Nashville as MLB Expansion/Relocation Market

[Argo]

On 8/26/2023 at 7:26 PM, Pdt2f said:

All interesting points. Point of order though, Atlanta receives approximately 4x as many tourists as Nashville annually. But I see your point. 

I'll buy that for a dollar. Nah dude we ain't talking about transfers at the airport.

How many people wake up and go I want to go on a vacation, Hey Bonnie, let's go to Atlanta!?

[Bos2Nash]

Respectively, can someone who is advocating for the East Bank propose a location to me? The blue outline is the extents of Metro owned property (I believe). The red dashed line is the presumed TPAC location (although nobody is sure yet, and prolly not at the footprint size I'm showing). The park that stretches from the proposed stadium to the river is dual purpose for community space and stormwater management and should not be impeded. The green outline is the proposed Transit hub, and obviously that location should be fixed. The cyan line is the East Bank Boulevard and interrupting that would be a bigger mistake than if Nashville SC let Hany Mukhtar go as a free agent/transfer lol. The rest of the properties are privately held and in no way should Metro get into buying additional land on East Bank. Shelby's Bend is a long range due to PSC Metals current use of the land. It isn't out of the realm of possibility that the ownership group would want to do the required environmental clean up, but I would be shocked by it just due to the shear volume of clean up that will be required. A stadium in Shelby's Bend either has to interrupt Davidson or most likely the Boulevard, both of which would be non-starters.

An MLB field possibly could be squeezed into the parcels at the bottom left of the blue outline, but that would be an extremely tight footprint. A shoehorn option could be to the north of the Boulevard and South of the highway (right by the interstate ramp, but again, that is a very constrained footprint and privately owned land.

Two other tidbits I think to consider for the East Bank...

1. To help pay for the Titans Stadium, Metro is reliant on the surrounding land to collect revenue. I know there is "Non-Tax Revenue" included in the lease, but because this area is included in the Special Tax district someone else would have to clarify if some tax revenue is included from this area. An MLB Stadium here would presumably want to keep revenues from within the stadium similar to the NFL Stadium. If that is the case, Metro has now dedicated alot of the potential revenue of the East Bank away from the NFL Stadium deal which could expose the Metro to issues if the funds for the NFL Stadium are not satisfied.
2. Metro is beholden to the lease to have 2,000 parking spaces available for the stadium. Bringing in another major sport level venue could trigger more parking. If we use the same Seat-to-Spot ratio as the NFL stadium (because everyone keeps saying how the season ticket holders will drive in), that could work out to another 1,434 parking spots. Technically, these could be shared spaces, but I would think it is not out of the realm of possibility that MLB and NFL overlap one another on scheduled events. If that were the case, I would think both teams would want clarity that they each have their allotted spaces available. We still don't truly know how parking will work for the Titans stadium, but I would say we cannot rely on surrounding developments to provide parking because they will be held to a parking maximum (per zoning) with no incentive to go above as they will lose buildable square footage. And I for one do not want to see Parking structures built as free standing elements.

IMHO the two most real locations for a ballpark is a renovation of First Horizon (which to me would be where it should be if there is any Metro money involved) or TSU. From a team goals perspective and the benefits of having a ballpark here, TSU makes the most sense. 

On 8/26/2023 at 5:54 PM, Pdt2f said:

Also, I think a relocation or expansion is more likely if the stadium is located outside of downtown. Full-neighborhood deals like that of the Braves are going to be the way things are done in the future and there’s no room downtown and a slice of land at TSU excites nobody. Downtown is appealing to tourists but season ticket holders are where your $ comes from and a lot of them hate going downtown (or at least a lot of titans season ticket holders I talk to do). The neighborhoods around TSU also aren’t inviting for your average baseball fan. Ironically the Braves relocated away from a neighborhood that was similar to those around TSU, and a huge part of it was nobody wanted to go to games in the neighborhood. I used to go down there and get $1 tickets at the gate in the late 00’s because they couldn’t sell tickets. Building in one of the high population counties around Davidson (Wilson, Sumner, Rutherford, Williamson) gives them the land they need and the sense of safety potential fans want. 

