The Athletics will play in Sacramento this season as Part One of the team’s long sojourn to Las Vegas. In addition to leaving their loyal fan base and MLB-sized stadium behind, the franchise also appears to be losing any chance at dedicated beat reporting from local news outlets while it plays in California’s capital.
A new story at the San Francisco Chronicle shows that MLB.com will be the only outlet providing day-to-day coverage of Lawrence Butler and Co. in Sacramento.
The Chronicle reports that the Associated Press will not deploy a reporter to Sutter Health Park, as the AP does not have a sports bureau in Sacramento. The local Sacramento Bee newspaper is not hiring a beat reporter to cover the Athletics after gutting its sports section in recent years. Even before the team’s move to Sacramento, the Chronicle and other Bay Area newspapers had cut daily coverage of the downtrodden Athletics.
“I’m used to being the only beat writer,” MLB.com writer Martin Gallegos told the Chronicle.
Newspapers like the Chronicle and the Bee rely on the AP for many sports game stories even in cities where there is a dedicated sports staff. The AP told the Chronicle it will fill that need by deploying its Bay Area staff and freelancers to Sacramento for Athletics games.
“We are still covering the league as thoroughly as anyone out there with the bulk of our resources,” AP’s global sports editor, Ricardo Zuniga, told the Chronicle. “There will be some challenges with Sacramento, that’s undeniable. It will be a combination of Bay Area AP writers and freelancers, and we’ll place a bigger emphasis on player news, injuries, developments as part of how we look at the league as a whole.”
Even the television broadcasts could take a hit. According to the Chronicle, while staying in Sacramento allows the Athletics to continue to receive revenue from NBC Sports California, Major League Baseball rules now allow the Athletics and San Francisco Giants to play home games on the same day. That means camera crews and production staff will likely prioritize San Francisco, leaving freelancers to staff the Athletics games.
Even with the hit of moving to Sacramento, the Athletics still play in a top-20 media market. The metro area is bigger than Pittsburgh, Baltimore, San Diego and other major league cities.
Still, it’s hard to imagine the AP and Chronicle consistently devoting resources to covering the Athletics amid the fallout with their fanbase and an eventual move to Las Vegas. With resources already thin in local newspapers, the Athletics have not made it easy to receive coverage and may have to pay the price until they get to their ultimate home.
