As the ballpark on the Strip is building, so is excitement for the Athletics in Las Vegas.
Though the A’s fell to the Los Angeles Angels 3-0 Saturday in front of a sold-out crowd of 10,747 at Las Vegas Ballpark for Big League Weekend, many fans are ready for the team’s permanent residency to open in 2028.
Las Vegan Devin Ray and his family are expecting to be among those in attendance that opening day as season ticket holders. He moved to Las Vegas 18 years ago from Washington, D.C., and traded Baltimore Orioles fandom for green and gold.
Ray and his daughters stopped by a fan festival in Downtown Summerlin to get a photo with the Athletics’ elephant mascot Stomper before heading to the ballpark.
“Now that we’re natives — I’ve got my kids born here — anything that comes here, we want to jump in and be a part of,” Ray said. “We’re excited to see that new stadium.”
Fans’ allegiances, like the A’s themselves, are crossing the California/Nevada border.
Justin Clemente — sitting down the first-base line in a gray Lawrence Butler jersey — and his girlfriend, Cristine Zuniga, came to Las Vegas from San Jose in 2022. They, too, signed up for season tickets. Seeing the construction progress after years of a stadium stalemate in Oakland has them excited for A’s baseball, they said.
Some California expats have mixed feelings about the Athletics, who currently play in Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento — home of the San Francisco Giants’ Triple-A affiliate.
Mechelle Hickey, a Summerlin resident and lifelong A’s fan from Oakland, is hesitantly looking forward to seeing her favorite team close to her new home. She’s just worried about the logistics of locals getting to the ballpark.
“It’s going to be hard for actual fans to go to the games,” said Hickey, an Aviators season ticket holder. “No locals like going to the Strip, unless they do a charter bus like they do the (Golden) Knights games.”
Jump on the bump
Southpaw Gage Jump, the Athletics’ No. 3 prospect per MLB Pipeline, started Saturday’s game and kept the Angels off the board for most of his 3.2 innings.
However, Jump struggled with locating his fastball and took the loss, giving up one run and one hit, striking out one and walking two. Ryan Johnson got the win for the Angels, pitching four shutout innings.
Though the ballpark had more energy Saturday than a usual Cactus League venue, Jump said it didn’t affect him.
“First time here, first time in Vegas, so I’m kinda taking everything all in, but it was a good crowd today,” Jump said. “I try to take every game as the same, crowd or no crowd, and it’s always the same intensity.”
The Angels took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning after Athletics’ centerfielder Junior Perez lost a ball hit by Oswald Peraza in the sun, scoring Wade Meckler and Kyren Paris. The Angels added another run in the fifth on a single by Nick Madrigal.
The Athletics’ bats couldn’t muster much the rest of the way. Jacob Wilson, the 2025 American League All-Star starter at shortstop, went 1-for-3 with a double. First baseman Nick Kurtz, the reigning AL Rookie of the Year, also was 1-for-3.
Putting the A in Vegas
With each trip, the A’s are getting more acclimated to life in Las Vegas. The organization has had the Aviators as its top minor-league affiliate since 2019, and manager Mark Kotsay bought a house in Henderson last year.
“We love this place,” Wilson said. “It’s a great city, and a great sports city now, with all the teams coming here. … It’s exciting as a player, seeing where the team is heading.”
Wilson — who last month signed a seven-year contract extension — was part of a group of A’s who went on a social media photo tour through Vegas.
Wilson, Butler, Kurtz, first baseman Tyler Soderstrom and designated hitter Brent Rooker visited the new ballpark site, the Neon Museum, the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign and Red Rock Canyon.
The Athletics will play one more spring training game against the Angels at Las Vegas Ballpark on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. They’ll return for regular-season games against the Milwaukee Brewers and Colorado Rockies in June.
