Upcoming Athletics dates
Dates and live ticket listings appear here as soon as they are on sale. The guide below covers what to know before you buy.
Close to the field from almost anywhere
The key fact about an Athletics ticket at Sutter Health Park is scale. The ballpark has 10,624 fixed seats and reaches 14,014 when you add the grass berm and standing areas. A typical MLB stadium seats roughly three to four times as many. So the rules you use elsewhere flip: the last row behind the infield here beats any big-league upper deck for proximity, and it usually outclasses a front-row seat out by the foul poles.
If you want the best view, sit behind home plate or between the dugouts. If you want to spread out, try the lawn. If you are going in July or August, pick a night game before you pick a section.
Triple-A bones, major league upgrades
The River Cats, Sacramento's Triple-A team, christened this ballpark in 2000 and remain co-tenants. The address is 400 Ballpark Drive; look east across the river and you see downtown and the Capitol dome.
Getting it ready for the majors meant fresh video boards and sound, a new home clubhouse tucked behind the wall in left, big-league workout and training space, turf-care technology for the natural grass, and a makeover for the premium clubs and seats. It is still a minor league-sized park, and that is the reason it feels so intimate.
Maps of the seating bowl and concourse are posted by the club online. A section number that sounds far away at another park may be quite close here, and vice versa, so locate your seat on the map first.
Section choices, from home plate to the lawn
- Home plate to the dugouts: the clearest view of pitch movement and the whole field. These sell first for big series, and even the back rows are worth it.
- Down the foul lines: closer to the bullpens and the corners, but your seat angles you toward the outfield, so you will spend the game turning your head.
- The lawn: the most relaxed option. Good for families and anyone who likes to wander, but there is no seatback and you watch from beyond the outfield.
- Premium clubs: the redone clubs give you somewhere indoors to cool off, worth a lot during a scorching day game.
Valley heat and the night-game advantage
Nothing covers the seating bowl, and summers in the valley run hot and dry. Your first-pitch time will affect comfort more than any section choice.
- July and August nights: the easy choice, since temperatures drop after sunset.
- Midsummer afternoons: the toughest tickets on your body. If you go, aim for rows beneath an overhang or close to the clubs, apply sunscreen and duck into the shaded walkways now and then.
- Spring and September: afternoons in April, May and September are the gentlest.
Opponents that strain a small ballpark
The 162-game season puts 81 dates at home between the opening week around April 1 and the final days of September; the All-Star Game splits the summer, and a dozen clubs advance to October. Under the balanced format adopted in 2023, all 29 opponents appear, and division clubs come 13 times each.
- San Francisco: Bay Bridge Series games pull in fans from around Northern California, many of whom spent their childhoods at the Coliseum.
- Big traveling fan bases: visits from Los Angeles, New York, Boston and Chicago's North Siders bring road crowds that a 14,000-person park cannot easily absorb. The A's debut here, against the Cubs on March 31, 2025, had 12,192 in attendance.
- Opening Day and weekend nights: the dates most likely to sell through.
- Weekday afternoons in summer: usually the easiest to buy, partly because of the heat.
Small supply is the structural fact to remember. A spike in interest has very little inventory to spread across, so resale prices for the headline series can climb quickly. Buy early for the big names.
Tickets, payment and bags for 2026
The ballpark is on the West Sacramento bank of the river, a short trip from downtown Sacramento. Parking, transit and bag information lives on the Athletics ballpark page. For 2026, the basics are:
- Tickets: phone-based only, loaded in the MLB Ballpark app.
- Payment: cashless, so bring a card for food and merchandise.
- Bags: only clear bags are allowed; look up the size limit before leaving home.
Because a Triple-A team shares the building, some rules may not match what you are used to at other big-league parks. Read the latest guidance before you go. Reserved Seat orders come with free shipping and carry no digital transfer fees.
Philadelphia, Kansas City, Oakland and next
Philadelphia was home first, starting in 1901, when the Athletics were among the eight teams that launched the American League. Kansas City followed in 1955, Oakland in 1968 and West Sacramento in 2025, giving the club the most moves of any major league franchise. After the 2024 season the club left the Oakland Coliseum, and on November 4, 2024, it dropped Oakland from its name without adding Sacramento. The team is now known only as the Athletics, or A's for short.
The West Sacramento lease runs for the 2025, 2026 and 2027 seasons, and the club can extend into 2028 if needed (as of October 2026). The destination is Las Vegas: a 33,000-seat park with a partly retractable roof where the Tropicana once stood on the Strip. Wikipedia's current description has it on schedule for a 2028 opening; consider that a target, not a certainty.
The trophy case holds nine World Series titles and 15 AL pennants:
- Philadelphia: Connie Mack ran the club as owner and manager for half a century, collecting titles in 1910, 1911, 1913, 1929 and 1930, the last two powered by Jimmie Foxx and Lefty Grove.
- Oakland dynasty: three straight from 1972 to 1974 behind Reggie Jackson and Catfish Hunter.
- 1989: a title for the slugging Bash Brothers, Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire.
- 2002: 20 wins in a row, an AL record, during the season made famous as Moneyball.
The elephant mascot, Stomper, carries one of the franchise's oldest symbols. The Giants across the bay and the division-rival Angels are the main rivals.
Frequently asked questions
Are the back rows at Sutter Health Park worth buying?
Yes. The park is small enough that the last rows behind the infield are closer than any MLB upper deck, and they often beat front-row seats out near the foul poles.
Is the lawn at Sutter Health Park a good choice?
It works for families and fans who like to roam. You sit on grass beyond the outfield with nothing to lean on, so it is not the spot for studying pitches.
Do the Athletics take cash at the ballpark?
No. For 2026 the park is cashless, and tickets live on your phone in the MLB Ballpark app.
When should I go to avoid the Sacramento heat?
Choose a night game in July or August, or a day game in April, May or September. Midsummer afternoon games are the hardest on fans.
Where will the Athletics play after West Sacramento?
Las Vegas, where a 33,000-seat park is planned on the old Tropicana land on the Strip. As of October 2026 it is described as on schedule for 2028.
What happened to the Oakland name?
After leaving the Coliseum, the club removed Oakland from its name on November 4, 2024, and did not adopt Sacramento for its temporary stay.