FWIW I was saying MLB could take Downtown South and then the prison site could be used for MLS if we ever made it to that point in this pipe dream scenario.
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One thing to keep in mind is that Montreal is bigger than all of these metros, and is considered to be the frontrunner, by a wide margin, to get one of the two expansion franchises that MLB is very likely to award once the Oakland A’s and Tampa Bay Rays have their stadium situations figured out, which could still take several more years. (It’s quite possible that Montreal could get the Rays, but then that just puts Orlando back at the top of the list.) This list also doesn’t include Vancouver, which is much more of a long shot, but has been mentioned by MLB commissioner Rob Manfred as a possible candidate.
Assuming that Montreal gets a franchise, which is not guaranteed but seems likely, that leaves one chair left. MLB would very, very much like to add another team in either the Pacific or Mountain Time Zones. That would resolve a huge headache for the five teams in the AL West, which is currently spread between the Central and Pacific Time Zones, which is not ideal. If/when MLB expands to 32 teams, it will move to eight divisions, each with four teams. Adding another team out west would give MLB exactly eight teams in the Pacific and Central Time Zones, which is perfect. There’s no guarantee MLB will get its eighth team there, but that would be the ideal situation for them.
If either Montreal or the entire western half of United States and Canada fails to pan out, then North Carolina is definitely the next most attractive option for MLB, with Nashville certainly in the running. Obviously, both Charlotte and Raleigh would be plausible contenders, but here’s something I wrote higher up in the thread about how geography gives Charlotte a leg up if it came down to a competition between the two (slightly edited for clarity):
In short, a potential MLB team’s natural media market may be bigger than its MSA.
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Oh, Orlando. Hometown that I love and hate (not really hate). I was super jealous that right as I was leaving town in 2012 they had won an MLS franchise and built a stadium “downtown”. They’ve had the Magic since the late 80s, now on their 2nd arena.
The thing about Orlando is that it’s VERY transient and a large portion of the workforce is service industry due to the tourism. Just looking at population alone isn’t fair for those reasons alone and obviously MLB would look at additional metrics to include those.
And yes, Jacksonville, Tampa and Miami host a lot of pro teams.
I think for all those reasons Orlando drops down the list.
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I think one could use your same reasoning with the Rays relocating to Montreal and copy/paste that for the Oakland A’s going to Las Vegas. It seems Oakland and the A’s have had years to figure this out and it seems like it’s going nowhere? I could be wrong but that is my sense of it.
In a perfect scenario for Raleigh the Rays and A’s would relocate and take a competitor city (or cities) for an expansion team off the list (i.e. Montreal). Raleigh would look good for an expansion team IMO as it’s not as much as ‘Braves country’ up here vs Charlotte.
Speaking as someone who grew up in Charlotte and lived there when the Panthers began play (not apples to apples, I know), I feel pretty confident that a lot of the Braves fans there would switch allegiances in a heartbeat if the city got an MLB team.
At this point, I’d say there’s almost a 50 percent chance the A’s move to Vegas. I’d favor them staying in Oakland, but not by much. If the A’s move to Oakland, MLB won’t feel any urgency to get a second team back in Northern California the same way it would feel an urgency to get a second team back in Florida. But a move from Oakland to Las Vegas wouldn’t change the fact that you’re still one west coast team shy of a full house. It might make it harder for MLB to fill that slot, though, so it would it increase the chances for Charlotte, Raleigh, or Nashville at least slightly.
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Not to be the wet blanket here… ( I really don’t care much about baseball. I find it rather boring).
But from a Baseball History perspective, wouldn’t it make more sense to have the Durham Bulls step up to the Major Leagues if the area were to get a team?
Don’t get me wrong, I would rather it come to Raleigh from a city perspective, but…
From a history perspective, sure. From a money perspective, that’d be dumb as hell. They’d want it in the bigger, faster growing city. They can be the triple A team for the Raleigh Capitals and Tampa can elevate a closer AA team.
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Jim Goodman wouldn’t bulged on that.
See with MLB we literally have no stadium issue it looking at us. Now it getting an investor and Steve Malik looking to change his mind. It’s an offer not to refuse.
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And then we just need to find a way to pay for a stadium. And you know they will ask the city & county to foot the bill.
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Mayor Baldwin is doing her best to figure this out & get enough council support on this! 
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I mean we got 4 members support, as for the rest it tough. I’m only happy that the rezoning part is down meaning they can build the stadium whenever they want.
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David,
Yes, we are in the early process of updating the demographic data and when we do that overhaul we will be revisiting the locations, restocking merchandise, and becoming more active again.
This time, thanks to the community reaction of the initial launch, we have more professional resources at our disposal who have contacted us wanting to help. What I’ll say is to not take our silence as us giving up. In fact, we are as optimistic and excited as we’ve ever been about Raleigh’s chances. Since day one, we’ve had a page on the website that transparently lays out the plan.
We are on course.
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Hey Lou, Thanks for bearing with me these last few years on The ALPB. I hope that The Mudcats move to Wilson and ALPB come to Zebulon. I have talked with Rick White and there is a possibility. ALPB is rated by MLB high AA Class now.
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That’s great to hear, MLB is coming to Raleigh.
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This popped up on another board in a thread about the perpetual stadium woes of the A’s/Rays regarding MLB’s NC-sized hole. I wonder how much of this is really true.
Charlotte is tapped out in the sports dollar and is already pretty fickle anyway, and Raleigh really isn’t big enough on its own for 82 home games in the dead heat of muggy summer nights.
Yeah, a Triangle CSA that as it is larger than Milwaukee and if it added Wilson and Harnett counties would be near Cincinnati/Vegas tier “isn’t big enough.” This thinking helps nobody.
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Raleigh needs to manage its brand. Part of that brand is its demographic reporting.
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Stadium in Raleigh, training camp in Greensboro or Fayetteville? Leverage the region.
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MLB does all of their training camps in Florida and Arizona to have teams close and the weather optimal. Though I do agree if this ever happened they should leverage the whole area.
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Well, Montreal may seem to be front runner but it’s also Canada. The Canadian dollar is unfavorable and, the Blue Jays actually have a negative operating income.