Raleigh is already more densely populated to Charlotte. 
Why not sit back and watch Raleigh emerge instead of focusing on what it isnāt?
Raleigh will be its own thing, and not Charlotte2.0. It will still have its foundational differences that distinguish it from Charlotte, and Charlotte will continue to have their own.
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I hate to be this guy but letās be honest NOBODY CARES ABOUT FKING SOCCER 
and I truly donāt care if we ever get a damn soccer team here. WHO. CARES. Next topic, please, jfc.
Lol all the people who care about soccerā¦ Duh
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I know, Iām mainly just being an obnoxious @$$h01e because the INCESSANT whining on this forum about soccer and how RaLeiGh NeEdS SoCcEr in order to be a ālegitimate cityā is pretty obnoxious to me. This is America, soccer doth not make a majority of people think any more highly of a city than anything else we already have.
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I tend to agree but in less all caps 
For me I think it would just be great to have another sports team in the area, especially if we can get a stadium downtown. Soccer seems to make sense from a market perspective because the triangle/triad regions have such a huge youth soccer presence. But I certainly donāt think soccer is the only option, just one that seems to make sense.
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This was the context of my emailā¦
Commissioner Manfred, if you have the time, I hope you read my following message about potential expansion. Thank you in advance.
Mr. Manfred, you have noted Charlotte as a potential city for expansion but I propose a nearby alternative that might be a better location for an MLB team. Raleigh. While Raleigh may not be the largest city in the state, you also need to account for surrounding cities, itās tv market and general location. The metro population of Charlotte is 2.5 million. The Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill (Triangle) market has 2.2 million people. However, due to its technological and biotech hubs, itās become a popular place for relocation and is one of the top 30 richest us cities, in front of Charlotte. Raleigh was the third fastest growing us city from 2010-2019 only behind Austin, TX and Orlando, FL. In 2020, Raleigh was seventh fastest growing us city and the closest major city (with a professional sports franchise) to the fastest and tenth fastest growing us cities. Raleigh is also the closest major city to Fayetteville which is home to 500,000 people. Charlotteās major cities it would draw from would be Greensboro and Charleston. However, those lack in population compared to Raleigh. As a part of expansion, you also must consider funding. Expansion fees being $250 Million minimum and a $500 million stadium. Charlotte residents would not be willing to pay this via taxes and the construction of Truist Field in 2014 resulted in 6 lawsuits against the team and the MiLB. To put a team in Charlotte, it would require the Charlotte Knights to relocate elsewhere, Truist field and surrounding sites torn down, and an entirely new stadium constructed. In Raleigh however, they have the Red Hat Amphitheater (owned by the city) that has been suggested as a stadium site because of its downtown location and it being built as a temporary structure until its replaced by a larger entertainment venue. This meaning that Raleigh already has the money in budget for a sort of entertainment venue in the area. The Durham Bulls are 30 miles from Raleigh and would not result in catastrophic impact. The Durham Bulls are also near the top of the league in attendance much like the Knights. Charlotte has their own public movement called āCharlotte Batsā which has 2,000 signatures compared to MLBRaleigh which has 15,000 signatures and an already existing tie with the Boys and Girls club. All merchandise profits go to the community by repairing ballparks and donating equipment to junior teams. Charlotte Bats has been up for 7 years and gained little momentum for a team. On the other hand, MLBRaleigh has been up for 3 years and has gained massive support from the community. In addition to this, thereās also generally more corporate sponsorship opportunities in Raleigh than Charlotte. Google will build a hub in Durham and Clorox will build a vitamins headquarters in Durham as well. The existing Carolina Hurricanes (of the NHL) already have deep partnerships with Pepsi, Invisalign, PNC Bank, Lenovo and Geico. The research park hosts more than 250 different companies including major contributors such as IBM and interest from Apple. Charlotte has much less sponsorship potential being mainly Bank Of America, Belk and Truist. Charlotte is considered a huge Braves region. Raleigh and Eastern parts of North Carolina have been more restricted to games and are blacked out a lot of the time meaning thereās an open market waiting to be claimed. You would gain more support from those fans if they are in the closer Raleigh rather than Charlotte knowing Raleigh is closer by 2 and a half hours. If you would like to find out more details, you can look at MLBRaleigh.com which provides statistics and compares the Raleigh market to existing markets and other potential expansion cities as well as numerous potential stadium locations. Thank you for your time Mr Manfred and have a great day.
And this is the screenshot of his response.
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Hi, non-native here, just so we know Iām not looking at Raleigh with rose-colored glasses. Iād move to Boston or New York or Chicago tomorrow if I could afford it (and if my wife would let me, she hates the cold). Iād sell our car, buy a rowhouse or condo, bike and metro everywhere, live that whole urbanist lifestyle. I am 150% for a better, denser, walkable, transit-oriented Raleigh. Iād ban cars on as many streets as I could, run a freakinā subway through downtown, get all the sports teams, you name it.
I would never move to Charlotte. Itās not my vibe, not my scene, not my kind of people. It has things I like, and even some things that I envy, but most of it bores me to death. What good is a light rail that doesnāt take me anywhere that I find exciting?
