(Photo credit: Jeffery Bennett-Imagn Images)

LAS VEGAS -- The Athletics have almost two full seasons to play before they move into their new climate-controlled stadium at the south end of the Las Vegas Strip, but excitement already is building in anticipation of adding Major League Baseball to a city once viewed as off-limits by professional sports.

The A's, who have made a temporary home in West Sacramento since they played their final game at the Oakland Coliseum at the end of the 2024 season, are in the midst of a six-game homestand this week at the home of their Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas.

The A's are scheduled to move into the new 33,000-seat stadium at the site of the former Tropicana Hotel for the 2028 season.

After winning two of three against the Milwaukee Brewers, the A's will open a three-game series Friday against the Colorado Rockies at the Las Vegas Ballpark in Summerlin.

'We live right down the street from here, so we're really excited about the A's coming to town,' said Chris Duval, who moved to the area from Los Angeles about a year ago. 'We've been baseball fans forever. We've moved all over the place, so it's tough to get locked down on one team.'

Duval, who was wearing a white Athletics home jersey, said his wife grew up in California and always has been a Dodgers fan, while he grew up in New England as a self-described 'Red Sox guy.'

'We're just really excited to have them in town,' said Duval, who took in two of the three games against the Brewers with his family. 'We probably will be season ticket holders.'

To try to build support and increase awareness, the A's scheduled a wide range of community events during the homestand, as well as numerous special giveaways for fans at the stadium.

Events with A's players, alumni and staff included story time at a local library; Wiffle ball games with a Boys and Girls Club summer youth program; packing kids' meals at a local food bank; and visits to the Sunrise Children's Hospital and the weekend Farmer's Market in downtown Summerlin.

A's manager Mark Kotsay was asked about balancing the community outreach with winning baseball games.

'At the major league level, the wins and losses matter,' Kotsay said before Monday's series opener. 'Performance matters. Spring training performance doesn't matter. When you're here in a regular season, the less distractions that we can make for the players, I think the better off the performance can be.

'Obviously that's challenging, because we want to do as much as we can here in the community to get out and to show that our engagement is going to be 100%, which I think we're doing and are going to do as we get further into this relationship. It's exciting for us.'

Brewers manager Pat Murphy said players were not all that different from fans when it comes to viewing Las Vegas as a travel destination.

'I think it's an opportunity. Just embrace it, don't put too much into it. You don't make excuses,' Murphy said Monday. 'I don't really see the downside. The guys are excited. I mean, they like to come to Vegas.'

Linda Jochimsen, in her second season as a VIP staff host at the Triple-A ballpark, was somewhat surprised at the number of fans who traveled from Milwaukee.

'Some of them are really serious baseball fans, they go to spring training, they follow the team. They're not just fans, they're dedicated fans,' she said. 'They said they got their tickets as soon as they saw they were going to be here. Months ago.'

Tom Risen lives near Eau Claire in northwest Wisconsin, which is much closer to Minneapolis than Milwaukee.

'Vegas was definite because we come to Vegas all the time, so it was a no-brainer,' Risen said. 'Our rooms were set as soon as we heard they were going to be there.'

The A's are the most recent pro sports franchise to call Las Vegas home, all within the last decade. The Golden Knights of the NHL, currently in the Stanley Cup Final for the third time, entered play as an expansion franchise in 2017.

The Las Vegas Aces of the WNBA moved from San Antonio in 2018, and the former Oakland Raiders of the NFL relocated to Las Vegas in 2020 at Allegiant Stadium, not far from the new baseball stadium. The NBA Board of Governors recently voted to formally explore potential expansion to Las Vegas and Seattle.

Patrice Virgil, who works in hospitality at Gold Coast Hotel and Casino, grew up in Las Vegas.

Virgil said the current sports environment is quite a change from back when UNLV basketball -- the Runnin' Rebels with legendary coach Jerry Tarkanian -- was the only game in town.

She said the influx of out-of-town fans is noticeable, even by Las Vegas tourism standards.

'They follow their teams,' Virgil said. 'When the 49ers come to town, you know they're here. Full-fledged. They have their jerseys on, their hats, their favorite T-shirts ... We were an entertainment capital, now we're a sports town.'

--Jim Hoehn, Field Level Media