The team is now known as the Athletics; they will play in West Sacramento, California, for the 2025–2027 seasons before a planned relocation to the Las Vegas metropolitan area.

In 1954, Chicago real estate magnate Arnold Johnson bought the Philadelphia Athletics and moved them to Kansas City, Missouri.

The lease gave Johnson a three-year escape clause if the team failed to draw one million or more customers per season.

That number would never be approached again while the team was in Kansas City, and would remain the club record for attendance until 1982—the Athletics' 15th season in Oakland.

Over the years, Johnson traded such key players as Roger Maris, Bobby Shantz, Héctor López, Clete Boyer, Art Ditmar and Ralph Terry to New York; in return, he did receive some talented younger players such as Norm Siebern and Jerry Lumpe, and the cash helped the team pay the bills.

Johnson did make some improvements to the farm system, but was unwilling to pay top dollar for players that could get the A's within sight of contention.

In the inaugural season of the Athletics in Kansas City, under new manager Lou Boudreau, saw the team slightly improve compared to the final dismal years in Philadelphia, but still perform poorly.

[6] Following Craft's elevation to manager, the Athletics ended the season in seventh place, with a slightly improved record to 59–94 (.386), 38½ games behind the New York Yankees.

By August, the team fell to mostly seventh place, where they would roughly stay until seasons end, with a record of 73–81 (.474), 19 games behind the World Series winning Yankees.

[9] Prior to the start of the season, owner Arnold Johnson was returning from watching the Athletics in spring training when he was fatally stricken with a cerebral hemorrhage.

In a highly publicized move, he purchased a bus, pointed it in the direction of New York, and burned it to symbolize the end of the "special relationship" with the Yankees.

He called another press conference to burn the existing lease at Municipal Stadium which included the despised "escape clause".

The Athletics, owners of the worst record in the American League in 1964, had the first pick in the first draft, selecting Rick Monday on June 8, 1965.

With the firing of Frank Lane in 1961, Finley effectively became the team's de facto general manager, and would remain so for the duration of his ownership.

[citation needed] In January, Charlie Finley hired Frank Lane, a veteran baseball man with a reputation as a prolific trader, as general manager.

With the firing of Lane in 1961, Finley effectively became the team's de facto general manager, and would remain so for the duration of his ownership.

By season's end, the Athletics finished in ninth, with a record of 61–100 (.379), 24 games behind the World Series winning New York Yankees.

Following the firing of Hank Bauer, Finley promoted Eddie Lopat from pitching coach to manager for the 1963 season.

[16] In 1963, Finley changed the team's colors to "Kelly Green, Fort Knox Gold and Wedding Gown White".

It was more a nauseous green the players wore on their wholesome, clean-cut faces the first few times they had to appear in public looking like refugees from a softball league.

Some of his other changes—for instance, his repeated attempts to mimic Yankee Stadium's famous right-field "home run porch"—were less successful.

AL President Joe Cronin ordered Finley to remove the fence which duplicated the 296-foot right-field foul line in Yankee Stadium.

On September 25, against the Boston Red Sox, Finley invited several Negro league veterans, including Satchel Paige and Cool Papa Bell, to be introduced before the game.

[citation needed] In 1961 and 1962, Finley talked to people in Dallas–Fort Worth and a four-man group appeared before American League owners,[27] but no formal motion was put forward to move the team to Texas.

These requests came as no surprise, as impending moves to these cities, as well as to Atlanta, Milwaukee, New Orleans, San Diego, and Seattle—all of which Finley had considered as new homes for the Athletics—had long been afloat.

[25][26] According to some reports, Cronin promised Finley that he could move the team after the 1967 season as an incentive to sign the new lease with Municipal Stadium.

The Pilots' stadium and financial problems combined to make them an unviable franchise, and they were ultimately sold and moved to Milwaukee after only one season in Seattle.

When the Philadelphia Athletics moved to Kansas City, new owner Arnold Johnson kept the franchise's traditional color scheme of red, white, and blue.

Following the purchase of the team in 1960 by owner Charles O. Finley, he introduced road uniforms with "Kansas City" printed on them, with an interlocking "KC" on the cap (as opposed to the previous "A").

During the Johnson years, the Athletics' home attendance averaged just under one million per season, respectable numbers for the era, especially in light of the team's dreadful on-field performance.