Nashville, Salt Lake City, Vancouver, and the Sacramento political leaders want an MLB team.
Politicians are throwing their hats in the ring when it comes to possible Major League Baseball expansion. Commissioner Rob Manfred wants to see two teams added and if Manfred is saying that, it means all 30 owners are on board. For doing nothing but adding two teams to the club of baseball owners each owner could net more than $133 million assuming that the cost of getting a franchise is $2 billion which seems to be the rumored cost of a franchise. That means $4 billion will flow into the present owners’ pockets. Politicians in Vancouver, in Salt Lake City and in Sacramento are pushing for a team. Nashville and Salt Lake City have ownership groups in place and it appears there are people in Orlando ready to buy a franchise. But there are some hurdles that Major League Baseball needs to overcome before Manfred can announce the expansion winners.
The collective bargaining agreement ends on December 1st and the first order of business is to get a new deal. The owners apparently plan to centralize television revenue and there are still stadium issues that have not gone away. The Tampa Bay market has no definite stadium plan. Stadium deals have not been signed in Phoenix and in Kansas City. It also appears the Chicago White Sox franchise ownership is looking for a new stadium in the city. Is Nashville overextended in paying down new stadium and renovated arena debt for the National Football League’s Tennessee Titans franchise, the National Hockey League’s Nashville Predators franchise and Major League Soccer’s Nashville FC franchise? And will MLB owners address Tennessee’s Congressional redistricting that carved up a minority district in Memphis. The proposed Nashville Stars franchise’s name is a salute to the Negro League Nashville Stars of the 1930s. Expansion may be delayed.
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