The A's Are Saving West Sacramento's Nightlife—While They're Still Here

There’s something bittersweet happening in West Sacramento right now, and it’s playing out in the packed aisles of Drake’s and Birdies every time the Athletics take the field at Sutter Health Park.

The A’s are drawing crowds from Seattle, the Bay Area, and beyond—fans who grew up watching this franchise and now have the money and mobility to support them one last time before they leave for Las Vegas. And those fans are spending. Local businesses are seeing two to three times their normal customer counts on game days, according to Birdies’owner. For a city trying to build momentum around its downtown core, that’s real money flowing through real storefronts.

West Sacramento Mayor Martha Guerrero gets it. She’s talking about filling hotel rooms and getting the word out about local businesses. But there’s a deeper current running through this story: fans like Jordan Montoya, an A’s devotee from the Bay Area, are treating these games less like entertainment and more like a farewell tour.“Now that they’re going to move away,”he said,“it’s a little hard. So it’s like we want to support them all we can.”This isn’t just about baseball anymore. It’s about nostalgia, loyalty, and the knowledge that this window is closing.

The economic bump is real and measurable. Corey Lewis, a Mariners fan from Seattle, summed up the appeal: local spots beat corporate chains every time. You get better vibes, better service, and the sense that your money’s actually helping a neighborhood, not lining a corporate wallet. For West Sacramento, that’s exactly what it needs as it watches its anchor tenant pack up.

Here’s what makes this particularly sharp: West Sacramento and Sacramento are already cooking up the“MLB Forever”campaign to attract a new major league team once the A’s leave. So these next few weeks aren’t just an economic win—they’re a proof of concept. The city’s showing itself (and the world) that baseball crowds can energize its local economy. Whether that’s enough to land another franchise down the line is the real game being played here.

The Yankees come to town this weekend with Aaron Judge, a Linden native, in tow. More famous faces. More out-of-state visitors. More dollars for the businesses banking on this brief golden age before the team leaves.