Sports teams and light rail donāt necessarily make a city great. Rapid growth doesnāt even necessarily make a city great. Phoenix is a sprawling, driver-centric mess of a place in the middle of the desert. Itās the new Houston, but with water problems. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to differentiate between envying particular aspects of a city and wanting to replicate the city itself.
Is Charlotte doing some good and interesting things? Yes. Should we consider some of those things for our city? Absolutely. But weāre not Charlotte, weāll never be like Charlotte, and, most importantly, Iām still here in Raleigh because I donāt want to be like Charlotte. I want us to be our own thing. We have our shortcomings, yes, but we also have a distinct character that brings its own charm. North Carolina doesnāt need two Charlottes; it needs a collection of unique cities that bring different things to the table.
So can we please, for the love of all things good and precious in this world, try on this forum to stick to the approach of ābeing a better Raleighā and not ābeing a carbon copy of Charlotte/Nashville/Austinā?
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I feel the exact same. And I think you mean Charlotte/Atlanta/Nashville/Austin lol.
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Are you suggesting that @OakCityDylan takes dozens of drone photos of every new development in the city because he hates them all and is scoping out ways to secretly destroy them?
Iām all for differences of opinion, this forum would be boring as heck without it, but can we at least cool it with the hyperbole? There are no David Coxes (Davidās Cox?) on here. We all want growth and just have different ideas of how to achieve it, how much to achieve, and what growth we want the most. Itās a good thing!
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My plan is very strategic.
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Iād pump the breaks on whoever said they (Charlotte FC) are going to be the next Atlanta United out the gates. ESPN FC put up an article a week ago and it sounds like Charlotte missed some key targets before the season started in terms of personnel. Hereās the full article for those who want to read it all:
āRight now, weāre screwed,ā is not the sentiment one hopes to hear from oneās head coach two weeks before the start of the season. Yet thatās exactly what Charlotte FC manager Miguel Angel Ramirez offered when asked about the state of his teamās roster after a $6m deal to bring Granada winger Darwin Machis on a DP contract collapsed at the last minute.
Charlotte also missed out on securing the services of United States international Paul Arriola, who ended up with FC Dallas, and saw Poland winger Kamil Jozwiak of Derby County get hurt after verbally agreeing to terms.
Building a roster from scratch is hard, but itās made harder if players are transferred out before the team ever plays a match ā as was the case with Riley McGree joining Middlesbrough last month ā but it should be possible to know whoās going to be on the field opening day well before kickoff.
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A lot of us disregard three heritage college sports programs that keep our citiesā names in front of educated or college sports fans, throughout the country. The sports entertainment is bountiful in our area and above average (depending on the season).
If what weāre talking about is getting Raleighās name in front of a broader segment of the population, letās celebrate our NHLās team 25th anniversary of arriving in NC, this fall. Letās rebrand the Canes to the RALEIGH STORM, or at least a change to our city name. As a native Iāve never cared for the Hurricane connotation, sorta negative vibe & so Durham may be miffed having to support a Raleigh team, winning cures all things. The Angels in MLB have been called the LA Angels, California Angels, the Anaheim Angels and back to LA Angels. So this could be an easy fix - rebrand.
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The āCarolinaā name has always irked me for both the Canes and the Panthers. The fanbases are very much concentrated in their respective cities (I donāt really have a lot of friends here who are Panthers fans, for example). Some people would complain initially if each were rebranded, but theyād get over it, and I think both cities would benefit more individually from a branding perspective than the state does as a whole with the current setup.
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I think the rationale behind the Panthers and using the Carolina moniker was to attract fans from South Carolina, being Charlotte is so close to the state line. Hereās something I saw online about their 25th anniversary patch mentioning āthroughout all the Carolinasā.
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Charlotteās already the largest city in South Carolina.
I am all for the Canes to be rebranded the Raleigh Hurricanes. Does anyone think that the Bulls in Durham would ever be called the Carolina Bulls? No way that ever happens.
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I assumed as such, but theyāre not really fooling anyone in that realm either. Fort Mill and Rock Hill are gonna keep rooting for the Panthers because half of them commute to Charlotte anyway. The rest of South Carolina is too caught up in college footballās weirdest rivalry to care.
Edit: yāall are welcome to 
me on this one.
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Whatās weird about the Wofford v College of Charleston rivalry?
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From a solely aesthetic pov, ignoring whatever other reasons or motivations there may be, the Panthersā āTwo States One Teamā schtick is super corny/low key embarrassing and Iām glad the Canes donāt engage in it
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Or Furman vs The Citadel.
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LOL - I gave you the Grumpy cat.
Grew up in Columbia and graduated a Gamecock. Lifelong fan. I know outside of SC, no one gives a rats ass about it, but if you grow up there, you get born into a family (or if you move in from elsewhere, you pick a side) - from then on, itās on.
Having lived here for 10+ years, the rivalry is way beyond the Duke, State and UNC. Hard to explain.
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