MLB Stadium Saga: Oakland/Tampa Bay/Southside

[GDAWG]

18 minutes ago, McCall said:

Expansion? Maybe (but probably unlikely).

Relocation? Doubtful. Can't imagine the A's or Rays passing over Vegas, Nashville or Montreal... or Charlotte... or San Antonio/Austin... or New Jersey... for Salt Lake City. Nothing against the city, sports or otherwise, but those two teams would have their pick of where to move, if they were to move. I just don't see Salt Lake being more appealing than their other options.

 

Expansion is probably Nashville and Las Vegas if the A's stay (which seems unlikely).  I think we will know next month because according to Casey Pratt, the exclusive negotiating period between the A's and the Howard Terminal port ends next month.  If the A's move to Las Vegas, it's probably Nashville and the Carolinas (Raleigh or Charlotte).

[McCall]

3 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

 

Expansion is probably Nashville and Las Vegas if the A's stay (which seems unlikely).  I think we will know next month because according to Casey Pratt, the exclusive negotiating period between the A's and the Howard Terminal port ends next month.  If the A's move to Las Vegas, it's probably Nashville and the Carolinas (Raleigh or Charlotte).

I think Montreal (if the Rays don't wind up there) may be ahead of the Carolinas.

[Ridleylash]

Yeah, I think Montréal is the clear favourite besides Nashville; it's the location that's been closest to actually getting a team, seems like there's definite interest. Vegas seems like it's too hinged on the A's situation to be in consideration for anything else right now, and it's a little hard to justify a team in the Carolinas if you're going to have teams in DC, Georgia and Tennessee.

[McCall]

24 minutes ago, Ridleylash said:

Yeah, I think Montréal is the clear favourite besides Nashville; it's the location that's been closest to actually getting a team, seems like there's definite interest. Vegas seems like it's too hinged on the A's situation to be in consideration for anything else right now, and it's a little hard to justify a team in the Carolinas if you're going to have teams in DC, Georgia and Tennessee.

Oh I'd say Vegas is probably one of the frontrunners for expansion if the A's stay put. There will be no expansion until the A's and Rays situations are resolved, so if they miss out in relocation, expansion is a high probability. Them and Nashville may be 1-2 with Montreal a close 3rd, expansionwise.

[FiddySicks]

6 hours ago, WestCoastBias said:

Add Salt Lake City to the list of possible expansion/relocation cities (Las Vegas, Portland, Nashville, Montreal).

Salt Lake City is Reno with less access to fresh water. Hard pass. 

[BBTV]

1 hour ago, Ridleylash said:

I think Montréal is the clear favourite besides Nashville

 

There has to be ownership willing and ready to pay, and the city needs to be ready and able to pay $1B for a stadium.  

 

I know Nashville has the "Nashville Stars" org for ownership interest (though I'm not sure if any actual primary-owner candidates are part of it) but are either city ready to put shovels in the ground and build a stadium?  MLB expansion is a bigger deal than any other expansion.  I will make a forum bet of some sort that we don't see it even announced within 5 years of right now.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

What about Orlando?

 

https://orlandodreamers.com/

 

 

[who do you think]

If Utah's suddenly in the market for more sportz I would think NFL (since Sundays are apparently fine now) or NHL would be better fits.

[Dilbert]

1 hour ago, FiddySicks said:

Salt Lake City is Reno with less access to fresh water. Hard pass. 

I mean, there is a reason its called Salt Lake City and not Fresh Water Lake City

[WestCoastBias]

Some renderings for a potential stadium in Salt Lake City were released as well..

 

 

 

 

[Cujo]

7 hours ago, WestCoastBias said:

Add Salt Lake City to the list of possible expansion/relocation cities (Las Vegas, Portland, Nashville, Montreal).

 

No MLB expansion.

 

A's Las Vegas

Rays Nashville

 

Portland, Salt Lake City (needs a roof) and especially Montreal are all pipedreams.

[FiddySicks]

Salt Lake is way more of a pipe dream than Montreal. At least Montreal actually had a  Major League team at one point. Montreal has more than a million and a half people. Salt Lake has less than 200,000 people. It’s actually a miracle they have a basketball. They’re somehow a less appealing option than even Sacramento. 

[Cujo]

1 minute ago, FiddySicks said:

At least Montreal actually had a  Major League team at one point

 

Which is a strike against Montreal since we already know it doesn't work.

 

Look at what happened when the NFL went back to St. Louis.

[GDAWG]

3 hours ago, McCall said:

Oh I'd say Vegas is probably one of the frontrunners for expansion if the A's stay put. There will be no expansion until the A's and Rays situations are resolved, so if they miss out in relocation, expansion is a high probability. Them and Nashville may be 1-2 with Montreal a close 3rd, expansionwise.