Not meaning to be combative or overly critical of this statement, but essentially this mindset is a continuation of redlining. I would think financing could be there if they have their ducks in a row, TSU could benefit greatly, and if done right this could be a very vibrant node for our city. Doing it right also isn't any harder here, than elsewhere in the city. I'm also gonna quote myself from July 2022 that talks about how this ballpark and resultant mixed-use could bring vibrancy and a sense of pride to a place that isn't "inviting for your average baseball fan".  Lastly, if the MLB ownership was considering land outside of Davidson County, they probably would not be pushing the Historic Stars as much. I think going outside of Nashville (or even to the rural edges of Davidson) would be an extreme last ditch effort.

On 7/21/2022 at 2:50 PM, Bos2Nash said:

I agree that working to correct the damaging results of redlining needs to be done carefully. If the ownership group was a white billionaire, the fight would be much harder when that came about. The minority led ownership group is working to honor the past while bringing in new spending power to a depressed area. The TSU Farm site is challenging for sure, but none of those challenges are unsolvable. I'm gonna quote myself below from the end of May where the viability of the site was discussed.

An MLB stadium in this neighborhood - as I state below - has the opportunity to give some neighborhood pride in this area for the residents and college campus. The notion that the area around the ballpark needs to be like 12 South or Lower Broad or any other neighborhood we already have in town is a little preposterous. This should be and can be a very unique neighborhood. While some will relocate out of the area, I don't think - if done correctly - it will necessarily push folks out. The land here is also open farm land, the single family housing in the area is actually further away than some housing around Nissan. I would not be shocked if we begin to hear about more items that PillowTalk4 mentions with possible financing coming from some of those bigger corporations that otherwise have not spent money in the area previously.

Also having a stadium over here, should push more Metro officers to be located in this precinct which should help with response times and neighborhood policing. TSU Campus Police may not be responsible for events or crimes in the area depending on how a ground lease is worked through. This is also a great opportunity for an truly effective special tax district like the Gulch in which businesses pay an extra tax for cleanliness, first responder funding, etc. A special tax district would be much more beneficial here than for the Titans stadium IMHO.

Quote

  On 5/31/2022 at 12:02 PM, Bos2Nash said:

  On 5/30/2022 at 11:04 AM, markhollin said:

I have a screen shot from Smeagolsfree's excellent development map that sows the Cumberland Shores area north of TSU's campus where this 140 acre baseball/entertainment complex would sit.

I really don't like this location for 3 primary reasons:

1) Access to it would be quite difficult for 42,000 people at the ballpark, and 25-50,000 for this adjoining entertainment venue they are proposing.  The closest interstate would be I-40, with the nearest interchange at 28th Ave. North/Jefferson St.  (which is simply NOT made for high levels of traffic) being nearly a mile away at about 14 blocks. The next closest would be I-40 at 46th Ave. North, and would require cutting event traffic though a primarily residential portion of The Nations on narrow roads, and being at least 2 miles to the Ballpark Village area.

2) This is a flood plain of major proportions that would need major infrastructure work to assure everything would not go underwater a time or two every decade (on average).

3) It is nowhere near the energy and sizzle of downtown (nearly 3 miles away as the crow flies) with no direct routes, thus making it quite cumbersome in trying to attract tourist attendance.

My guess is MLB Nashville group is focusing on this site because it is the only one that is making sense to a certain degree as far as moldable/relatively cheap acreage. Perhaps they believe the TSU connection will bring a certain level of cache to the whole African American ownership concept and the Nashville Stars tie-in with the negro leagues/North Nashville heritage.  But I fear they are wildly overestimating what any of that will actually mean in establishing a healthy, profitable sports franchise.  They are straining so hard to appeal to 10% of the population...and while this is highly admirable, I think at times they are painting themselves into a corner. 

Expand  

 I understand why they are looking here and applaud what they are doing. I do disagree that this is an ideal location (see my last thoughts), but really applaud the mindset they are taking and the reasons they are doing it.

There are a couple things to unpack from Mark's comments above.

1) Access would absolutely be abysmal at first, absolutely. 28th/Ed Temple Blvd would most likely have to be expanded from I-40 to Buchanan Street or even Clarksville Pike. While this is expensive (especially the 28th stretch), not totally unreasonable as there appears to be a fair amount of frontage. The other way in to this stadium (from the east) would probably be from the Metrocenter side and handled with interstate signage and such to get folks off the interstate and moving around that collector road. Coming from the West is a bit more difficult because 51st would most likely be the primary exit, because the next one wouldn't be until Jefferson Street. 51st is already a fairly large road, possibly some of the stop signs would get converted to signals (GASP) and the 51st & Centennial intersection could finally be addressed properly. I think the ownership would have to have a very good traffic plan and lots of money for roadway improvements, but I don't think it is insurmountable. GEODIS Park is a great example, even if they are slightly closer to the highway. Gillette Stadium is another great example of lack of highway connection, but still very successful mixed-use development.

