By JOSH DUBOW<\/p>\n
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) \u2014 Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty pointed to the fans filling up Sutter Health Park before the Athletics took on the New York Yankees<\/a> in a recent series, including several wearing jerseys with Sacramento on the front.<\/p>\n A region that has often been considered minor league in comparison to bigger California markets like the Bay Area, Los Angeles and San Diego is relishing its role as a way station for the vagabond A\u2019s and hopes one day to have a Major League Baseball team to call its own to go along with the NBA\u2019s Kings.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would mean everything,\u201d McCarty said. \u201cI think we\u2019ve always fancied ourselves as a big league city. Having a team here in Sacramento would mean a lot to our city, bring a lot of economic groups to both sides of the river.\u201d<\/p>\n The region is making what it has dubbed the \u201cSacramento Pitch\u201d to be considered for expansion, announcing late last month a commitment of $1 billion in public funding and nearly $800 million more in private investment to the effort. <\/p>\n There are still major parts missing in the plan. Most notably, the search for a lead investor to own the team has just started with several candidates expressing interest. There\u2019s also uncertainty about if and when MLB plans to expand, and where Sacramento stands on the list of possible candidates.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we have is just only one major league team here. So we have definitely room for having another team,\u201d West Sacramento Mayor Martha Guerrero said. \u201dWe have a strong media market, the population is growing. We have a good economic growth here as well. We have the potential to develop a strong market for a Major League Baseball team here.\u201d<\/p>\n Sacramento has one major team in US\u2019s 20th biggest market<\/p>\n Sacramento is the 20th biggest television market in the country and is the largest with only one team in either MLB, the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLS and WNBA. There are about 2.7 million people in the metropolitan area that is still viewed by some as an offshoot of the more glamorous San Francisco Bay area.<\/p>\n The region is getting a trial run as a major league city as the temporary home of the A\u2019s, who are playing their second of three planned seasons in West Sacramento after leaving Oakland and waiting for their new stadium to be built in Las Vegas<\/a>. The A\u2019s are set to play one more season here before the move, and the team is already playing two series this week<\/a> in the Las Vegas area.<\/p>\n Attendance has risen from 9,487 fans per game last season to 10,820 through 28 home dates this season, with 12 announced sellouts in a ballpark that can fit a little more than 12,000 fans a game. But local officials are confident a full-time team would have even more support at a new stadium built right next door to the existing Triple-A park.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom our perspective, landing Major League Baseball is really a market demonstration statement about who we are,\u201d said Barry Broome, the President and CEO of Greater Sacramento Economic Council. \u201cWe do love baseball. Everybody deep down inside prays we\u2019ll get a phone call from (A\u2019s owner) John Fisher and he says, \u2019Psych, I\u2019m staying.\u2019 No one wants to admit they pray for that every day. But we love the Athletics. It\u2019d be awesome, but we didn\u2019t. They\u2019re going to Vegas, so we have to bring in our own team which is fine with us.\u201d <\/p>\n Sacramento has $1.8 billion in commitments for a new stadium<\/p>\n The group in Sacramento has raised $800 million in land near the current minor league ballpark and private investment and has access to $1 billion in public funding that comes mostly from property taxes in the area.<\/p>\n While economists have expressed doubts about the value of public investment into stadiums and McCarty himself voted against funding Sacramento\u2019s NBA arena when he was on the city council, he believes this plan makes more sense. <\/p>\n \u201cThat was more of an impact on the general fund,\u201d he said of the plan that led to building Golden 1 Center that opened in downtown Sacramento in 2016. \u201cThis one I think is the fairest deal for taxpayers and partners to do big projects that we have on the books.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s no timeline yet for MLB expansion<\/p>\n MLB\u2019s first priority is negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement with the union. Commissioner Rob Manfred said last week that MLB has told interested cities that a decision on whether to expand won\u2019t come until the CBA is complete. <\/p>\n Among the other cities vying for a team if it does happen are Charlotte, North Carolina; Montreal; Nashville, Tennessee; Portland, Oregon; and Salt Lake City. Sacramento\u2019s biggest competition would likely be the other cities out West.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the size and scope of the market is really our key advantage,\u201d Broome said. \u201cWe\u2019ve also demonstrated we have a turnkey stadium deal now. That can happen under the mayor and the city manager\u2019s signature. We don\u2019t have to pass a bond or anything like that. It took us four months to raise $800 million. I think people underestimate Sacramento. There\u2019s a lot of money in this town. There is a lot economic power in this town. We can do this.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n