The formerly Oakland Athletics could set an ignominious MLB record when they play their first series in Las Vegas since leaving the Bay Area next season.
The ball club announced on Tuesday that it would play six regular season games in Las Vegas for the 2026 season: a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers from June 8 to 10 and another three-game series against the Rockies from June 12 to 14. The games will take place at Las Vegas Ballpark, home of the Las Vegas Aviators, the Athletics’ Triple-A affiliate. Most notably, the games will take place during a period of particularly high temperatures in the Vegas area.
This season, the highs in Vegas — the stadium is in Summertin South, a southwest region of the Las Vegas Valley — during that week ranged from 104 to 109 and would even reach 110 on June 15, according to Accuweather. The year before, temperatures peaked at a range from 103 to 109 during that same period. Over the past 10 years, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the average highs during this part of the calendar range from 98.1 to 100.6.
The hottest recorded game in MLB history is 109, a mark that’s been hit twice thanks to games at Arlington Stadium in the 1980s, and the A’s are running the risk of at least matching it. Of course, temperatures can fluctuate from year to year — for instance, the daily highs in 2023 for that week ranged from 87 to 94 degrees. But relying on a statistical outlier does not seem like the smartest planning approach.
Perhaps the A’s will hope that the daily lows will kick in once the sun sets to provide a milder climate for players, officials and fans. But that’s easier said than done. While a game’s first pitch might be scheduled for a nighttime start, players still have to warm up on the field several hours before, with the heat at its daily apex. It’s why A’s manager Mark Kotsay said he’d want the team to consider more day games in 2026, according to a Sacramento Bee story from earlier this month.
The fleeting good news for the organization is that they’re not doing this at the hottest time of the year in Sin City: July. Vegas temperatures are much worse during that month, where the average high throughout the month has been 105.5 over the past 25 years, according to NOAA. Whether players get a glimpse of that heat next season remains to be seen, but even if it doesn’t happen in 2026, it’ll only be a matter of time until they experience it firsthand.