Because Raleigh has much more grassroots support for MLB than Charlotte, and its boosters shit on Charlotte whenever they can. I have been following this thread since it was started right after I joined DTRaleigh, and the general tone of the comments here suggest that an MLB team is essentially Raleigh’s to lose. Which I generally agree with btw, but that’s what a ton of people thought with MLS even as Charlotte had a confirmed competing group backed by the Smiths (of Speedway Motorsports).
Ultimately I think quiet efficiency is key to landing expansion teams at this point. The MLS to Raleigh push was pretty loud, but got scooped by Tepper in Charlotte in the end - although that was a pretty unusual situation that nobody really foresaw happening. MLB to Raleigh is starting to feel the same…a ton of noise, both by fans and potential ownership groups, to the point that it’s drawing arguably too much attention. Most of the MLB to Charlotte buzz has been from national media npcs who don’t know anything about NC.
The Charlotte “booster” you’re referring to knows and cares more about Raleigh (and NC as a whole) than many users on here do, and he has left several comments in this thread voicing his support for a team in Raleigh over anywhere else. I assume you follow the Charlotte boards if you saw his comment over there, but for those unaware, a couple of credible people have indicated that a Charlotte-based group is quietly being put together and will make a push for MLB to Charlotte when the time is right.
Ehh, it’s easy to publicly be supportive when you also “quietly” know there’s a Charlotte push waiting to undermine Raleigh’s effort the second the opportunity is there. lol
No it was horribly managed by Steve Malik who i think spent to much time focusing on state land and taking forever to negotiate with them when he could’ve just moved on. We could’ve had a team well before Tepper came in, but Malik took forever on Peace Street he wasn’t fast enough, he could’ve switched to other sites if that site didn’t work even if it wasn’t a downtown stadium it would’ve been okay. No Excuse for the failure that was MLS. I’m tried of people defending Steve. No look what he done he folded his men’s team.
i think the tv markets fit, incomes fit, population centers fit…growth rate isnt declining …Raleigh is the Capital of NC…Carolina Copperheads, Carolina Blues…( a known color and music genre)…whichever. im in Roanoke VA and would go to Raleigh well before CLT.
Great news for sure. Somewhat related, but it’s always been interesting to me that none of the multiple billionaires we have locally seem even marginally interested in sports. You’d think even as an investment they might be.
Dundon was asked after the game last night about Raleigh’s MLB bid:
“I think we’re going to put ourselves in a really good place and if they decide to expand, we’ll have a really compelling offer”
It’s hard to argue against our odds on paper against any else at this point and after watching Lenovo sellout every away game, packed watch parties across the city, we stand a good chance.
Winning the cup and showing the country our fandom certainly didn’t hurt either. I’m liking our chances.
oh…btw…pro championships won:
Raleigh - 2
Charlotte - 0
Article in TBJ in which several local public officials, including Mayor Cowell, Jonathan Lambert-Melton, Stormie Forte, and Mitchell Silver voice support for some public for MLB.
There is also some discussion from economists, one of whom said public investments are not worthwhile, and one of whom said there can be some economic boost (but who also said private investment is preferred).
So, regardless of whether or not there is sufficient “ROI” on sports stadiums built with public funds, the fact of the matter is this: if the city/state denies allowing public funds to help pay for a stadium, there will be no stadium and thus no team. Regardless of how rich the owner is and how perfectly capable they may be to fund the stadium on their own; they simply won’t do it.
See: Chicago Bears (now moving to suburbs in INDIANA) or the Kansas City Chiefs (now moving to the other side of the city in actual Kansas, nearly an hour from current Kansas City, MO stadium)
I totally get how both sides of the public investment topic come to their conclusions, but there’s also the intangibles around a city’s brand, and it’s something that Raleigh has been sorely lacking.
I dare say that the Canes winning the cup has done more for Raleigh’s brand and visibility than anything else in the last 2 decades. People who want to live in thriving and growing metro areas expect those places to deliver certain things and pro sports is just as important to the city’s brand as its museums, education, performing arts, safety, transit, urbanity, and job market.
If we want to be considered a big city, we need to start behaving as one.
Am I thrilled about spending public money? Not exactly. But, I believe in my favorite mantra from Shawshank Redemption: Get busy living, or get busy dying. I’d rather see Raleigh get busy living.
Exactly. It’s the second and third order impacts that are never accounted for, and then you have the community aspect. There are people on Reddit (of all places) that are saying that being at the Canes watch parties is the first time they’ve felt community since moving to Raleigh. Especially in a region so divided by college allegiances, an MLB team would be yet another thing that could bring this community together like the Canes have.
Loved this quote: The Triangle market would be a good candidate, citing the popular response to the Hurricanes’ Stanley Cup run and projections that show North Carolina soon will be the nation’s seventh-most populous state.
If the population growth rate from 2020 to 2025 continues until 2030 for North Carolina, Georgia, and Ohio, we will be 7th by the next census with 12 million people. I don’t think enough people realize that. The big 4, then PA, IL, and NC.
Obviously we can’t expect a 5 year estimated growth rate to continue unchanged, but I thought it was interesting enough to pretend it did and graph it out for 15 more years. We’d be 5th…
