Where on Centennial will they put it? I thought that they had plans for all of the land. Of course, plans can change. And, I wonder if some governing body would have to approve it putting it there.
With our city council and Kay Crowder, this will probably be shut down very quickly if it goes to the council.
They did not say . I heard this while watching a State game this season . The gentleman was sitting
beside me & we talked quite a bit during the game . In the late innings , he told me that his wife works
directly for Coach Avent concerning the baseball budget & he gave me this information . After that particular
game , I had 3 more fans saying the same thing at 3 different games with each guy not knowing what the other fans had said .
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Interesting. I wonder what State will do with Doak Field. I guess they could build Doak Hall.
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Honestly, I don’t know what they’d do, but I’m not an expert on the area
Lots to catch up on here and not a ton of time today, so I’ll be as quick as i can.
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@daviddonovan We’ve talked about this a million times. Our stadium proposals were just to get the conversation started (and yes, we know you don’t agree with that) about potential downtown properties that would even fit an MLB stadium.
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I think most people in Raleigh, if given the choice, would prefer a downtown stadium, however I don’t think if there was a legitimate shot at an MLB team wanting to build outside of downtown, anyone (at least from MLB Raleigh) would be against it.
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@RaleighFollower Raleigh is definitely in the running for an MLS team, however saying Charlotte is not being considered by MLS is not really factual. They’ve been in discussions since January and there is a meeting scheduled between MLS and Tepper happening in the near future.
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As for Minor League Baseball being a reason Raleigh shouldn’t court MLB, I don’t buy that. MLB is expanding in a few years and every US city that has been floated as a potential, has Minor League Baseball in or right next door to their city.
• Portland (Hillsboro Hops)
• Las Vegas ( Las Vegas Aviators)
• Charlotte ( Charlotte Knights, Kannapolis Intimidators)
• Nashville ( Nashville Sound)
In every single one of those cases, an MLB team would have to buy out or move the minor league team without a doubt. However, that’s not the case in Raleigh. Due to our region’s makeup of having two city centers within a commuter belt, we have the possibility of going the route Seattle did in the late 70s.
They built the Mariners stadium just 28 miles north of the Tacoma Rainiers AAA stadium. At the time, Seattle’s population was on par with Raleigh’s current population (and growth trends). Since then both the Rainers and the Mariners have coexisted successfully. In fact, last year Tacoma ranked 30th out of 160 MiLB teams and the Mariners (who had a down season) finished 14th out of 30 in MLB.
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As for whether or not our area has the population, media market, income or growth rates to support an MLB team, you can see the data for yourself.
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MLB isn’t expanding for another 3-5 years. What does Raleigh and the Triangle look like at that point? Sure there are questions about investors, stadiums, etc. But to just discount our regions chances of MLB today, in my opinion, is a mistake. Rallying behind the opportunity to be in the conversation for expansion or relocation is a no-risk, high-reward position for Raleigh and the Triangle.
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Was Raleigh/Durham being considered for the Amazon HQ2 camps a net-positive or net-negative for our region? Was Apple’s rumored East Coast HQ move to Raleigh (and eventual land purchase) a net-positive or net-negative for our region?
If you ask me, although we didn’t land either, just the fact that two of America’s biggest, most innovative corporations were eyeing Raleigh was a huge win. The press alone, touting our region as a growing, not-yet-realized tech hub was the type of marketing no city could organically create. Even if Raleigh were to miss on MLB when it expands, simply being in the running and allowing the nation to take a closer look at our region’s growth, wealth and business climate is worth the effort.
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First, thank you and the group you are working with for effort to gather support for a MLB team in Raleigh. Have you guys thought about instead of an expansion team, that a relocation team might be a better target? Specifically relocating the Tampa Bay Rays to Raleigh, effectively trading places with their AAA team. With the number of transplants here from NY, Boston, and Baltimore, etc, ~40 home games will have great attendance as they are against other AL East teams. Could be a much stronger relocation case than the current proposal for them to relocate to Montreal.
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Trading with their AAA team would kill the Durham Bulls so that’s not happening, unless the Bulls become the MLB team (which isn’t happening either)
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I would bet the current baseball stadium would become the new softball stadium.
Not to be negative but I follow NC State sports really close (I mean really, really close) and there’s been talk about building a baseball stadium on centennial campus for a long time now. Not to take away from a Dwight’s sources but unless it comes from the multi-millionaire himself I’d take it for a grain of salt. Most avid state baseball fans know about this “rumor” of a baseball stadium on centennial campus but the money just isn’t there.