2) Flood plain could be a concern as most of the site is sitting in the 100 year flood plain – this equates to a 1% chance of flooding year over year. The River North site is the same way and look at what is being planned there. Nissan Stadium and the new proposed location mysterious has had the flood plain drawn around (kind of odd in how that happened) and PSC Metals is within the 500 year flood plain, so a 0.2% chance to flood year over year. Flood mitigation can easily be planned for and probably would still not jump land cost up to East Bank levels (I'm thinking what the land + cleanup of PSC would cost an ownership group because Metro cannot and should not entertain those costs).

3) Yes it is outside the hustle and bustle of Downtown Nashville, but maybe they don't want to be associated with the ruckus that is downtown Nashville? You look at other major, big boy cities and their ballparks are not all located right downtown. Fenway Park is located within Boston and what everyone knows as the city, but it is located 2.14 miles from the heart of downtown with almost ZERO interstate access. The North Nashville site is located 2.75 miles from Lower Broadway. I would also argue that we could see the city proper expand over the next 30 to 50 years (which should be the MINIMUM target lifespan of a stadium), where that number comes down. Additionally, rather than the Sports Authority owning the stadium, maybe this stadium will technically be owned by TSU and the Stars would be a tenant. This would be a large revenue stream for TSU, would possibly help finance the Cumberland City Project (Mark highlighted in the map) for the university's expansion. The City Project is 84 acres according to TSU's website and the ownership group said they are looking at approximately 140 acres. The area on the development map is approximately 182 acres, which leaves about 42 acres of overlap (and would also eliminate the entire TSU Farm/Goat-Cattle facilities, unsure if that is desired by the university) where there could be shared buildings (ie student housing, academic buildings, etc) that could then feed off one another. In theory, a baseball stadium (owned by TSU) could kick TSU up to a Vandy level presence within the city and if that happens, who gives a crap about 2.75 miles.

They are absolutely looking at the North Nashville site from a money perspective, but I believe what Dave Stewart laid out is also laying out something bigger than just baseball. Maybe they are partnering with TSU in a partnership to bring baseball to TSU (they currently have softball, but no baseball program) and they are seeing a potential to bring a baseball program to a HBCU school in order to help create a more opportunity to increase the demographic within baseball. They talk about different hiring practices, maybe they will look at different scouting practices. The site is also a historically redlined neighborhood, so they could possibly be looking at breathing a new sense of life and commercial gain into the area. I don't think the baseball stadium would be a huge economic driver, but it would give the North Nashville, TSU/Fisk areas something they could be proud of. Something that they want to go spend some time during the weekend around or possibly even a mid-week night out. Something the highway cap (which I was big time in favor of) really did nothing of the sort.

All this to say, I still believe that if enough money is thrown at First Horizon Park (because the Sounds would not survive a Major League team in the same city), it could be converted into a Major League stadium. It would probably require a rebuild surrounding the field, but there is plenty of space to add seats around the stadium. No ownership group will admit to that because every ownership group wants their own shiny, new space (cough Titans cough) but it is very much doable. 

[bnacincy]

23 hours ago, Argo said:

Austin has a global fan base? That's a kicker. It may not even have a national fan base.

In 2021 the British personal finance platform money.co.uk named Austin as the best city in the world for relocating.  Also, Australia and New Zealand have their own versions of the Austin City Limits Music Festival both of which are named, interestingly enough, the Austin City Limits Music Festival. And for a while now, thanks to the Austin City Limits TV show Austin has been called the "Live Music Capitol of the World". While that nickname started around 1991 Nashville has probably caught up if not surpassed Austin at this point.

Not to mention the fact that Austin has been a boomtown for at least as long as Nashville has given the fact that companies such as Tesla have relocated there.

[bnacincy]

As far as an MLB stadium goes, I think the best location would be between Jefferson Street/Spring Street and the railroad trestle. It would be closer to the entertainment district and the downtown hotels with easy access off I-24.

