MLB to Orlando?

[Uncommon]

Not sure if there’s already a thread on this buried in UP’s archive (I did a quick search but didn’t find anything). Pat Williams, who brought basketball to Orlando, is now trying his hand at bringing baseball to the City Beautiful. Press conference scheduled for tomorrow morning, stay tuned!

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/os-sp-baseball-orlando-1120-20191119-t2qlhg3p7bh4lgehb62e3y6ylq-story.html

[jrs2]

There is a corporate partner involved that I heard of an hour ago

[prahaboheme]

1 hour ago, jrs2 said:

There is a corporate partner involved that I heard of an hour ago

Speculation: Universal? For their major expansion?

[orlandouprise]

I like the Orlando Oaks, The Orlando Juice or my fave of all time the Orlando SunRays (only happens if we move the Rays from TB here)

9 hours ago, prahaboheme said:

Speculation: Universal? For their major expansion?

if its backed by universal, the what? Would it be  called the Orlando Epics? lol

[dcluley98]

10 hours ago, prahaboheme said:

Speculation: Universal? For their major expansion?

Tampa Bay Times said could be Disney.  I guess we will find out soon enough. 

Edited November 20, 2019 by dcluley98

[jrs2]

1 hour ago, dcluley98 said:

Tampa Bay Times said could be Disney.  I guess we will find out soon enough. 

Compound word.  Something in the night sky, and what you get when looking at a dirty mag.

[spenser1058]

To summarize Pat Williams in a Hawaiian shirt (yep, let’s take THAT seriously), he’s got nothing. He’s just an 80-year old anti-diversity geezer looking for someone to take him seriously again.

Now back to the impeachment hearings...

[spenser1058]

If you wish to belly up to this pipe dream:

https://orlandodreamers.com/

I will give Pat one thing: unlike VMC, he does have a decent looking website on day one!

[dcluley98]

43 minutes ago, jrs2 said:

Compound word.  Something in the night sky, and what you get when looking at a dirty mag.

Moonbeam-Tingly-Jingles? 

[spenser1058]

54 minutes ago, jrs2 said:

Compound word.  Something in the night sky, and what you get when looking at a dirty mag.

Disney not only sold off the Mighty Ducks hockey team in Anaheim saying sports teams are not a strategic fit but declined several shots at minor league baseball at ESPN WWoS and let Atlanta move their spring training outfit. It ain’t Disney and I’m willing to bet it ain’t Universal, either. 

[HankStrong]

It's Gatorland isn't it?

[AndyPok1]

Definitely the most nothing press conference I've seen in a while.  Granted, I'm all for more professional sports, but this has no weight behind it whatsoever and was an excuse to show off a logo that will be forgotten.

It did lead me to start thinking of interesting locations for a 35k seat retractable roof ballpark though.  I'm biased, but buying up the industrial land behind/around Target could be fascinating.  Not sure a professional baseball stadium and a LGBT tragedy memorial really screams synergy, but the resulting development could definitely turn Sodo into a secondary destination to compliment downtown while still being in the traditional city core.

[spenser1058]

10 minutes ago, AndyPok1 said:

Definitely the most nothing press conference I've seen in a while.  Granted, I'm all for more professional sports, but this has no weight behind it whatsoever and was an excuse to show off a logo that will be forgotten.

It did lead me to start thinking of interesting locations for a 35k seat retractable roof ballpark though.  I'm biased, but buying up the industrial land behind/around Target could be fascinating.  Not sure a professional baseball stadium and a LGBT tragedy memorial really screams synergy, but the resulting development could definitely turn Sodo into a secondary destination to compliment downtown while still being in the traditional city core.

The location for the 1990’s version was between the Citrus Bowl and OBT, for whatever that’s worth.

Personally, at the time I was in favor of Orlando Festival Park in the Milk District.

Keep in mind, back then they were still in favor of smaller stadia (it’s why the first Orena, built to NBA specs despite the later propaganda of the DeVos family, was smaller) and it was before Glenda built the skate park.

[AndyPok1]

4 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

The location for the 1990’s version was between the Citrus Bowl and OBT, for whatever that’s worth.

Personally, at the time I was in favor of Orlando Festival Park in the Milk District.

Keep in mind, back then they were still in favor of smaller stadia (it’s why the first Orena, built to NBA specs despite the later propaganda of the DeVos family, was smaller) and it was before Glenda built the skate park.

Oh I'm sure.  But a ballpark brings traffic in at least 81 nights a year.  It is one of the few "public-financing stadium revitalization" efforts that can actually drive change if done properly.  Festival Park would be a nightmare because of parking.  Imagine 20k cars trying to arrive or leave at once.  Chances are they would put it somewhere between Orlando City Stadium and the Citrus Bowl, but I'm anti that because that wouldn't help Parramore in the slightest, whereas it can be used to develop a whole new "activity center" from the ground up.

[spenser1058]

3 minutes ago, AndyPok1 said:

Oh I'm sure.  But a ballpark brings traffic in at least 81 nights a year.  It is one of the few "public-financing stadium revitalization" efforts that can actually drive change if done properly.  Festival Park would be a nightmare because of parking.  Imagine 20k cars trying to arrive or leave at once.  Chances are they would put it somewhere between Orlando City Stadium and the Citrus Bowl, but I'm anti that because that wouldn't help Parramore in the slightest, whereas it can be used to develop a whole new "activity center" from the ground up.

