Charlotte MLB Team Speculation

[dylansukkert]

Just my input: I grew up in Charlotte, casual Braves fan, have been down to Atlanta for a few games but in the rare case we land a MLB team in Charlotte I’m kicking to Braves to the curb. 

[Hushpuppy321]

4 hours ago, eastsider said:

Important note: MLB has no plans to expand anytime soon.

So the only hope would be a team relocation.

[KJHburg]

21 hours ago, dylansukkert said:

Just my input: I grew up in Charlotte, casual Braves fan, have been down to Atlanta for a few games but in the rare case we land a MLB team in Charlotte I’m kicking to Braves to the curb. 

I was a die hard Washington Redskins fan when living in suburbs of DC and even after I moved here until the Panthers came to town and I kicked the Redskins to the curb. 

[Phillydog]

I plan to kick my Yanks to the curb when the Charlotte Queens of the National League start playing in 2024.

[dragonfly]

On 7/9/2020 at 3:34 PM, Phillydog said:

 

Nashville's TV market is smaller than Raleigh's.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_television_markets

Things seem really wrong there. Nashville and Raleigh larger markets than San Diego? Orlando larger than Cleveland, St. Louis, Pittsburg?

[Durhamite]

4 hours ago, dragonfly said:

Things seem really wrong there. Nashville and Raleigh larger markets than San Diego? Orlando larger than Cleveland, St. Louis, Pittsburg?

Seem about right. I don't think media market compositions directly align with CSA and MSA.

https://mediatracks.com/resources/nielsen-dma-rankings-2019/

[KJHburg]

1 hour ago, Durhamite said:

Seem about right. I don't think media market compositions directly align with CSA and MSA.

https://mediatracks.com/resources/nielsen-dma-rankings-2019/

True the Raleigh Durham Fayetteville tv market is bigger than Nashville and of course San Diego is buffered to the north by the #2 tv market Los Angeles.   Charlotte's tv market includes counties in NC and SC of course but all the way to the Tennessee and VA state line in Ashe County     Look at the Las Vegas tv market does not help your case if your market is mostly desert or large secret US military bases.

[Phillydog]

On 7/11/2020 at 1:24 AM, dragonfly said:

Things seem really wrong there. Nashville and Raleigh larger markets than San Diego? Orlando larger than Cleveland, St. Louis, Pittsburg?

Yes.  Nashville's TV marketncovers a larger geograpphic area.  San Diego is sandwiched between Mexico and LA.   Charlotte, Greensboro, and Raleigh-Durham would be 4th largest TV market if they were one.  Look at the geographic size of markets like Boston, Atlanta, Ga, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and Las Vegas.  A Charlotte to Raleigh TV market wouldnt be extraordinary.

Edited July 13, 2020 by Phillydog

[kermit]

Foot in the door opportunity here. Charlotte would look great on tv and the lack of fans would be much less noticeable in Romare Bearden Ballpark than in a more bowl like stadium.

 

 

Edited July 18, 2020 by kermit

[DCtransplant]

Foot in the door opportunity here. Charlotte would look great on tv and the lack of fans would be much less noticeable in Romare Bearden Ballpark than in a more bowl like stadium.
 
 

Actually just heard Charlotte mentioned as an option on ESPN during the Mets vs Yankees broadcast.

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[KJHburg]

If they (Toronto) are going to play in BB&T ballpark with no fans but our skyline in the background it still could give us great exposure for Charlotte.    And the team, coaching staff and media would have to stay somewhere and we have a brand new hotel 2 blocks away and another very nice one that needs some business the Kimpton.  We need to get anybody to stay in our hotels right now they are majorly hurting especially the uptown hotels. 

still sounds like it is a long shot for Charlotte given their Buffalo NY minor league team and training facilities in Florida 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2020/07/18/ap-source-decision-looming-on-blue-jays-games-in-toronto/41740741/

but would love to see it happen!

Edited July 20, 2020 by KJHburg

[SouthEndCLT811]

So far I've seen Buffalo and their spring training home in Dunedin, Florida listed as potential locations.  The team is worried about staying in Florida due to the current state of COVID cases there.  And they've said Buffalo's minor league park would require some added facilities (more hitting cages and bigger club house to encourage social distancing).  I wonder if still being in our states Phase 2 would prevent them from playing here.  Though last month an amateur team was using the ballpark so I am not sure if this would be any different..

[HopHead]

Ahh, yes one of our favorite debates on this forum Found this rather interesting article on The Athletic (subscription required) about MLB expansion markets. Using a variety of data points, it puts Charlotte in a very favorable spotlight compared to the most commonly mentioned cities: Portland, Nashville, Vegas, Montreal, Monterrey (MEX) and Orlando. Some favorable pieces of data:

1) Charlotte has the 2nd lowest median age at 33.9 and 3rd largest population growth of those cities and

2) Annual revenue by companies based in Charlotte exceeds $355 billion which would put in the middle of the pack of existing MLB markets and above ones such Miami, Cincinnati, Denver, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Kansas City, etc. Very important for corporate sponsorships and suite purchases. 

The main knock on Charlotte is of course its proximity to Atlanta and it's near the "50% market share" where territorial rights become an issue. That could also be use to Charlotte's advantage of course in building a rivalry over time. That's a lot of what MLS is banking on too. 

Anyways, some very interesting information to read if you subscribe ($7/month). The article definitely is slanted in both Charlotte and Portland's favor and you could still easily make arguments for Nashville, Orlando and even Montreal (I still think they have a solid chance of landing a team down the road). I just don't buy in to Monterrey as a viable option at this point. 

