{"id":183990,"date":"2025-08-29T05:43:36","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T05:43:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/183990\/"},"modified":"2025-08-29T05:43:36","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T05:43:36","slug":"salt-lake-city-nashville-how-six-cities-are-faring-in-the-race-for-an-mlb-expansion-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/183990\/","title":{"rendered":"Salt Lake City? Nashville? How six cities are faring in the race for an MLB expansion team"},"content":{"rendered":"

The intense interest in Major League Baseball expansion and realignment last week surprised those inside the league office in New York. What commissioner Rob Manfred said publicly on the subject<\/a> had lasted just 52 seconds, and none of it was new information.<\/p>\n

But the expansion conversation captivates, and now that there\u2019s resolution in sight for the two items Manfred has long cited as expansion roadblocks \u2014\u00a0the uncertain futures of the Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays \u2014\u00a0it no longer feels premature to raise the topic. Nowhere is the spike in interest more apparent than in the cities vying for a spot when MLB expands to 32 clubs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s tremendous excitement locally about the potential for expansion,\u201d said Steve Starks, CEO of the Larry H. Miller Company in Salt Lake City, describing the market as \u201cbuzzing with anticipation\u201d about the prospect of bringing the big leagues to Utah.<\/p>\n

In recent weeks, The Athletic sought progress reports from six cities with established expansion efforts underway \u2014 Nashville, Raleigh and Orlando in the east; Salt Lake City, Portland and Austin in the west \u2014 about their latest updates and current priorities. Though Nashville and Salt Lake City are considered frontrunners by many in the industry, Manfred said last month the league has made \u201cno pre-determinations\u201d about locations. Taking the commissioner at his word, there\u2019s still a chance one of the next expansion clubs will wind up in Montreal, Charlotte, San Jose, Vancouver or even Oakland.<\/p>\n

Manfred intends to have two new teams selected before he retires in 2029, but it\u2019s unclear when the league will begin the formal expansion process and consider each city\u2019s bid. Elements of expansion will need to be negotiated in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement; the current one expires Dec. 1, 2026. Another unknown is the expansion fee. Most groups working on building expansion bids project it will be between $2-2.5 billion.<\/p>\n

Even if the expansion teams won\u2019t take the field until the 2030s, there is a sense of urgency to lock in potential stadium sites. \u201cThese are real estate deals,\u201d said John Loar, managing director of Music City Baseball in Nashville, and getting three years ahead of expansion is \u201can absolute requirement\u201d to build a ballpark and surrounding mixed-use development. (Many prospective stakeholders are looking to replicate a complex like Atlanta\u2019s The Battery<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a marathon,\u201d Loar said, \u201cbut you sort of have to take a sprinter\u2019s approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

EastNashville<\/a><\/p>\nGeneral partnerStadium SitePublic funding for ballpark<\/tr>\n\n\n

TBA<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

TBA<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

TBA<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

When The Athletic polled MLB players<\/a> in 2023 about the best potential expansion city, 69 percent selected Nashville. The Tennessee capital already has a strong baseball scene thanks to a Triple-A team and SEC powerhouse Vanderbilt University within city limits, as well as a proven track record of supporting its pro sports teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Nashville is kind of a no-brainer,\u201d Loar said.<\/p>\n

Music City Baseball<\/a> has spent years building the brand and story of the Nashville Stars \u2014 a name borrowed from the city\u2019s Negro league team \u2014 and positioning itself as the most natural fit to be MLB\u2019s next team in the east. But at this stage, the group is still missing some critical components of a bid, including a general partner and a stadium site.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

(Rendering courtesy of Music City Baseball)<\/p>\n

Loar said the group will focus on finalizing the ownership group later in the process, once the expansion fee is known. \u201cThere are some obvious choices here,\u201d he said, \u201cpeople we keep informed that need to help facilitate it.\u201d That\u2019s a lesser priority at this point than picking a ballpark location. \u201cIf you don\u2019t solve the real estate, the location, and figure out how to get a world-class entertainment (venue) and ballpark shovel-ready,\u201d Loar said, \u201cnone of that matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

After partnering with real estate firm Lincoln Property Company and development company Mortenson, Music City Baseball has targeted two sites in Davidson County as possible locations for a ballpark and surrounding mixed-use development. Loar said one site is more connected to downtown, while the other is \u201con the right side of the river connected to downtown.\u201d The right location \u201caffects the brand of baseball,\u201d Loar added, and because of the importance of getting three years ahead of expansion on the real estate front, he\u2019d like to have the site selected by 2026.<\/p>\n

That makes this an important time for Music City Baseball, even if formal expansion talks aren\u2019t yet in sight.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day, every year is critical,\u201d Loar said.<\/p>\n

Orlando<\/p>\nGeneral partnerStadium SitePublic funding for ballpark<\/tr>\n\n\n

Rick Workman<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Southwest Orlando<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