[Bos2Nash]

34 minutes ago, bnacincy said:

As far as an MLB stadium goes, I think the best location would be between Jefferson Street/Spring Street and the railroad trestle. It would be closer to the entertainment district and the downtown hotels with easy access off I-24.

So you are thinking here (see first image)? This estimation would be based on not wanting to interrupt the existing 1st Street alignment as that serves as a direct connector to Dickerson. The alignment to the west of the Boulevard is the minor connector coming out of River North that would first connect Oldham and then connect further south upon abandonment of railroad ROW.

The blue arrow is the East/Northeast direction that is desirable for a ballpark per rule section 1.04 "The playing field". Granted if it is a domed facility it could really face any direction. 

From a parcel accumulation standpoint it may one of the easier, unspoken for, areas. Four different property owners, including TDOT.

In regards to highway access, it is prudent to remember the East Bank Vision Plan does remove the Jefferson Street Interchange (It leaves the eastbound/southbound Dickerson Street exit I believe) in favor making the interstate a true "limited access" interstate and utilizing collector/distributor roads. No way to know how these work out with grades at the moment, but I know there are a few folks on this board that are better at understanding the REAL ins and outs of how these would work. 

I'm not trying to be nit-picky in an annoying manner, but what I am trying to lay out is how many folks complain that "Nashville isn't being well planned out" and the East Bank is one of the great opportunities to show that it can be. Shoehorning an MLB ballpark while having a very well planned neighborhood on the East Bank is proving to be rather difficult. There are sooooo many variables in play with the EB too. Some of these alignments may not pan out the way they are planned either. But we have to understand that Metro is using the EB Vision Plan as the guide for the EB and as such that is what will ultimately guide many of Metro's planning decisions here. 

[bnacincy]

Something like that, or maybe even between the trestle and Victory Memorial Bridge just south of the new development there where the fuel depot is. If the fuel depot could be relocated to say, Cockrill Bend (might be possible if the fuel lines run nearby and could be easily tapped into without too much expense) then the stadium could perhaps face almost due north and make a nice urban landscape to be next to.

[markhollin]

I have shared before that when it comes to the East Bank, this could be the most do-able because it is privately held and an ball team owner with deep pockets could buy it, clean it up, and create everything they might need for a great riverfront stadium and adjoining ballpark village.

Red would be the ballpark footprint; purple would be the ballpark village retail, hotel, restaurant/bar district.  They could probably also get that land just to the south (right)  between James Robertson Bridge and Woodland Street Bridge as more Ballpark Village expansion. 
 

[Bos2Nash]

1 hour ago, markhollin said:

I have shared before that when it comes to the East Bank, this could be the most do-able because it is privately held and an ball team owner with deep pockets could buy it, clean it up, and create everything they might need for a great riverfront stadium and adjoining ballpark village.

Red would be the ballpark footprint; purple would be the ballpark village retail, hotel, restaurant/bar district.  They could probably also get that land just to the south (right)  between James Robertson Bridge and Woodland Street Bridge as more Ballpark Village expansion. 
 

Thanks Mark. I think you are right in that the only way an EB ballpark works is if a single entity was able to buy property and develop it themselves. Metro should not play ball (pun intended lol) and issue bonds for such a land/ballpark deal.

A couple thoughts I would have of this plan:

• A village in this location would need to do a very good job at preserving and developing the Oldham Street connection/grid. Oldham could come south out of River North and turn east to connect to the existing Oldham. Oldham Extension could then continue south to maybe a pedestrian plaza and terminate at the railroad crossing. Oldham Street is the only connector out of River North going south other than the EB Boulevard, so I believe it is a very important connector that should be tied into the grid seamlessly.
  • Oldhamd Extension could also pass under the railroad tracks (if possible, see next point) to provide a connect and keep the street grid layout intact.
    • 
• There could be connection issues between the ballpark village and ballpark itself. Would having the village be so distinctively disconnected from the ballpark hurt the success of the ballpark? I think being so disconnected at the pedestrian level would make a hard arguement for it being a "village" 
  • I have a hard time believing that CSX will give up this stretch of rail, which poses problems for the other vision crossings too.
• I was incorrect about the amount of Metro owned property (which we have been told will not be sold). The yellow area within the stadium area is owned by Metro Water Services and includes a ROW strip from 1st Street down to the property and the land between the two bridges is owned by the Sports Authority. 
  • 
• Not a critique, just a thought, I wonder if this stadium footprint (red rectangle) is within the Special Tax district for the NFL Stadium?