 

I think we are getting some sort of resolution with the A's over the next two months.  Next month, the A's exclusivity on the Howard Terminal project ends and in June, the Nevada Legislative Session brakes until 2025 and the A's are trying to get funding for a new ballpark in Las Vegas.

 

Oakland A's form lobbying group ahead of possible Las Vegas move (ktnv.com)

 

So that ends in June.  We should know by then what happens with the A's.  It may take longer with the Rays.  

[FinsUp1214]

38 minutes ago, FiddySicks said:

Salt Lake is way more of a pipe dream than Montreal. At least Montreal actually had a  Major League team at one point. Montreal has more than a million and a half people. Salt Lake has less than 200,000 people. It’s actually a miracle they have a basketball. They’re somehow a less appealing option than even Sacramento. 

Well, yes, the city itself has just under 200,000, but SLC metro has about 1.25 million, and the greater Wasatch Front area (Ogden to Provo, with SLC located around the middle) has around 2.7 million. The cities along the range - where the wide majority of the state’s population resides - are nearly connected back to back the whole way down, so pulling the population of just one can be a little deceiving without considering the context of how close the most populous cities in Utah are to each other. The Wasatch is projected to keep on growing over the course of the next few years, as well.

 

THAT BEING SAID, HOWEVER…..I do agree to some extent that expansion to SLC is a bit of a pipe dream, for now at least. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge baseball fan and would be thrilled to have the Major Leagues in my backyard here, but I also don’t think SLC is ready quite yet. As much as I’ve just touted the SLC area’s growth, I do think it needs to grow further more before I’m comfortable believing there’s a sustainable fanbase to draw from. There’s no doubt fans would be hot out of the gate - just look how we support the Jazz season after season - but basketball arenas are, by sheer numbers, easier to fill and sell out than Major League ballparks night in and night out. The sustainability of a team placed in SLC before the numbers are there, as opposed to the plausibility of fan interest, is where my hesitation lies for the time being.

 

 

[FiddySicks]

I always forget to compare population to metro population, so yeah, my bad. I actually didn’t realize the greater SLC area had grown quite that big yet. That’s significantly larger than Reno, but that comes with the caveat that Reno is just over the mountains from the large Northern California metro areas. Whatever. It’s still a Great Basin urban area. 
 

But even with that, it’s still comparable to, at best, somewhere like Sacramento. And even with Sac you still have a city proper that’s about twice the size and a metro area that borders the Bay Area, which is an absolute behemoth. 

[tBBP]

2 hours ago, WestCoastBias said:

Some renderings for a potential stadium in Salt Lake City were released as well..

 

 

 

 

 

It's been a while since I last been to SLC, but just based off those three flutes: hypothetical as all that is, are they eyeballing either the golf course next to the refineries and railyard down off 3300 or (last I knew) that empty patch next to the refineries further up the 15 between it, the beltway and Redwood Rd? Those are about the only two open patches of grass I can remember (& of course that was nearly three years ago so ain't no telling what they may have done with those patches of land by now).

[GDAWG]

Somewhat related:

 

Diamondbacks in Active Talks on New Phoenix-Area Stadium (frontofficesports.com)

 

Basically the two options are: significant renovations to Chase Field or a new location in the Phoenix metro area.  If Chase Field renovations do not happen, it will be interesting to see which of the metro cities wants them.  

[who do you think]

22 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

Somewhat related:

 

Diamondbacks in Active Talks on New Phoenix-Area Stadium (frontofficesports.com)

 

Basically the two options are: significant renovations to Chase Field or a new location in the Phoenix metro area.  If Chase Field renovations do not happen, it will be interesting to see which of the metro cities wants them.  

 

And they need ("need") a new stadium because why exactly?

[Walk-Off]

On 4/13/2023 at 1:07 AM, tBBP said:

It's been a while since I last been to SLC, but just based off those three flutes: hypothetical as all that is, are they eyeballing either the golf course next to the refineries and railyard down off 3300 or (last I knew) that empty patch next to the refineries further up the 15 between it, the beltway and Redwood Rd? Those are about the only two open patches of grass I can remember (& of course that was nearly three years ago so ain't no telling what they may have done with those patches of land by now).

 

According to this SLTrib.com article, the Big League Utah group being led by Gail Miller (longtime Jazz owner Larry's widow) is, for now, seeking to build an MLB park within the Power District -- a redevelopment of a 100-acre property located on Salt Lake City's west side, bound by the Jordan River to the east and both North Temple Street and a light rail line to the north, and owned by Rocky Mountain Power (which is itself helping to redevelop the parcel).

 

Between Gail Miller's deep pockets and the seemingly well-thought-out initial ballpark plan, I think that Big League Utah is off to a great start and, therefore, the likes of the Portland Diamond Project and the Music City Baseball effort in Nashville would be foolish to underestimate this new initiative from the Beehive State.