- USA Today's Bob Nightengale called Salt Lake City a "lock" to land an expansion franchise.
- Several baseball insiders see Salt Lake City and Nashville as the favorites to get an MLB team.
- The Larry H. Miller Company intends to build a stadium on Salt Lake City's west side.
A Major League Baseball insider long high on Salt Lake City getting an expansion team took his opinion up a notch during an appearance this week on local sports talk radio.
USA Today columnist Bob Nightengale has called the city a heavy favorite and clear frontrunner as well saying it’s in the driver’s seat to land a franchise when the league expands. But Monday on KSL Sports Zone’s “DJ and PK,” he called Salt Lake City a “lock.”
“Salt Lake, I think, is a lock. It should be Nashville, but Salt Lake’s got the ownership group, Dale Murphy’s involved, everything else. I think it’s a go for sure in Salt Lake,” he said.
Nightengale is among a chorus of national baseball observers who see Salt Lake City in the West and Nashville in the East as the top contenders to join the big leagues.
Baseball hasn’t officially started the expansion process, but commissioner Rob Manfred has said he wants something in place by the time he retires in January 2029. New teams likely wouldn’t begin play until at least 2032 or 2033.
A coalition of prominent Utahns, including two-time National League MVP Murphy, led by the Larry H. Miller Company, publicly launched its pursuit of a team three years ago as Big League Utah.
The Miller family has played a foundational role in shaping professional sports in Utah with its longtime ownership of the Utah Jazz and Salt Lake Bees. The Millers sold the Jazz for $1.66 billion in 2020 but retained the Bees, the top affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. Last year, it added Real Salt Lake and Utah Royals FC to its sports portfolio.
Does Utah have an MLB stadium?
The Miller Company intends to invest $3.5 billion in a mixed-use development in the Power District on Salt Lake City’s west side. The 100-acre project minutes from the Salt Lake International Airport includes plans for green space and trails, a riverwalk, office buildings, residential housing, hotel, dining and retail. There’s also an MLB ballpark site, should the city be awarded a team.
The stadium would be funded with private dollars, state sales tax revenue and rental car taxes paid for primarily by out-of-state visitors. The district would have the ability to raise the car rental 1.5% tax for construction of a baseball stadium only if MLB awards Utah a franchise, with a 2032 deadline for that to happen.
Miller Company CEO Steve Starks told the Deseret News earlier this year that the company is working with ballpark architects on site plans for where a stadium would go, how it would be oriented and seating capacity.
Who else sees Salt Lake City as a home run?
Since the Millers announced their intent to pursue a team, several prominent commentators and publications have opined that Salt Lake City is the place for major league baseball.
The Athletic wrote that “readiness has put Utah at an advantage” and called Salt Lake City a “turnkey” expansion option. A report in Forbes looking at 10 possible expansion cities noted Salt Lake City, along with Nashville and Portland, have a” bit of a leg up” compared to the competition.
Popular sports radio personality Chris “Mad Dog” Russo said he thinks Salt Lake City and Nashville will be the two teams.
On separate podcasts in 2024, ESPN baseball analyst Buster Olney and Cy Young Award winner David Cone said that after Nashville, Salt Lake City seems the most likely city for an expansion franchise.
Utah native and longtime pro sports executive Dave Checketts last year called Salt Lake City “by far No. 1 in the West.”