Athletics to Wear Las Vegas Arm Patches While Playing in Sactown

Posted on: March 7, 2025, 07:53h. 

Last updated on: March 7, 2025, 07:59h.

Corey Levitan Read More

Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas, Restaurants, Las Vegas Myths.

• The former Oakland A’s will wear “Las Vegas” armbands while playing for the next three seasons in Sacramento
• They’re being paid $8.25 million to wear the bands by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority as part of a sponsorship deal

Their bodies may be in Sacramento for the next three baseball seasons, but their arms will read “Las Vegas” as their future stadium gets built.

The uniform alternation will be the most visible component of a three-year sponsorship deal the former Oakland Athletics announced Friday with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. The public entity, which is funded by tax dollars, will pay the A’s $2.5 million in 2025, $2.75 million in 2026 and $3 million in 2028 to wear the arm patches on all their jerseys.

They will debut the patches on their opening day, March 27 against the Mariners at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park.

“For the Athletics, this partnership is more than just a jersey patch — it’s the beginning of the transition to our new home,” A’s owner John Fisher said. “This is a chance to wear our hearts on our sleeves for the next three years before bringing the vibrant spirit of our new home front and center across our uniform.”

As “the official destination partner of the A’s,” the LVCVA and the club will also collaborate on other marketing initiatives.

“Las Vegas will be in the spotlight during every A’s game over the next three years,” added Steve Hill, CEO and president of the LVCVA. “Whether the team is on the field in Sacramento, Boston, or anywhere in between, this patch serves as a constant reminder that Major League Baseball is coming to Las Vegas and reinforces Las Vegas as a world-class sports destination.”

Unique and Odd

It’s a unique and somewhat odd arrangement because teams typically partner with corporate partners for such sponsorships. It’s also unique for its small size. The most lucrative baseball patch sponsorship is believed to belong to the New York Yankees, who are paid about $25 million per year by Starr Insurance.

But the A’s specialize in unique and odd these days. Last April, they announced that they would not adopt Sacramento as part of their name while playing there. No other team in MLB history has ever refused to adopt their current location as part of their name.

Fisher’s team will simply go by “the Athletics,” “the A’s,” or the boxscore name “ATH” while playing at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, a minor-league ballpark they’re sharing with the Sacramento River Cats, the San Francisco Giants’ Triple-A franchise.

However, for the 2025 season, at least, the A’s will also wear another patch, on their opposite sleeve. This patch will feature the word “Sacramento” and a depiction of the region’s Tower Bridge, located behind the ballpark in right field.

Construction on the Athletics’ Las Vegas Strip ballpark — to be located on nine of the 33 acres of the former Tropicana casino hotel site, is set to begin in June and wrap in time for the team to start the 2028 season there.