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The Oakland A’s won’t be coming to Utah after all

The team announced it will make Sacramento its temporary home.

FILE - Reuben Ortiz of Modesto, Calif., holds a sign outside Oakland Coliseum to protest the Oakland Athletics' planned move to Las Vegas, before a baseball game between the Athletics and the Tampa Bay Rays in Oakland, Calif., June 13, 2023. The Athletics’ move to Las Vegas was unanimously approved Thursday, Nov 16, 2023 by Major League Baseball team owners. After years of complaints about the Oakland Coliseum and an inability to gain government assistance for a new ballpark in the Bay area, the A’s plan to move to a stadium to be built on the Las Vegas Strip with $380 million in public financing approved by the Nevada government. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn, file)

  | April 4, 2024, 3:02 p.m.
| Updated: 7:12 p.m.

There won’t be Major League Baseball in Utah, at least for the immediate future.

That’s after the Oakland Athletics chose to spend their upcoming years in Sacramento, Calif., while the franchise waits for a permanent home to be built in Las Vegas, scheduled in 2028.

Utah was a contender for the A’s temporary home. The Larry H. Miller Co. offered the A’s the use of their under-construction ballpark in Daybreak, South Jordan, earlier this year. The Triple-A Salt Lake Bees would have stayed downtown in Salt Lake City at Smith’s Ballpark under the proposed plan. But the A’s chose to stay closer to their fanbase — and in an easier-to-negotiate TV market — in Oakland.

The city of Oakland also made efforts to keep the team there in recent days, but reviled team owner John Fisher announced that their proposed offer was “far apart” from what A’s management was looking for. The team’s TV deal with NBC Sports California is worth up to $67 million per year, though will likely be renegotiated in the wake of the move.

The deal means that Utah will have to wait to receive a Major League Baseball franchise — if it gets one at all. Instead of accepting a temporary relocation, the 30 current major league owners will have to agree to accept an expansion bid from the Miller family and Salt Lake City, along with the proposed plan to build a ballpark in the Fairpark district. Utah’s state Legislature routed $900 million dollars to the proposed construction of a major league stadium in the session this winter.

Without the A’s, Smith’s Ballpark is still slated to sit empty after October 2024, when the Salt Lake Bees will move to their new home. Salt Lake City government has taken proposals, but has made no firm commitments about the future of the site at 1300 S and West Temple.

The Larry H. Miller Co. released a statement about the A’s decision Thursday morning.

“We want to express our gratitude to Major League Baseball and the Athletics for approaching the Larry H. Miller Company about potentially hosting the Athletics in our new ballpark in Downtown Daybreak during their transitionary period.

“From the beginning, there were economic reasons tied to an existing television contract that favored the Athletics staying in Northern California. We wish the Athletics much success in their home state during this exciting time in their team history.

“Our proven and ready ownership group and broad-based coalition is fully committed to bringing an MLB expansion team to the Power District on Salt Lake City’s west side. We are grateful and encouraged that Utah was viewed as a potential host and solution for the Athletics, and we will continue to demonstrate that we are the ideal MLB expansion market.

“In the meantime, we are excited to open our new state-of-the-art Bees ballpark in Downtown Daybreak in the spring of 2025.”