TBA<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

When the late Pat Williams, who\u2019d already helped bring Orlando one expansion team (the NBA\u2019s Magic), first spoke with Jim Schnorf about leading the effort to land an MLB franchise, Schnorf told him, \u201cThe issue will not be whether I can arrange the capital. It\u2019s going to be getting the right stadium site and the right control owners, hopefully, that have a connection with and passion for Orlando.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schnorf, now chief operations officer for the Orlando City Baseball Dreamers<\/a>, claims to have checked each of those boxes. The group\u2019s control ownership includes Rick Workman, a former dentist who founded a dental management company, and John Morgan, founder of a personal injury law firm. The Dreamers have announced<\/a> more than $3 billion in total funding toward an expansion fee and the club\u2019s portion of stadium costs.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

(Rendering courtesy of the Orlando Dreamers)<\/p>\n

The Dreamers\u2019 preferred site for their proposed 45,000-seat domed ballpark is in a tourist district in southwest Orlando, close to theme parks, a convention center and plenty of hotels and restaurants. Because of that, Orlando, unlike other potential expansion cities, would not plan a large area of mixed-use development around the ballpark.<\/p>\n

While MLB may be wary of adding a third Florida market, the possibility remains that the Rays will not stay in the Tampa area long-term. In recent months, with the Rays sale pending, the Dreamers have made it clear that they see Orlando as a solution should any MLB ownership group decide to move their club.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think we\u2019ve got a number of swings,\u201d Schnorf said, \u201cand we\u2019re very, very confident \u2014 because we are in such a leading position in terms of our market and progress \u2014 one of these paths will generate a Major League Baseball franchise for Orlando this decade.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raleigh<\/p>\nGeneral partnerStadium SitePublic funding for ballpark<\/tr>\n\n\n

Tom Dundon<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

TBA<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

TBA<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

When Tom Dundon is willing to put his financial might behind a project, it should be taken seriously. Dundon, owner of the NHL\u2019s Carolina Hurricanes, is part of a group poised to purchase<\/a> the NBA\u2019s Portland Trail Blazers for $4.25 billion. Yet Dundon remains interested in bringing MLB to North Carolina.<\/p>\n

\u201cTom has publicly indicated that he\u2019s very interested in owning a Major League Baseball team,\u201d Hurricanes CEO Brian Fork said. \u201cHe thinks Raleigh would be a great market to have it, and is interested in taking the steps necessary to try to make that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

At this stage, Fork and Co. are brainstorming stadium sites, modeling sponsorship and ticket sales figures, and communicating with local and state officials and business leaders in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill triangle. Reception, Fork said, has been \u201cuniversally positive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to stay ready, do the homework we need and do the planning we can do \u2026 so we\u2019re ready to act whenever (MLB) gives the go-ahead,\u201d Fork said.<\/p>\n

While Charlotte is another potential expansion city, Raleigh seems to have more momentum. There\u2019s the proximity to Dundon\u2019s Hurricanes, who will\u00a0soon begin a $1 billion project to transform 81 acres around the Lenovo Center into an entertainment district. (One could imagine squeezing a ballpark in there.) There\u2019s more support for Raleigh\u2019s MLB bid from local and state politicians; North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein spoke in support<\/a> of the plan earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Charlotte also lacks a group working publicly toward an eventual bid, while Raleigh has both Hurricanes leadership and a community-led campaign. That group, MLB Raleigh<\/a>, existed before Dundon stated his intention to wade into MLB waters. The co-founders made merchandise and invited baseball fans to brewery meet-ups. They hoped to make enough noise that the media noticed, then local government, then a billionaire. Once that happened, things only got noisier.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just trying to prove that people want it here,\u201d said MLB Raleigh co-founder Lou Pascucci, a designer at IBM. \u201cThis is a baseball town.\u201d<\/p>\n

WestAustin<\/p>\nGeneral partnerStadium SitePublic funding for ballpark<\/tr>\n\n\n

TBA<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

TBA<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

TBA<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

The Austin Baseball Commission<\/a>, a grassroots effort led by three 40-something entrepreneurs, is still in its nascent phase. The campaign went public last year and has checked off fewer boxes than the other potential expansion cities included here. That doesn\u2019t concern the group\u2019s CEO, Matt Mackowiak. Until MLB clarifies its expansion timeline, this is all prep work. In the end, Mackowiak said, what matters is the actual bid: the billionaire(s) bankrolling it, the incentives package and the real estate plan.<\/p>\n

The greater Austin area represents an opportunity for MLB to break into a rapidly growing city that ranks as one of the largest domestic markets without a \u201cBig Four\u201d pro league franchise. San Antonio has the NBA\u2019s Spurs, and Austin has a rabid college fandom at the University of Texas, as well as an MLS expansion team, Austin FC. There are two minor league teams in the region: the Double-A San Antonio Missions and the Triple-A Round Rock Express, just north of Austin.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you collapse Austin and San Antonio into one market like we will, much like the Spurs have done in reverse, we\u2019re larger than the state of Utah,\u201d Mackowiak said.<\/p>\n