Link: https://theathletic.com/2330266/2021/01/25/mlb-expansion-cities-data/

[elrodvt]

Locating a team in the football crazy South would be crazy. Atlanta does ok. Florida teams no so much. 

If I could wave a wand I would say Montreal. They really got shafted by that scum Loria. Living in VT we used to go up there all the time. It was great because besides sports you also felt like it was a great place to tour.  Win-win with my wife. ;-)

[Popsickle]

45 minutes ago, elrodvt said:

Locating a team in the football crazy South would be crazy. Atlanta does ok. Florida teams no so much. 

If I could wave a wand I would say Montreal. They really got shafted by that scum Loria. Living in VT we used to go up there all the time. It was great because besides sports you also felt like it was a great place to tour.  Win-win with my wife. ;-)

Baseball would do well in the future, as a huge, early 30s football fan it pains me to say it, but football is in decline.  Baseball is a game that can stay around, without changing its primary game play.  While football has been changing and will continue to change. Less kids are playing, less people are interested in the game.  

Baseball in its nature is more pedestrian than football, more of a social activity than football, excluding tailgating.   Lots of people go to a ballgame as an “event” while people attend a football game, well to watch football.  I believe that will help baseball succeed in the future while football will fade away, and not burn out  

[a2theb]

14 hours ago, Popsickle said:

Baseball would do well in the future, as a huge, early 30s football fan it pains me to say it, but football is in decline.  Baseball is a game that can stay around, without changing its primary game play.  While football has been changing and will continue to change. Less kids are playing, less people are interested in the game.  

Baseball in its nature is more pedestrian than football, more of a social activity than football, excluding tailgating.   Lots of people go to a ballgame as an “event” while people attend a football game, well to watch football.  I believe that will help baseball succeed in the future while football will fade away, and not burn out  

I agree with your points but the problem with baseball (and the MLB specifically) is Manfred and the MLB marketing the game to a younger generation. They were set this summer to be the only professional sports league playing. Instead owners squabled about TV money, player pay and season length.  In addition, the league does an incredibly poor job of marketing their young stars.

 

Baseball is great and one of my favorite sports but Manfred and a lot of ownership groups are destroying the opportunity it has to grow. The MLB cannot continue to be a rudderless ship relying on its aging fanbase to support it. They need to do something in the coming years to draw the younger crowd and have them buy in to the sport vs. it just being a social activity because as much as nobody wants to admit it, TV rev is king.

[cltheel.sdl]

I actually find the opposite to be true: that football is growing while baseball is dying.  There is way more fan engagement with football than baseball.  Most people that go to baseball games basically are going to hang out with the game in the background.  It does not breed the same loyalty through exciting gameplay that football does.   Only baseball teams with a multi-generational track record of success have a strong following.  I don't think Charlotte is missing out by not having a MLB team.

[kermit]

Seems like we lack an obvious set of local owners who have a properly sized checkbook. Perhaps a soon-to-be AvidExchange billionaire likes baseball?

 

Edited May 11, 2021 by kermit

[#1Son]

Charlotte A's just rolls of the tongue 

[HopHead]

31 minutes ago, kermit said:

Seems like we lack an obvious set of local owners who have a properly sized checkbook. Perhaps a soon-to-be AvidExchange billionaire likes baseball?

 

From my understanding, the A's owners are not looking to sell the team, but are looking at relocation. They can still move the team without selling to another ownership group. Supposedly, Las Vegas is the front runner if they do pick up an move. Amazing that just a few years ago the city of Oakland had 3 professional sports teams. Now on the verge of none. 

[elrodvt]

Charlotte is highly unlikely imho. If not Charlotte I would love to see baseball return to Montreal. I have such fond memories of long weekends in Montreal while living in Burlington. Vegas is my last choice!

[DMann]

This is from Manfred:

While MLB has been loath to expand, multiple cities have publicly expressed interest in a franchise. The likeliest possibility if the A's do pursue relocation would be Las Vegas, which has found success with the Raiders and the NHL's Golden Knights, but commissioner Rob Manfred has in the past also cited Portland, Oregon; Vancouver, British Columbia; Nashville, Tennessee; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Montreal as potential expansion sites for franchises.

I doubt they would move here, the divisional realignment could be daunting.

[SouthEndCLT811]

Feel like if the A's relocate somewhere out west (Vegas, Vancouver, Portland) that if the Rays ever seek relocation from Tampa it'd probably be between Charlotte, Nashville or Montreal to keep the alignment.  I'd hate to see either relocation for the fans in Oakland or Tampa Bay but unfortunately both seem to be heading that way.

[smeagolsfree]

There has been a significant push for a MLB team in Nashville for the last year and half or so. There is already a significant amount of money and name recognition behind the effort. Even if the "A"s did not come to Nasville there is a ground swell of support for a team here. The problem is there is no local political support financially, but there is support on the state level. The sports authority along with the Titans organization are proposing a 100 acre mixed use project on the East bank across from downtown, and that is the part of the footprint in which the MLB is wanting to do their MLB stadium. This is all very preliminary at the moment but the wheels have been turning here for a while and there is some big money already behind the effort.

We have already spent a ton of money on the new MLS stadium, the AAA  stadium and now there is an effort to bring back NASCAR to the Nasville speedway from Bristol Motor sports and that is another political hot potato.

[DownEast]

Bristol is the most popular track in NASCAR. No way it moves to Nashville. Nashville may get a race, but it won't be at Bristol's expense. Perhaps Martinsville or Dover.