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My view is that completion is a good thing. Look at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in DTR vs the group in Durham. Raleigh did exceptionally well and then Durham opened and leaped forward. Both are surviving and doing well in two good sided markets. I believe the same is true for baseball as well. Just look at each individual university teams (any and all spots) seem to be holding there own. The Triangle has grown large enough in my opinion to keep all alive and well…
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Thanks Will for sharing this information . If by chance a new stadium is built for State , I think that The Atlantic League would at least contact State concerning a possible lease situation . JMO .
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The Tacoma/Seattle situation is literally identical to what a Durham/Releigh situation would be if Raleigh got the Rays. Tacoma is the AAA feeder to the Mariners. Durham would be the AAA feeder to the Raleigh team.
@ventureConsult thanks and yes. This is about attracting either an expansion or relocation team.
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Yes but read the post I was responding to. The post said swapping the Rays with Tampa’s triple AAA team which would make Tampa the minor league team and killing the Bulls.
Hmm. Not sure that is what he meant, however if so, no chance that happens.
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I don’t know if that’s what the intent was but I’ve seen people floating the idea of Durham trying to swap places with Tampa. (Which is a 3rd thing that isn’t going to happen)
To the larger point what people need to understand with nearby MLB and MiLB teams is that they are essentially two different sports/entertainment options. They actually draw slightly different types of fans. The vastly different price points help plus a variety of other factors.
The place where issues could arise is if CBC wasn’t cool with a MLB team being right down the road and decided to throw their weight around in an attempt to block any potential state funding or something like that. But should a Raleigh bid get to that point I’m sure the potential ownership group would have a way to assuage the Bull’s fears or make it worth their while. (Partnering on a regional sports network would be a possibility)
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Rule 52 states that MLB takes precedence over MiLB territories. That’s not to say CBC couldn’t still throw their weight around, as you said. The Bulls and Mudcats already share Wake County and doubt either of them would allow another MiLB coming in. If MLB comes to Raleigh, they would have to compensate the MiLB team(s) for their territory and possibly force them to relocate as well. MLB or an indy league like the Atlantic League is Raleigh’s only shot at baseball.
If MLB comes, I think it’s through expansion of two teams with Portland taking a western spot and Raleigh taking the east. I think Tampa moves to Montreal, if at all.
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Lol can we close this thread until some real news happens
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Remember before dtraleigh.com had this community forum? Every article turned into a baseball discussion. At least it’s contained now
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We’ve talked to a lot of people in the industry about this very topic. The team at Forbes Sports Money, who has been in MLB meetings, talked directly to Manfred, and covered expansion and relocation as close as anyone out there, told us that they believed Tampa would eventually end up in Montreal, and the two expansion teams would be (in their opinion) Portland and North Carolina.
For a long time, they were dead-set focused on it being Charlotte getting that NC team, however, once they found out about the stadium/ownership hurdles with the Knights (who are right in uptown) and looked into entertainment overlaps, they realized that possibility was a lot more far fetched than most initially realized. That is why they took notice when we started MLB Raleigh and ran that article on our movement.
In fact, we’ve talked to the teams at NBC, Sporting News, CBS Sports, and Forbes who cover MLB expansion. They all agreed that while the Triangle is a little bit of a longer shot for landing an MLB team, they believed that based on viability numbers, growth and how small market baseball is performing in regions like this, we should keep going with what we’re doing. If all the dominoes fell correctly over the next 3-5 years, they thought MLB would be open to this region and baseball would work here.
As for Rule 52…we’ve done a TON of research on this and spoken to reps at Minor League Baseball to assure its correct. CBC would definitely be involved in conversations, but they have no way of stopping it. The 25 mile rule (as it relates to an MLB team) is not applicable anymore and any new MLB team holds the trump card over any MiLB franchise. Here is the findings on how that works…
RULE 52: If Raleigh gets MLB, what happens to the Durham Bulls? – MLB Raleigh
** On another note, its our opinion that Goodmon and CBC actually SHOULD be the ones involved in bringing MLB here. If growth projection are correct, in 5 years we’ll be a mid-market region. Nothing stops outside investors from coming in and heading up an MLB push, thus eating into the regions baseball market.
If Charlotte has in fact, boxed themselves out of an MLB possibility, then you are looking at Raleigh as the last remaining option to fill in the biggest MLB deadzone on the east coast (that happens to be growing faster than almost anywhere else in the nation).
If Goodmon wants to protect his grasp on baseball in North Carolina then it would be in his best interest to be the guy who stands to profit if and when MLB eventually comes to the state.
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