- Major League Baseball divisions could be realigned if the league expands to 32 teams.
- Salt Lake City and Nashville are considered the frontrunners to land a team.
- One publication described Salt Lake City as a "turnkey" expansion option.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred didn’t reveal much about expansion when the topic came up during an interview last month on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball”
But it continues to be a hot topic around the country as cities compete for two spots when baseball expands to 32 teams. And Salt Lake City continues to be in the conversation, even considered a frontrunner among some observers.
“I think if we expand it provides us with an opportunity to geographically realign,” he told ESPN. “I think we could save a lot of wear and tear on our players in terms of travel. I think our postseason format would be even more appealing for entities like ESPN because you’d be playing out of the East, out of the West, and that 10 o’clock where we sometimes get Boston-Anaheim would be two West Coast teams. That 10 o’clock slot that’s a problem for us sometimes becomes a real opportunity for our West Coast audience.”
Manfred has indicated he’d like to have an expansion process in place before he retires in January 2029, but has yet to describe how it would work. Expansion would also require negotiation as part of the Collective Bargaining Agreement that expires Dec. 1, 2026. Fees to enter the league are estimated no less than $2 billion.
Cities seeking major league baseball teams
Though expansion appears on the back-burner for now, it hasn’t dampened enthusiasm for the possibility in Salt Lake City.
“There’s tremendous excitement locally about the potential for expansion,” Steve Starks, CEO of the Larry H. Miller Company, told The Athletic last week, while describing the market as “buzzing with anticipation” about the prospect of bringing big league baseball to Utah.
Last month, Forbes contributor Maury Brown designated Salt Lake City as one of the two frontrunners to get an expansion team, along with Nashville. But he’s far from the first.
A year ago this month, ESPN baseball analyst Buster Olney and Cy Young award winner David Cone both independently called Salt Lake City the most likely expansion site after Nashville.
The Athletic last week published a “progress report” on six cities vying for the two spots — Nashville, Raleigh and Orlando in the East; Salt Lake City, Portland and Austin in the West. But the article also noted that Manfred said last month the league has made “no pre-determinations” about locations, so Montreal, Charlotte, San Jose, Vancouver or even Oakland could be in the mix.
Is Salt Lake City ready for MLB expansion?
“If there exists such a thing as a turnkey expansion option, it’s Salt Lake City,” per The Athletic.
The story notes that Big League Utah, a coalition of prominent business and civic leaders, elected officials and former pro athletes led by the Miller Company, has broad bipartisan political support, a growing market, a massive stadium site on the city’s west side and up to $900 million in public funding for ballpark construction. It also says the company has a reputation for stability and decades of experience owning pro sports teams.
Larry H. Miller bought the Utah Jazz in 1985, and his wife, Gail, assumed ownership upon his death in 2009. The Miller family sold the team for $1.66 billion in 2020 and sold its car dealerships valued at $3.2 billion in 2021. It owns the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees, which moved to a new ballpark in South Jordan this season, and bought Real Salt Lake in MLS earlier this year.
“Now you have the second generation of family who’s come along, and they stand on the shoulders of their parents,” Starks told The Athletic. “They love sports. They love baseball in particular. So they said, we would love to be stewards of the next great American sport, which happens to be our pastime, and aligns with our family’s passion for community building.”
The Miller Company intends to build an MLB stadium — should Salt Lake City get a team — as part of its $3.5 billion mixed-used development in the 100-acre Power District on the west side.
While Big League Utah is ahead of other potential expansion cities in completing priority tasks, there’s more to do than wait, according to The Athletic.
Though the group released preliminary renderings of a stadium design, it’s still studying elements of the site and finalizing plans to be “truly shovel-ready,” Starks said, “to eliminate the risk for the commissioner and the other owners.”
“Even if you announce a project, it’s still incredibly complicated,” he said. “We’re taking all the steps necessary to de-risk it and be able to show, hey, we can (have) shovels in the ground and can submit plans within the first six months.”