Raleigh Stadium/Arena/Sports Discussions

Apple certainly improves our position!

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Well, at salaries averaging $187,000 a year, there will certainly be a well heeled collection of residents who can afford the season tickets!

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Not to mention, the corporate sponsor seats. That makes up a surprisingly rather large percentage of ticket sales

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This is a really hopeful article so we can get a MLB Team, Major League Baseball Team in Raleigh.

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I’m still going to be a Red Sox fan but I’m all for NCFC becoming a MLS team

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Hey another Red Sox fan!

I think I’d be willing to convert to a MLB Raleigh fan if / when we get a team.

I’d definitely root for our MLS side but end of the day Atlanta United may still be my #1.

I just love the sport and really hope we can make it happen one day.

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Side note for those that like to wonder around downtown, there’s a locally owned sports apparel store downstairs on Fayetteville called The Vault. The owner, Josh, runs it and is super nice. Pop your head in next time you’re walking around downtown!

Next to Subway down the stairs:

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I believe it is in an old bank vault. :bank:

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Lou & All , Ballpark Digest has a article today on MLB expansion cities . They mention quite a few cities but not Raleigh .

All it takes is one multi-billionaire saying he would like to put a team here and then it would be a done deal (ahem Charlotte). But, alas, they seem to be non-existent.

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https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/article251133249.html

World University Games Article

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I have a good feeling about this. Only concern is, I know we’ll get docked over number of available hotel rooms.

There are actually a lot of hotel rooms in the area, just very few downtown.

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Fair point. And this would be an area wide event.

Hotel rooms always sticks out for me because it would always keep Atlanta from hosting NBA all star weekend due to the cheerleading competition always the same weekend taking too many rooms

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The owner, Josh, runs it and is super nice.

Is he though? Looking at the way he talks on Instagram and Google reviews makes him seem more like an unhinged a-hole than a super nice guy.

I talked to him for 15-20 minutes and he was nice. I didn’t do research on him.

That said, welcome to the community!

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Dwight, they. just share the same article over and over to get clicks (if its the one I’m thinking of). They just use the list Manfred spouted off 3 years ago at the All-Star game, in an interview on Fox. It was nothing official and was actually the interview that spurred us to start talking about an MLB Raleigh campaign.

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Thanks Lou , When you can , look it up because of the update information on Portland .

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Just read it. I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions, as this was actually a new article. However, the only new information being shared is yet another Portland stadium mock-up.

Portland doesn’t have the money in place, nor do they have land. They did start the purchase of some riverfront land, but for some reason that fell through. And here they are again with another piece of land that they don’t own and another drawing.

Truth is. If Raleigh would get their act together, they could be in the drivers seat. Both RJ Anderson of CBS Sports and Wayne McDonnell of Forbes (guys who cover MLB expansion for their respective publications) on separate occasions told us that they believe Raleigh would be a front runner if they got an ownership group together and had land near downtown zoned for a stadium.

Guess what. Kane/Malik have land downtown zoned for a stadium and likely they’ll be adding a big plot across the street at some point. Now if only we could get an ownership group together…

Believe me, we’re doing all we can, and the community has done a great job of being loud on social media and spreading the word. When expansion is talked about online, Twitter is flooded with MLB Raleigh suggestions.

At this point someone with very deep pockets needs to become interested in the opportunity and get an ownership group together or the city needs to step up and start making it known that they are pushing to get a team and willing to work with MLB to make it happen (MLB has potential investors waiting in the wings for the right opportunity.)

If the city just sits on their hands on this, then they’re working against themselves. You cant control what billionaires do with their money, but you can control your marketing and messaging and be vocal about this obvious opportunity for your city.

Problem is, everyone is so caught up in the politics of it. The big money in the Triangle is paying for these people’s campaigns, and the big money in the Triangle currently has interests that don’t align with MLB setting up shop here.

That’s the reality at this point.

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Thanks Lou for a very detailed account of MLB & Raleigh . I may be completely in left field about this & this is JMO. Jim Goodmon Sr. is strongly for Raleigh MLS & does not want Raleigh MLB because of his Durham Bulls . His political power is unreal with both county & city , as you well know .

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