliseum are also going to make the trek.

“I think we’ll have some fans, for sure, from the East Bay,” he said. “Sacramento, as a market, is two million-plus people. … The reality is from the East Bay, it’s a little over an hour to drive here, as long as you’re staying out of rush hour, and I think those fans who want to continue to support the team and watch the team will come out and do it.”

The A’s are bucking common practice while in Sacramento and will not wear the city’s name across the chest on jerseys. A shoulder patch instead will acknowledge the city.

GO DEEPER

As Athletics begin their Sacramento residency, a city tentatively opens its arms

“We made it clear to everybody that Sacramento was an interim place for us, that we were super excited to come here, and, frankly, to help the community demonstrate that Sacramento deserves a major-league team, and that the fans here love baseball and will love our team,” Fisher said. “But we’re going to Vegas. We’re expecting to start construction shortly, and so we felt like the right path forward was to call ourselves ‘the Athletics’ in this interim period, and then the Las Vegas Athletics when we move to the Strip.”

When Fisher was asked about potentially selling, he talked about setting the team up for long-term success, but shed no light on his own long-term plans.

“From the beginning, I’ve been committed to having this team be successful for the next 50 years,” he said. “And I really saw that as an important part of what I stood for and what I wanted to achieve for this team. So really, everything that I’ve done, the work that we did in the Bay Area, the work that we did in Oakland, and ultimately, moving things forward in Las Vegas and here in Sacramento, were part of where I think the team needs to go to be successful.”

The owner said that the team’s stadium project in Las Vegas is “in a good place.” He has been targeting a June groundbreaking in Las Vegas. Asked Monday if a summer start to the construction were still possible, he said only, “I hope so.”

(Photo: Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

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