Nashville as MLB Expansion/Relocation Market

[smeagolsfree]

2 hours ago, Bos2Nash said:

I can't read the whole article (sorry don't have the funds to subscribe), but not everyone appears no board with MLB here.

https://www.nashvillepost.com/sports/while-a-nice-thought-a-nashville-mlb-team-isn-t-realistic/article_40109808-b2ce-11eb-8bf7-cfea74613183.html

I think this is the key!

While the appetite for professional baseball in Nashville certainly exists, and a local group has been fundraising for a few years trying to catch the eye of Major League Baseball, it just doesn’t seem feasible for Nashville to be awarded an MLB team under the current circumstances.

There’s an estimated $2.2 billion expansion fee that would need to be paid, then MLB would have to work out regional television contracts with Cincinnati, St. Louis and Atlanta, as creating a new Nashville market would cut into revenue streams for all three teams.

[nashvylle]

I always thought Nashville's best chance is via relocation (A's or Rays), not expansion. 

[MLBrumby]

Nashville will not get an expansion team in the foreseable future. They could get a relocation team, but rn there doesn't seem to be a prospective team.  I could see a couple of longstanding teams in the Midwest (or extreme "Southern") states looking to leave over the next decade.  At the moment, I won't mention the teams I'd expect to be looking at moving in a few years. Personally, I always thought the Angels were a team in search of a real home.  Been to a couple of their games in Anaheim, and gotta say they were the least spirited ("hollow") professional games I've ever attended despite being a decent sized crowd. Surprisingly, the Rangers were too, but they'll never leave the Metroplex. Having said that, I've never been to a game in Florida, Arizona or Minnesota. It's just hard to predict 5-10 years out which team will be looking to move. 

Meanwhile, play ball! 

Edited May 13, 2021 by MLBrumby

[LA_TN]

Saw this today...

[henburg]

8 hours ago, smeagolsfree said:

I think this is the key!

While the appetite for professional baseball in Nashville certainly exists, and a local group has been fundraising for a few years trying to catch the eye of Major League Baseball, it just doesn’t seem feasible for Nashville to be awarded an MLB team under the current circumstances.

There’s an estimated $2.2 billion expansion fee that would need to be paid, then MLB would have to work out regional television contracts with Cincinnati, St. Louis and Atlanta, as creating a new Nashville market would cut into revenue streams for all three teams.

 

A very good point to keep in mind, but these are not challenges unique to Nashville to be fair. Any expansion or relocated franchises will face similar hurdles, and when looking at a league map, Nashville is one of the most isolated areas in terms of nearby teams because we're roughly triangulated by St. Louis, Atlanta, and Cincinnati.

 

5 minutes ago, LA_TN said:

Saw this today...

I would be more than happy to share the love and let Louisville get a team personally, it would make a lot of sense after all. Unfortunately, it's likely hurt a lot by it's proximity to Cincinnati and relatively smaller market in comparison to other candidates. 

Edited May 13, 2021 by henburg

[21jump]

17 hours ago, MLBrumby said:

Nashville will not get an expansion team in the foreseable future. They could get a relocation team, but rn there doesn't seem to be a prospective team.  I could see a couple of longstanding teams in the Midwest (or extreme "Southern") states looking to leave over the next decade.  At the moment, I won't mention the teams I'd expect to be looking at moving in a few years. Personally, I always thought the Angels were a team in search of a real home.  Been to a couple of their games in Anaheim, and gotta say they were the least spirited ("hollow") professional games I've ever attended despite being a decent sized crowd. Surprisingly, the Rangers were too, but they'll never leave the Metroplex. Having said that, I've never been to a game in Florida, Arizona or Minnesota. It's just hard to predict 5-10 years out which team will be looking to move. 

Meanwhile, play ball! 

The Angels aren't leaving Southern California anytime soon. Even though they're second fiddle in their metro, they are the closest MLB team to about 7 million people just in Orange, San Bernandino, and Riverside counties alone. They, and the Ducks, have a very apathetic, but loyal fan base. Couple that with the large amount of tourists visiting Disneyland across the freeway who want to check out a game while in town plus guaranteed sellouts every time they host the Dodgers, Giants, and Padres plus their local media deal, ability to attract top free agents (Pujols, Trout, Othani).  Any owner would be stupid to leave all that behind to move elsewhere. Their ownership toyed with moving to Long Beach, but they now have a plan to renovate Angel Stadium and redevelop the surrounding area into high density mixed use. They are committed to Anaheim. The only thing I think they should do is re-re-re-re-re-brand to the California Angels. Anaheim is not LA and the stadium is at least an hour from DTLA on a good day, 2 1/2 hours during rush hour.

