A's savor a sold-out Las Vegas homestand as fans drown out visiting chants

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Outfielder Lawrence Butler heard a “let's go Brewers” chant break out in the stands on Monday night, and though this was an Athletics home game, that didn't surprise him.

What happened next got his attention.

“The fans booed them,” Butler said. “We haven't got that in all my big league years. So that was pretty cool just to have some fans behind us.”

Butler and his A's teammates are getting a taste of what it feels like to play meaningful games in Las Vegas, where the club is scheduled to move full time in 2028.

The A's have played spring training games at Las Vegas Ballpark — home to the organization's Triple-A affiliate — but this is the first time in 30 years they are playing regular-season games here.

They opened the 1996 season in Las Vegas because Oakland Coliseum was completing renovations to welcome the Raiders back from Los Angeles. Now the Las Vegas Raiders play about a mile from the A's future home on the Strip.

The Raiders played three lame duck seasons in Oakland while Allegiant Stadium was under construction, but the A's chose instead to move to a Triple-A park in West Sacramento, California, for three years while their $2 billion, 33,000-person capacity domed stadium is being built.

Between the latter years in Oakland and the current ones in Sacramento, the A's have had to make due with a less-than-ideal situation, and thus the sounds of fans cheering for opposing teams is not foreign to Athletics players.

That is part of why they are playing regular-season games in Las Vegas, to further familiarize their future fan base with the team.

And not just on the field. Players, team alumni and club officials have taken part in community events this week, such as working with youth players and visiting a children's hospital.

“It's great to be here,” said Nick Kurtz, last season's unanimous AL Rookie of the Year. “We've played a couple of spring training games here. I feel like we've kind of built that fan base already, so we give them a firsthand view of what we are. It's really important for us and it's cool to do.”

Fans appear to be embracing their future major league team. All six games — against Milwaukee on Monday through Wednesday and versus Colorado on Friday through Sunday — sold out.

Capacity at the ballpark is 10,000, but MLB officials have taken up some of the seating to make sure the games meet big-league standards and each team is allotted tickets to distribute that don't count in the announced attendance. The average announced attendance of around 8,500 for each game is the number of paid tickets.

Fans have turned out despite the A's playing the hottest home games in organization history, the temperatures hovering around or topping 100 degrees.

The homestand included Tuesday night when the A's-Brewers game was played at the same time the Vegas Golden Knights were hosting the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final. Attendance was announced at 8,422.

“It's a sports city,” catcher Shea Langeliers said. "People love their teams here. Obviously, the Golden Knights are doing something special right now, so understandably people are probably more tuned into that because it’s the Stanley Cup Final. It seems like it’s an exciting time.”

Many fans who drive to Golden Knights games pass the construction site for the A's stadium.

The players got a close-up look Tuesday when they were given a private tour. They got to see how the upper desk is being built and the roof is beginning to go in as well. Much progress has been made on the lower bowl.

“I think the guys were excited,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “You can actually see the foundations of the locker room, amenities, the things that they're going to be privileged to have in the spaces that were created for them. I think there was a lot of talk (among players) about anticipating getting there.”

Because Las Vegas is the organization's top minor league affiliate, the A's locker room is full of players who called this city home before their respective promotions to the majors.

“It doesn't feel like that long ago, but 2022 has been a handful of years now,” Langeliers said. “I just remember having a lot of fun here. The group of guys that was here, the coaching staff, just the fans, the atmosphere was really cool.”

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Athletics' Max Muncy (3), scores on a single by Lawrence Butler (4) during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies, Friday, June 12, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman)

The Athletics' mascot Stomper runs on the field with a flag following the teams victory over the Colorado Rockies during a baseball game Friday, June 12, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman)

Athletics starting pitcher Jack Perkins (50) throws during the third inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Wednesday, June 10, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman)

The Milwaukee Brewers face off against the Athletics during the first inning of a baseball game Monday, June 8, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman)

GENEVA (AP) — Voters in Switzerland are casting final ballots Sunday on an initiative championed by the top right-wing party to cap the rich Alpine country's population at 10 million.

The populist Swiss People's Party, which has the most seats in parliament, has stirred up and fostered anti-migration sentiment over the years, notably about an influx of workers from the neighboring European Union.

Critics call the bid a self-inflicted wound, saying the boom in migration over the last generation has brought foreign labor and skills to sectors such as healthcare, finance, pharmaceuticals, and technology. Some also worry the proposal, if approved, will weaken critical ties with Brussels. The EU is Switzerland’s top trading partner.

Recent polling from the gfs.bern agency suggested that it could be a close contest.

The Swiss People's Party put forward the “sustainability initiative” measure, saying Swiss infrastructure, housing, social programs, natural resources and way of life have been strained by demographic growth.

The federal government and Parliament oppose the idea.

Swiss democracy gives voters a direct say in policymaking through referendums typically held four times a year. Most ballots are cast through the mail, and in-person voting ends at noon local time on Sunday.

A “yes” vote would require the Swiss government to take action to cap the population by 2050.

If the population reaches 9.5 million before then, the government would be forced to restrict asylum, family reunification and residency permits, and may have to scrap Switzerland’s EU deal on the free movement of people.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has reported that Switzerland had a foreign-born population of 32% as of 2024, behind only Luxembourg and Australia among the group's 38 member countries.

International migration has long been a sensitive issue in Europe, as nations grapple with an aging population and increasing anti-foreigner sentiment. While that sentiment in other European countries centers on migrants from the developing world, most foreigners in Switzerland are Europeans.

Since Switzerland and the EU eased restrictions on citizens living and working across their borders in 2002, the Swiss population has grown by 23%, to 9.1 million as of the end of last year. Economic output has also increased, up 24% over the same period, government data show.

Swiss voters have repeatedly tackled the immigration issue over the last half-century. Only one such referendum — “Against mass immigration” in 2014 — narrowly passed, after campaigners stoked fears about overpopulation and rising numbers of Muslims in the country.

While many countries have limits on immigration, none has ever voted to limit its population, Swiss experts say.

A poster reading "Isolate ourselves from Europe? Certainly not now! - No to the SVP/UDC Chaos initiative" featuring images of President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, urging people to vote against the Swiss People's Party (SVP) referendum titled "No to a Switzerland with 10 million inhabitants" photographed in Lausanne, May 27, 2026. (Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via AP)