You’re probably well aware that the artist formerly known as the Oakland Athletics (now just the Athletics) are moving – eventually – to Las Vegas. When the Milwaukee Brewers face off with the franchise beginning Monday, June 8, the games will indeed be played at Las Vegas, though not at the still-under-construction stadium that will eventually be the team’s home.
But it’s still unusual. The Athletics have been playing their home games at a minor-league stadium in Sacramento, California. As the franchise and Las Vegas have tried to strengthen their connection, this week offers a bit of a preview, with the Athletics hosting a slate of games there.
Here’s what it’s all about:
Have the Athletics been playing games this season in Las Vegas?
Not until now.
In fact, the June 8 game against the Brewers will be the first regular-season baseball game in Las Vegas since 1996 (the A’s started the season there during stadium renovations at the Oakland Coliseum), and it’ll be the first of six games played this year by the Athletics.
The franchise will host the Colorado Rockies for three games immediately after the Brewers leave town. Then the Athletics will resume the rest of their home schedule at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, California.
That’s not exactly down the street; it’s more than 550 miles worth of drive away from Vegas.
In what ballpark will the Brewers be playing the Athletics?
Las Vegas Stadium in Summerlin is roughly 16 miles away from the site of the new $2 billion Las Vegas Stadium being constructed on the famous Las Vegas Strip. Ground broke on the stadium a year ago, and the intention is for the Athletics to move into their new home in 2028. It has a retractable roof.
Since the two teams will presumably play at American Family Field next year, the Brewers should be on the schedule to appear in the new stadium during its inaugural year.
The Summerlin site is the location of the Class AAA Las Vegas Aviators, the Athletics’ top affiliate. The Aviators, as you might imagine, are on the road this week in Omaha.
Will the Brewers be playing at the same time as the Stanley Cup Final?
The minor-league stadium also sits near City National Arena, the practice facility of the Las Vegas Knights, who just so happen to be playing in the Stanley Cup Final this week.
In fact, the Golden Knights will host Carolina in Game 4 of their series on June 9 at T-Mobile Arena, with the puck dropping a couple of hours before the Brewers-Athletics game.
T-Mobile is also located near the Strip, so not too close to the ballpark where the Brewers will play.
Why did the Athletics move to Las Vegas if no stadium was ready?
Oh, that is an entire ordeal that can’t be fit into one paragraph. The Athletics were finally approved for a move in late 2023, played their last season in Oakland in 2024 and began the first of three seasons playing in Sacramento in a Triple-A ballpark, home to the Sacramento River Cats (the AAA affiliate of the San Francisco Giants), in 2025. It’s a busy stadium, since the River Cats still play their games there, too.
Will the Brewers be playing at elevation like they just were in Denver?
Yes, Milwaukee gets the distinct honor of playing six straight road games at elevation, though Las Vegas Stadium (roughly 2,200 feet above sea level) isn’t quite as bad as Coors Field in Denver (5,190 feet above sea level). Still, it would be an adjustment.
Would it surprise you to learn that American Family Field actually ranks ninth in elevation among MLB stadiums? But Denver is really in a class by itself, five times higher than current second-place Arizona (1,086 feet).
The Athletics stadium in Sacramento is just slightly above sea level.
Isn’t it also extremely hot in Las Vegas?
It sure is. Highs this week will be, according to the National Weather Service, 100 degrees Monday, 102 degrees on Tuesday and 106 degrees on Wednesday. The games will be played in the evenings, of course, and the low temperatures won’t get south of 70 degrees, but it should be manageable. Locally, the Brewers and Athletics will start at 9 p.m. June 8-9 and 8 p.m. June 10.
Are the Athletics even good this year?
For a hot second, the Athletics were leading the American League West, which has the opposite problem of the NL Central this year; none of the teams have been particularly great. The Seattle Mariners lead the division at 34-32, which would be tied for second-to-last in the Brewers division. The Athletics (31-34) are 2½ games back of first place.
Brewers-Athletics probable pitchers
Will Jacob Misiorowski face off with Cristopher Sánchez later this week?
The Philadelphia Phillies will head to Milwaukee for a series that begins June 12, and if the Brewers maintain their current six-man schedule, Misiorowski would be on track to pitch in the second game of that series, June 13.
That’s probably not going to line up with Sánchez, who has a 1.46 ERA and has been dueling with Misiorowski for the title of best pitcher in the National League. He’s scheduled to pitch at Toronto on Monday, June 8, and since the Phillies are also off Thursday, he’d next be lined up for the Sunday finale of the series in Milwaukee. The Brewers would theoretically miss right-hander Zack Wheeler, who’s scheduled to pitch Tuesday in Toronto.
The Brewers would instead likely face Aaron Nola, Andrew Painter and Sánchez.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Why are the Brewers playing their series this week in Las Vegas?
Reporting by JR Radcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By JR Radcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