Arizona may be looking to move if they can't get a stadium deal done in the next 5 years or so. Unfortunately for them, Maricopa county owns the stadium and the majority of the Phoenix metro are is in Maricopa County so it may be difficult to get a new stadium. They would probably benefit from a move to the burbs; either Scottsdale or Glendale, but it would have to be privately financed. Last I heard they were suing the county for neglecting the stadium and trying to get out of their lease; that was prior to the pandemic so I'm sure there is new info on that front that I'm not privy to. I personally think that they are more likely to move to Las Vegas than the Athletics and I think the Las Vegas Diamondbacks has a good ring to it. Or they could still the old nickname from the West Tennessee Diamondjaxx to give it a casino vibe. The Phoenix market would also be a difficult market to leave, unless you're the Arizona Coyotes.

I'm not too knowledgeable on the Tampa Bay Rays situation except for the fact that their ballpark is trash and their avererage attendance is closer to the Sounds' than the rest of the MLB. I know they have thrown renderings around over the years but have gained next to zero traction in terms of a new stadium. As many others have noted, this would be the best option for Nashville as the AL East brings several home dates with the Yankees, Red Sox. We could also see more Blue Jays fans in our stands than normal due to the fact that many Canadians would love a reason to visit Nashville.

That leaves us to the Oakland Athletics, another team that has been seeking a stadium deal for years. Unlike the Angels, their owners are not willing to pony up for the funds for a new park and upgrades to the coliseum are not feasible. History has proven that it is very difficult to secure public funding for stadium projects in California. Almost all new stadia and arenas in the state are privately funded: SoFi Stadium (Rams, Chargers) Chase Center (Warriors) future New Inglewood Arena (Clippers) Banc of California Stadium (LAFC) Dodger Stadium renovation. Simply put, the owners need the massive California media markets more than the markets need the teams. Even collegiate stadia at San Jose State and SDSU took years before they were able to get funding to replace old and even condemned facilities. The only recent facility built with public funds was the Golden 1 Center in small market Sacramento as that team could have EASILY moved north to Seattle or Vancouver if the city wasn't willing to pony up the funds. I still think the Athletics moving to Nashville is a long shot. Relocated Oracle employees will probably love if the A's moved with them to Nashville. Also the A's will have to change divisions which would likely send the (tr)Astros out West. I'm not sure the MLB would be keen on moving that team out of the Central after switching them to the American League just a couple of decades ago. Moving to San Jose/Santa Clara would be another option. That would give South Bay 4 of the 5 major sports, the money is there to support it.

Apologies for the long winded response.

Anyways, like MLBrumby said, play ball!

[titanhog]

Ok…one more stab at the current Sounds park location as a “last resort” spot for an MLB stadium if all of the east bank potential sites fall through.

If they were able to take back that entire block and start over (money talks)…is there a configuration on that lot that would work (everything inside yellow block)?

 

[TheRaglander]

I dont see how they could tear down brand new residential property.

[nashvylle]

2 hours ago, TheRaglander said:

I dont see how they could tear down brand new residential property.

or a 1,000 space, multi-level parking garage. 

2 hours ago, titanhog said:

Ok…one more stab at the current Sounds park location as a “last resort” spot for an MLB stadium if all of the east bank potential sites fall through.

If they were able to take back that entire block and start over (money talks)…is there a configuration on that lot that would work (everything inside yellow block)?

I think a better option would be to relocate to the state 1-story building to the left of FHP, and combine that parcel with FHP land. IF that were to happen, 5th Ave / John Lewis Way would have to be cut off. 

[PaulChinetti]

2 hours ago, TheRaglander said:

I dont see how they could tear down brand new residential property.

, not that I think they would have it. 

[titanhog]

I don’t think it will happen…but I’m just asking is there enough room there with that entire area in the yellow box to build an MLB stadium?  Yes…it would take a ton of money to buy out the new buildings that were built there…but…would it be worth it to stay in downtown if they can’t find anyplace else?

[TheRaglander]

3 minutes ago, titanhog said:

I don’t think it will happen…but I’m just asking is there enough room there with that entire area in the yellow box to build an MLB stadium?  Yes…it would take a ton of money to buy out the new buildings that were built there…but…would it be worth it to stay in downtown if they can’t find anyplace else?

I would give anything for this to be downtown.  I absolutely love that I can walk to Preds, Titans and NSC (for now) games after grabbing a beer on Broadway.  

[titanhog]

1 minute ago, TheRaglander said:

I would give anything for this to be downtown.  I absolutely love that I can walk to Preds, Titans and NSC (for now) games after grabbing a beer on Broadway.  

Of course, the best place would be near the Titans’ stadium…but doesn’t look like that will happen (if we get a team).

