Bring MLB To Raleigh

trying to understand this. With a yes / no question, how can 16% be Durham Bulls and NFL team?

https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/pulse/poll/should-raleigh-pursue-an-mlb-expansion-team/22311841

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Thank you so much! Just passed it to the team

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That number actually jumped just now to 77%. Not sure how there were 50 more sudden responses in the last 16 minutes, but here we are. Might be worth holding off on posting them for a moment considering the sudden positive increase in Yes responses.

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Moving in the right direction :grinning:

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Not sure how noteworthy it is that the TBJ readership supports a hypothetical MLB team to Raleigh? Lol

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Word. This is an unscientific poll published by a paywalled newspaper with a readership that is wildly unrepresentative of the region as a whole. You can’t draw any kind of meaningful conclusions about public support from a poll like like that. It won’t stop anyone from pushing it out anyway, but still.

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Positive vibes beget positive vibes

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Looks like Lou got this pushed out via X @MLBRaleigh and we’re now up to 86% FOR MLB.

image

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“How about an NFL franchise?” how about not providing a poll option for a nonexistent possibility? This poll is just idiotic lmao

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I was thinking the same thing. That option is effectively to carve out the dummies with no pulse on reality. “No” is NIMBYs, and the Bulls option is for the Raleigh haters in Durham.
:joy:

I think it’s just a “No because” question.

No = No, I don’t care about sports bah humbug

Durham Bulls is enough= No, I’m cheap and/or don’t like growth

How about NFL = No, I don’t like baseball

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6%er all Durhamites, bet.

Luke DeCock mentioned our past troubles with getting a team, Dundon pointed out some of the difficulties we may have like corporate support and tickets, etc. but he mentioned he’s the only one to step up to the plate.
M

https://amp.newsobserver.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/luke-decock/article280089824.html

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He might have to find billionaires outside this area who are interested. One article said he has a group, another says he alone I don’t know if it’s as a strategy gedy but it is early. MLB may not announce expansion until 2025 or 6 it’s good he starting now in Raleigh. So maybe he’ll have the pieces by then. I’ll continue to track this in a monthly basis. I think he has time before the announcement of expansion.

Another thing I wanted to add is in addition to being a few years from now, anything could change. Unlike MLS which drifted from its Oplán of adding 2 or 4. MLB is strictly gonna cap it to two, as it’s not money hungry like that league.

All of this will be released next week via social media, in thread/story form, but I thought I’d preview it with you all in here since you’re talking about it…

I think there are a few things to pay attention to here. Market size does not always dictate success in filling the seats. For instance, Milwaukee, one of the smallest markets in MLB DOMINATES in per capita attendance. They finished 14th overall in attendance in 2022, ahead of markets like Seattle, Philly, Washington, and Detroit. I believe this is 100% a baseball market, so I believe what Milwaukee has done is something Raleigh/The Triangle could get close to.

Let’s look at what our Per Capita attendance would look like if we simply drew the same average attendance that the Hurricanes get.

** Note that for the sake of space, all of the ‘medium performing’ teams were left off this graphic. We are just showing BEST and WORST.

NowI believe baseball in Raleigh would outdraw hockey, but I’m biased.


I also believe corporate sponsorship isn’t close to a dealbreaker here. First off, the trend you are seeing with almost every stadium renovation is eliminating almost half of all corporate suites, in exchange for flexible premium group seating/experiences.

Why? Because the Mega-Corps are clamping down on spending. The old mammoths like BOAs and IBMs don’t wine and dine like they used to. So now it’s about trying to sell to the emerging markets. Focusing on emerging companies in growth sectors (like BioTech - FinTech etc). These companies are growing fast and looking for edges in recruitment. They don’t have the capital for a luxury box 81 games a year, but they could buy premium group seating or access to premium clubs they can join (see the CitiField Speakeasy)

So a lot of what you’re hearing from legacy media right now is dated information. What I’m telling you isn’t theory, it’s coming from sports/stadium consultants we are speaking with.

Let me just say this. If you believe Dundon is doing this on a whim, without first vetting every piece of this decision, you’re kidding yourself. It’s why I have to laugh at some of the coverage his announcement has received. Dundon wouldn’t be public if he wasn’t fully aware of hurdles and confident he could overcome all of them.

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Are you suggesting he became a billionaire because he’s smart, not because he’s lucky?

Love seeing your stats every time, @Loup20 !

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I think he has the will to do it, I just think downtown south he shouldn’t waste time trying to find a space for a stadium well we knowNIMBYs will have a temper tamper tandrum transracial. grant run over.

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Just FYI, Dundon was interviewed on WFNZ in Charlotte, and said that the bid could be for Charlotte or it could be for Raleigh, it all just kind of depends on what city in North Carolina ends up making the most sense. The whole interview is certainly worth a listen.