Sacramento has big stadium plans. Can the region fund them all?

The Capital Region is abuzz with proposals for new arenas and stadiums that have the potential to transform Sacramento County’s sports and entertainment landscape.

This summer, I ticked off a bucket-list item — watching the Athletics play in West Sacramento. I was curious to see the turnout after attending a River Cats game a couple of months earlier. While the concessions and service were excellent, I can’t say the same about the attendance.

On a balmy, 80-degree Sunday, it looked like about a quarter of seats were empty. Cheers for the Seattle Mariners, who lost 8-7, drowned out much of the enthusiasm for the home team. A man sitting a few seats over kept yelling, “This isn’t Seattle,” which I considered a flaccid albeit appropriate heckle.

As a Sacramentan, it pains me to see that the A’s experiment isn’t living up to the hype. Sportswriters were already calling out the attendance problems last season, in a debut that was supposed to demonstrate that a fresh locale and smaller stadium could boost attendance — or at least the appearance of it.

For decades, the city’s wagon has been hitched to its sole major-league team. In 2011, Forbes listed Sacramento as one of the most miserable cities in America, citing a dismal run by the Kings as a factor. In 2024, while the markedly improved Kings epoch was not mentioned among livability measures, Forbes called Sacramento the best place to live in California.

With five new sports projects proposed in the Sacramento region, developers are betting that it can support multiple fan bases — but how many? We ran the numbers.

– Dakota Morlan, managing editor

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California Needs a Better Way to Pay for Water Infrastructure | Opinion

Decades of growth are still being supported by water delivery systems built for half the population. California needs more water storage capacity but has not provided a clear or reliable funding source to put plans into action.

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The question isn’t whether Matt Abraham’s murder mysteries are at least influenced, if not inspired, by real events. The question is why the inspiration seems to hit before the real events happen.

Some recommendations from our editors

Judy: I was lucky to attend the premiere of Luminescence at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament last week along with Publisher Winnie Comstock, Managing Editor Dakota Morlan and Art Director Ruvi Palafox. The beautiful light show told the history of the historic cathedral from its beginnings in the 1880s to modern day. The visual treat was further enhanced by the choir from the Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera. Luminescence will be in Sacramento for the next four months.

Jennifer: For years I’ve been piling up CDs that I can’t play. I buy at least one every Bandcamp Friday, when my preferred music streaming platform waives fees and gives all sales to artists, and I also tend to pick them up from merch tables at concerts. I’m not sure why I keep doing this, because I haven’t owned a CD player since I was in middle school. I finally decided to buy myself a proper (refurbished, 15-year-old) stereo from New York staple B&H and set it up in my apartment with the help of my audiophile dad on video call. Unlike most hip kids’ stereos, it doesn’t play records, just CDs — and after I played my Molchat Doma album, I attest that it’s still the superior circular music medium!

Odds and ends

Water scarcity is driving Central Valley farmers to innovate, while abundance yields regulation. Our September issue digs into the paradoxes of California agriculture and the future of farming. Read it now on your computer, phone or tablet.

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