When the Miller family and the Larry H. Miller Company announced that a coalition of Utah leaders had been convened to position Salt Lake City as an ideal market for Major League Baseball, one of the responses, nationally at least, was to get in line.
Sure, Salt Lake City wants an MLB team, these respondents said, but so too does Las Vegas, Nashville, Charlotte, Portland, Montreal, San Antonio and Austin.
And the list goes on.
Since the announcement in Salt Lake, Las Vegas has all-but-secured the Oakland Athletics, but that still leaves at least six other notable cities for Salt Lake City to contend with for either a relocating current MLB team or an expansion team.
Recently, another city threw its hat in the ring, or rather reminded people that it also wants in on Major League Baseball.
Per Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Bianchi, Orlando is in very much in the running, now more so than ever.
A renewed effort spearheaded by Orlando Magic co-founder Pat Williams includes a proposed domed baseball stadium that will cost an estimated $1.7 billion, with $975 million to be paid for by the Orange County Tourist Development Tax.
“Williams has filed an application with the county’s TDT task force,” Bianchi wrote. “The project would include a new 45,000-seat domed stadium as well as retail shops, restaurants, office space and 1,000 or so hotel rooms around the stadium.”
Per Bianchi, the proposed ballpark is to be built on a 35.5-acre plot of land next to the Aquatica Orlando, just across International Drive from SeaWorld.
An economic and fiscal study conducted by a local firm estimated that the stadium complex could generate upwards of $40 billion over the next 30 years.
Williams has been targeting the Tampa Bay Rays for relocation for the last four years, Bianchi wrote, although he added that an expansion team isn’t out of the question.
“Orange County might be the most unique county in America,” Williams told the Orlando Sentinel. “Since the pandemic, our tourism has come back better than ever — and it’s only going to continue to grow. Our resort (tourist development) tax makes more in one month than Tampa’s resort tax makes in an entire year. We can help build a stadium in way that other regions cannot.
“Orlando is ready for baseball and this is our best and maybe our last chance,” Williams said. “Time is running out on Tampa Bay, and the question is: Can they get a ballpark built? More importantly, can we get a ballpark built?”
Salt Lake City and Orlando are similar when it comes to sports infrastructure/franchises. Both cities are home to an NBA team (the Jazz and the Magic) and a Major League Soccer franchise (Real Salt Lake and Orlando City), as well as minor league hockey teams (the Grizzlies and the Solar Bears) and a Power Five university (the University of Utah and UCF).
Salt Lake City has a minor league baseball team (the Salt Lake Bees), while Orlando was a longtime host to MLB spring training with the Atlanta Braves formerly calling Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex home. The closest MiLB franchise to Orlando is the Detroit Tiger’s single-A affiliate, the Lakeland Flying Tigers.