This would be a HUGE investment from the ownership group. Not only would we be talking about land acquisition, but we would be talking about that plus; 1) relocation of fuel tank farm and all of their infrastructure, 2) coordination of RR crossing(s) and rail abandonments, 3) environmental clean up from the fuel tank farm, 4) relocation of Metro Water pump house and related infrastructure. That could be more investment right there than the entire Titans stadium project (stadium itself) and that doesn't even talk about the actual ballpark and subsequent village.

Like you said though, if they have deep enough pockets, anything is possible. It is only money after all. I think a question would be, does the MLB ownership have the patience to work through all of that land acquisition and relocation efforts prior to starting a build/team? 

I really appreciate discussing these. I am just trying to look at the EB realistically and trying to keep in mind that developing the EB as a connected, urban neighborhood should be the first priority. And to me, dedicating a second large swath of land to another land-hog (large footprint) structure detracts from that as it takes a lot of land out of play that could go to other kinds of development.

Another question I would pose - and maybe a developer with better knowledge than me could weigh in on this - would be this. If a second major league venue like this is proposed and built, what does that do to the prospects of developing the remaining land outside of the 30 acres around the NFL Stadium and the Ballpark Village? Does it make it more desirable to develop into real developments or could it be more lucrative to turn into parking lots and monetize the events in the stadiums? Parking lots have very little risk and very little overhead. With the planned developments that are already slated for the area, land will be at an absolute premium and the available land is going to be very pricey to purchase and develop. Parking lots are permitted in just about every zoning classification on the books, so land owners may be more incentivized to just pave it their land and collect the revenue. I don't think anyone wants to see that.

[Sean blackdog]

Nashville White Sox? 

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10087716-ranking-6-mlb-teams-that-make-the-most-sense-for-nashville-relocation

 

Edited August 31, 2023 by Sean blackdog

[go_outside]

NewsChannel 5's Ben Hall moderated a Monday night mayoral forum at the Rotary Club. From the Nashville Banner, here's what the candidates had to say about a MLB stadium:

Hall asked both candidates about potential Major League Baseball expansion and what role the city might play in it. 

“I would be delighted to entertain a conversation with anybody who wants to fully privately finance our next civic entertainment facility,” O’Connell said, seemingly shutting the door on the city paying for a stadium. 

MLB has successfully leveraged public dollars from cities for stadiums in the past and three franchises, the Oakland A’s, Chicago White Sox and Milwaukee Brewers, are currently near the end of their leases and have stadiums in need of an upgrade.

Rolli said her focus would be on making the Titans stadium successful rather than building a new baseball stadium.

 “I don’t see a public appetite at this moment for that,” she said.

[Tim29tn]

Well Rolli, we can have both. Who honestly thought hockey would work here?  MLB would thrive in Nashville. It’s gonna upset Atlanta because they’ll lose alot of fans around here, but that’s ok. 

[samsonh]

22 hours ago, Tim29tn said:

Well Rolli, we can have both. Who honestly thought hockey would work here?  MLB would thrive in Nashville. It’s gonna upset Atlanta because they’ll lose alot of fans around here, but that’s ok. 

I think each mayor is fine with a privately funded stadium. There is no appetite for public money towards a stadium. The current backers do not have the funds to fund it themselves. 

[KJHburg]

On 8/24/2023 at 8:36 AM, Argo said:

Naahh. Baseball probably wouldn't work in Charlotte. It doesn't have the drip like Nashville or Vegas.

I would say Charlotte has the same problem as Nashville who will pony up the money for the stadium?  Sure we have plenty of places where one can go but we are redoing on NFL stadium not rebuilding it but renovating it.   Nashville is rebuilding your NFL stadium, just built a soccer stadium (our MLS soccer team plays at Bank of America Stadium) Would not count NC out as we might have a sleeper bid that being Raleigh Durham which is a larger TV market than Nashville.  Charlotte is of course larger than both Raleigh Durham and Nashville.  Nashville has many more tourists than both NC metros but corporate support and local TV market is quite important to fill seats for sure.  

Sports TV market size chart (NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL) - Sports Media Watch

MLB Raleigh – A movement to bring Major League Baseball to Raleigh, NC   and this is a very interesting stat Raleigh is the richest metro areas in the country without a Major League Baseball team within 100 miles. 