[nashvylle]

A's first looking into Las Vegas for relocation per this article:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-25/is-oakland-willing-to-take-a-swing-a-new-ballpark?srnd=premium

 

[Flatrock]

Check it out. Tampa Bay eyeballing Nashville...

https://www.tampabay.com/news/tampa/2021/05/28/are-the-rays-listening-to-music-city-siren-songs/

[East Side Urbanite]

I feel Louisville would strongly support a professional sports franchise. But the city is located so close to larger cities, that its chances of landing a pro sports organization are modest.

[Flatrock]

If accurate, this article seems to indicate the Ray's ownership is using Nashville's interest (& other cities) purely as leverage; in a negotiation ploy with the mayors of TB and St. Pete. The mayor of St. Pete isn't biting, but the mayor of TB is apparently still on the hook. I guess we'll see.

https://larrybrownsports.com/baseball/rays-relocate-nashville-stadium-situation/579570

[samsonh]

19 hours ago, Flatrock said:

If accurate, this article seems to indicate the Ray's ownership is using Nashville's interest (& other cities) purely as leverage; in a negotiation ploy with the mayors of TB and St. Pete. The mayor of St. Pete isn't biting, but the mayor of TB is apparently still on the hook. I guess we'll see.

https://larrybrownsports.com/baseball/rays-relocate-nashville-stadium-situation/579570

Further point on this: after reading Tennessean article it is quite clear MLB to Nashville group is expecting city to front a large portion of stadium costs. A non starter imo.

[Licec]

8 hours ago, samsonh said:

Further point on this: after reading Tennessean article it is quite clear MLB to Nashville group is expecting city to front a large portion of stadium costs. A non starter imo.

 

Is there a link to the article where the MLB group is stating or indicating they want the city to "front a large portion of stadium costs"?

Edited May 30, 2021 by Licec

[LA_TN]

[MLBrumby]

Seems clear to me that Sternberg, Auld and Amador haven't talked with anyone in Nashville.  Jockeying for the public funds to build their big sandbox in Ybor City. Tampa's mayor is engaged.  Despite the lawsuit, my money's on a new park in Tampa, just not with the $1b price tag.  I do think the 'sister city' arrangement with Montreal is silly, but that's also possibly a part of their negotiating tactics.  The longest of long shots would be an entaglement from the lawsuit brings about a sale of the team and Nashville's group is ready to buy it, but then there's nothing to say they'll decide to keep the team in StP indefinitely. 

Edited May 30, 2021 by MLBrumby

[samsonh]

24 minutes ago, Licec said:

 

Is there a link to the article where the MLB group is stating or indicating they want the city to "front a large portion of stadium costs"?

https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/2021/05/29/tampa-bay-rays-considering-nashville-relocation-mlb-franchise/5265219001/
 

“This just shows that unless a city is willing to support its team they're probably going to go to a market that will”

 

in the context of the current Ray’s ownership trying to leverage a new stadium out of the city, this quote can only be read one way.

4 minutes ago, MLBrumby said:

Seems clear to me that Sternberg, Auld and Amador haven't talked with anyone in Nashville.  Jockeying for the public funds to build their big sandbox in Ybor City. Tampa's mayor is engaged.  Despite the lawsuit, my money's on a new park in Tampa, just not with the $1b price tag. 

Agreed they will stay in Tampa, but I wonder what a barebones stadium would run these days. I’d guess at least a billion.

[Licec]

42 minutes ago, samsonh said:

https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/2021/05/29/tampa-bay-rays-considering-nashville-relocation-mlb-franchise/5265219001/
 

“This just shows that unless a city is willing to support its team they're probably going to go to a market that will”

 

in the context of the current Ray’s ownership trying to leverage a new stadium out of the city, this quote can only be read one way.

Agreed they will stay in Tampa, but I wonder what a barebones stadium would run these days. I’d guess at least a billion.

 

That's quite a leap to say they want public funding for a stadium based on that statement alone.

I found this and it stated they would not seek public money to fund a stadium.

https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/baseball/2019/10/01/nashville-mlb-team-stars-stadium-renderings/3828450002/

 

Edited May 30, 2021 by Licec

[samsonh]

1 minute ago, Licec said:

 

That's quite a leap to say they want public funding for a stadium based on that statement alone.

I found this and it stated that they would not seek public money to fund a stadium.

https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/baseball/2019/10/01/nashville-mlb-team-stars-stadium-renderings/3828450002/

 

Eh agree to disagree. Until this group brings on someone with billions in net worth, they will need public money, and lots of it. 

[Licec]

They may stay in Tampa and they may not. They've been trying to get a new stadium there for at least 15 years to no avail. They may choose to move the Rays to Nashville to take advantage of having the club play in one of the most popular destinations in the country, as well as having ownership of an accompanying world renowned entertainment district.  Thus increasing the value of the team exponentially.