At the time, the idea was to use parking garages in the back of the still-existing but fading Colonial Plaza Mall.

Given the size a stadium would likely be today and the increased use of the Milk District, I agree it would be impractical.

We were thinking more Wrigley Field or Fenway Park back then than the Royals (Kauffman) Stadium.

[jrs2]

4 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

Disney not only sold off the Mighty Ducks hockey team in Anaheim saying sports teams are not a strategic fit but declined several shots at minor league baseball at ESPN WWoS and let Atlanta move their spring training outfit. It ain’t Disney and I’m willing to bet it ain’t Universal, either. 

The news report does not comport to what I was told last night...

[spenser1058]

5 minutes ago, jrs2 said:

The news report does not comport to what I was told last night...

Given the wing and a prayer nature of the news conference, that’s probably not a shock. I think Pat’s got the same PR firm as VMC...

Pat and Bob Snow can get together and do an Orlando version of The Sunshine Boys. Meanwhile, the rest of us can ponder why Orlando seems to have no leaders under 60 anymore. It’s really sad that we’re turning into a sequel of Cocoon.

Edited November 20, 2019 by spenser1058

[spenser1058]

Well, here we go. Of course, we have Pat Williams as the president of the new Orlando Dreamers. Who’s the VP? Why, it’s Frank Kruppenbacher, former GOAA Chairman who resigned from his position at the Florida Virrual School just ahead of a major scandal. From the very beginning, we have questionable leadership:

https://twitter.com/asherwildman13/status/1197283074138165250?s=21

So, the head of the organization went out of his way to oppose Orlando’s non-discrimination ordinance and brought to town the family that was the leading donor to Florida’s Amendment 2 that was negated by SCOTUS and is trying to destroy public education. The #2 man resigned in scandal from a state organization. Yep, I want to be a part of this wholesome outfit- NOT! 

 

Edited November 20, 2019 by spenser1058

[orlandouprise]

3 hours ago, jrs2 said:

The news report does not comport to what I was told last night...

please share. 

[jrs2]

18 hours ago, orlandouprise said:

please share. 

I need to verify some stuff first.

[spenser1058]

All you folks convinced Orlando’s the perfect place for MLB, the Nats appear to be on the market…

Of course, convincing MLB to allow a franchise in one of the country’s largest MSA’s to move might be a chore. Convincing anyone that the team would be successful in the state with the worst major league baseball attendance might be a problem.

But hey! We could compare ourselves to cities like Nashville, Charlotte and Portland who’d like the nod and have thriving minor league teams. We have, oh wait…

Edited April 11, 2022 by spenser1058

[jrs2]

On 4/11/2022 at 4:09 PM, spenser1058 said:

All you folks convinced Orlando’s the perfect place for MLB, the Nats appear to be on the market…

Of course, convincing MLB to allow a franchise in one of the country’s largest MSA’s to move might be a chore. Convincing anyone that the team would be successful in the state with the worst major league baseball attendance might be a problem.

But hey! We could compare ourselves to cities like Nashville, Charlotte and Portland who’d like the nod and have thriving minor league teams. We have, oh wait…

you should write a column in The Slantinel.

No way MLB comes here; all good points.

However, when BL begins service next year, once that is working and the new Term C opens and visitors see the intermodal integration, that will be the first step towards the perception of Orlando changing drastically from outside looking in.  And if the BL FDOT and Sunrail deal comes through, even more so.

[spenser1058]

54 minutes ago, jrs2 said:

you should write a column in The Slantinel.

No way MLB comes here; all good points.

However, when BL begins service next year, once that is working and the new Term C opens and visitors see the intermodal integration, that will be the first step towards the perception of Orlando changing drastically from outside looking in.  And if the BL FDOT and Sunrail deal comes through, even more so.

If tourists made up the bulk of baseball attendance, Miami would be filling up their stadium every game and Tampa wouldn’t be far behind. It’s amazing how we think tourists are the answer to all our problems.

[jrs2]

On 4/20/2022 at 9:00 PM, spenser1058 said:

If tourists made up the bulk of baseball attendance, Miami would be filling up their stadium every game and Tampa wouldn’t be far behind. It’s amazing how we think tourists are the answer to all our problems.

that's...actually a good point...

[spenser1058]

Due to a family generational shift, control of the Baltimore Orioles is about to change. As a result, there’s a lot of back and forth about whether the team will stay or go and what incentives the city and state will offer for that to happen. 

At the end of the day, they’re probably not moving. The Orioles and the Camden Yards stadium are likely too entrenched to go anywhere assuming a deal can be made.

What’s interesting, though, is the rumor of where they COULD go if they needed to. The city that came up again and again was Nashville. Music City basically has all the ingredients for an MLB team (I’ve listed them before so I won’t bore you with them again here).

Why do we care? So far as I can tell, Pat Williams, his Hawaiian shirt and the Dreamers notwithstanding, Orlando’s name never came up.

Never say never, but this is one Dream that should probably be put to rest and let’s think what we as a city should invest in instead.

Going all out to support our Hometown National Champions as they move to the P5 and need much more booster support in the NIL era might be a very good start.
 

Edited June 15, 2022 by spenser1058