Beyond building a plan, a local supporter base and an executive team, the Austin Baseball Commission is scouting three potential stadium sites near the Austin airport, Mackowiak said. He believes MLB owners will want two new markets that won\u2019t cause headaches \u2014\u00a0that fill seats, play in big-league ballparks, spend reasonably and won\u2019t be long-term revenue-sharing recipients.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as we have a lead investor, a serious (limited partner) group, an incentives package and a stadium plan, we think we have a really, really, really good chance,\u201d Mackowiak said. \u201cBut we\u2019ve got to put a bid together at the right time, then go out and make a case.\u201d<\/p>\n

Portland<\/a><\/p>\nGeneral partnerStadium SitePublic funding for ballpark<\/tr>\n\n\n

TBA<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Zidell Yards<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Up to $800 million<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

After years of scouting potential stadium sites in and around Portland, the Portland Diamond Project<\/a> now has a signed sale and purchase agreement for Zidell Yards, a 31-acre waterfront parcel near downtown Portland that looks out toward a cable-stayed pedestrian bridge over the Willamette River and the Cascade Range beyond.<\/p>\n

The south side of the lot, which is bisected by the Ross Island Bridge, would have 16 acres of mixed-use development. PDP founder and president Craig Cheek said after poring over the property with consultants and architects, \u201cWe found no showstoppers. It\u2019s a complex site, but sometimes the complexity only reinforces what an amazing site it\u2019s going to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cheek believes a successful MLB expansion bid, including an expansion fee and ballpark construction, will be a $5-5.5 billion enterprise. He anticipates roughly half of the estimated $2 billion ballpark cost will come from public support. The Oregon legislature recently passed a bill that would provide up to $800 million in bonds for stadium construction, funded through income tax on player and staff salaries.<\/p>\n

Cheek said his focus now is on \u201ccompleting our capital stack\u201d and determining a primary investor for the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in active and advanced conversations with multiple parties that we know we need to anchor (a bid),\u201d Cheek said. \u201cI don\u2019t have a definitive name or group I can give you, but I can tell you we\u2019re making significant progress on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Portland first emerged as a serious expansion candidate, Las Vegas seemed to be the greatest threat to win the West Coast bid. Las Vegas went the relocation route instead, and now it\u2019s Salt Lake City seemingly in the lead. Perhaps a stadium site and a general partner would help Portland gain a foothold in the eyes of the public. But being viewed as a frontrunner in 2025 is inconsequential compared to the contents of the bid these cities will eventually present to MLB and its 30 owners.<\/p>\n

Salt Lake City<\/p>\nGeneral partnerStadium SitePublic funding for ballpark<\/tr>\n\n\n

Miller Family<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Power District<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Up to $900 million<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

If there exists such a thing as a turnkey expansion option, it\u2019s Salt Lake City. Big League Utah<\/a> has broad bipartisan political support, a growing market, a massive stadium site, up to $900 million in public funding for ballpark construction and an ownership group with a reputation for stability and decades of experience owning pro sports teams.<\/p>\n

Auto dealer Larry H. Miller bought the NBA\u2019s Jazz in 1985, and his wife, Gail, assumed ownership upon his death in 2009. The Miller family sold the Jazz for $1.66 billion in 2020 and the car dealerships for a reported $3.2 billion in 2021; they own Triple-A Salt Lake, which recently moved into a new ballpark<\/a> southwest of the city, and Real Salt Lake in MLS.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow you have the second generation of family who\u2019s come along, and they stand on the shoulders of their parents,\u201d Starks said. \u201cThey love sports. They love baseball in particular. So they said, we would love to be stewards of the next great American sport, which happens to be our pastime, and aligns with our family\u2019s passion for community building.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t(Renderings courtesy of Big League Utah)<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

An MLB stadium is the proposed centerpiece of the 100-acre Power District site<\/a> on Salt Lake City\u2019s west side, a redevelopment plan toward which the Larry H. Miller Company has pledged more than $3.5 billion. The project will go forward whether or not MLB gives Utah an expansion team; crews will break ground on Rocky Mountain Power\u2019s headquarters there later this year.<\/p>\n

While Big League Utah is ahead of other potential expansion cities in completing priority tasks, there\u2019s more to do than wait. Though the group released preliminary renderings of a stadium design, they\u2019re still studying elements of the site and finalizing plans to be \u201ctruly shovel-ready,\u201d Starks said, \u201cto eliminate the risk for the commissioner and the other owners.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if you announce a project, it\u2019s still incredibly complicated,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re taking all the steps necessary to de-risk it and be able to show, hey, we can (have) shovels in the ground and can submit plans within the first six months.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Photo: Brandon Bell \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The intense interest in Major League Baseball expansion and realignment last week surprised those inside the league office…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":183991,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[1266,62,222,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-183990","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-mlb","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-sports-business","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115110465424951685","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}