So unless a billionaire owner wants to move a team to Charlotte or Nashville and pay a lot of the money to build a stadium  I dont see it happening right now.  In the future both Nashville and somewhere in NC will get a MLB team.  

[Rick Dalton]

Nobody is putting a team in Raleigh lmao 

[Argo]

10 hours ago, Rick Dalton said:

Nobody is putting a team in Raleigh lmao 

Why?

[lmc123]

11 hours ago, Rick Dalton said:

Nobody is putting a team in Raleigh lmao 

It's either Nashville or Charlotte for the East Coast and Portland or Las Vegas (which was already chosen by Oakland) for the West Coast. 

[Rick Dalton]

1 hour ago, Argo said:

Why?

Downtown Raleigh... not much there. I'm sure it's a great place to live, but Raleigh is like the East Coast Sacramento. 

[smeagolsfree]

I would not be so quick to count Raleigh out of the game. Just like Memphis getting an NBA team. Never ever make fun or bash another city on the board, number one because it is against the rules, and number two because it will likely come back and bite you in the ass.

Raleigh is and always has been a peer city to Nashville. A lot of construction and a lot of corporate relocation is happening there. Lots of construction too. Not as much as Nashville but you have to take into account that you have Raleigh, Durham, Cary MSA population of 2.1 million. Larger than Nashville!

The area has a larger tech sector than Nashville. So, stay off the high horse. They have just as much of a chance as Nashville or Charlotte has.

[Rick Dalton]

While I agree with the sentiment, the betting markets don't even list Raliegh.  MLB Expansion Odds And Top Cities (gambling.com)

[Argo]

Just now, Rick Dalton said:

While I agree with the sentiment, the betting markets don't even list Raliegh.  MLB Expansion Odds And Top Cities (gambling.com)

Not so Great, Nate.

[smeagolsfree]

The owners will go where a city will build them a stadium not where the betting markets have the odds. Nashville for one will not build a stadium for anyone at this point. If a billionaire wants to put a team here, then he will have put up or shut up. The risk will be his or hers to bear. 

 

[colemangaines]

It looks like the Rays have committed to building a new stadium near Tropicana Field in downtown St. Pete. It'll still suffer from the same accessability issues from people visiting from the other side of the bay, but if St. Petersburg's downtown continues to develop as it has, and if they can pull off this "Gas Plant district" project, it could find success that Tropicana couldn't.

https://www.tampabay.com/sports/rays/2023/09/18/stadium-gas-plant-district-2028-tropicana-field-stuart-sternberg/

[Bos2Nash]

2 hours ago, colemangaines said:

It looks like the Rays have committed to building a new stadium near Tropicana Field in downtown St. Pete. It'll still suffer from the same accessability issues from people visiting from the other side of the bay, but if St. Petersburg's downtown continues to develop as it has, and if they can pull off this "Gas Plant district" project, it could find success that Tropicana couldn't.

https://www.tampabay.com/sports/rays/2023/09/18/stadium-gas-plant-district-2028-tropicana-field-stuart-sternberg/

Here is the presentation about what the Rays proposal looks like. They partnered with Hines on the project and will look to really push it forwards.

Steering back to Nashville. This is what MLB ownership here will have to pitch to get a successful project over at TSU. The Rays are pitching 30,000 Seats at a cost of $1.2 billion. I would think this would make both TSU and Stars ownership re-consider going all the way to 42,000 seats. Similarly to Coleman references for St. Pete access problems, I think Nashville has an easier path to access the TSU site. It is certainly a challenge, but a solvable one.

[markhollin]

38 minutes ago, Bos2Nash said:

Similarly to Coleman references for St. Pete access problems, I think Nashville has an easier path to access the TSU site. It is certainly a challenge, but a solvable one.

St. Petersburg actually has easy access to Tropicana Field (and the site next to it where the new stadium will supposedly be built) from several freeways.  The problem is that 2/3 of the population in the metro lives on the other side of the bay and doesn't like to make the commute.

I still fear that the TSU location is still too remote in most people's mind, and getting to it from expressways will be a major hassle. 

[Sean blackdog]

Yesterday evening from….. 

https://www.axios.com/local/nashville/2023/09/19/tampa-bay-rays-speculation-relocate-nashville