Should Memphis pursue MLB??

[Memphisborn]

With the recent news of MLB relocation & expansion possibilities Milwaukee & Tampa Bay . Should our city leaders put Memphis name in the hat for a franchise?? We have a stadium that could be used as a home temporarily or permanently depending on how much is spent to expand it. Here’s some info. Let’s get some input negative or positive on where Memphis would stand.

 

[Nothingspectacular]

Memphis has zero chance of getting a MLB team.
If a team relocates Nashville is the likely city to be selected. 

[Memphisborn]

11 minutes ago, Nothingspectacular said:

Memphis has zero chance of getting a MLB team.
If a team relocates Nashville is the likely city to be selected. 

Ok let’s see it may be Portland or Charlotte. Memphis Brewers fits this city with all the breweries here. 

[James Owen]

We don't have the market size to support an MLB team. Plus Memphis has been considered St. Louis Cardinals territory for a very long time, so they may take serious issue with having one of their division rivals being located just two hours south from them.

[JTM1]

I think focusing on professional tennis, football, hockey, soccer, pickleball, and rugby would fare better than pursuing a MLB. They pretty much have golf secured, because of the FedEx St Jude Cup, just need an LPGA tournament. Honestly, I believe Memphis host one of the best golf tournaments on the PGA circuit. Definitely, the most energetic and surprising, because these past four days have been unreal.

In my opinion, the pursuit of an NHL franchise is more realistic than an MLB, because Memphis is overlapped with the Cardinals and Braves fanbases. I just don’t see the older Brave and Cardinal fans coming out to support an MLB franchise when it doesn’t include these two teams. I could be wrong though. Having said that, I do believe the newness would create a lot of interest at first and interest could go either way as the team become more of a community fixture.

The next mayor will be crucial on what sports will look like in Memphis going forward and I have only heard two candidates address bringing more amenities and options to the city.

[MDC26]

6 hours ago, Memphisborn said:

Ok let’s see it may be Portland or Charlotte. Memphis Brewers fits this city with all the breweries here. 

Portland has over 80 breweries. They are the craft beer capital. Probably wouldn’t need to even change the name of the team.  Probably would swap divisions with Colorado  

Nashville needs an American League team. They sit in the middle of St Louis, Atlanta, and Cincy and are 250 miles or less from all three. Would be impossible to grow a fan base competing against those 3 in the National league. Rays would be a good fit for them, but of course would have to change names.  May swap divisions with Cleveland. 

[Nothingspectacular]

The Tennessee Titans are starting construction of their new domed structure adjacent to the Nissan stadium. The current stadium will be torn down and replaced by mixed use condos, apartments and parks. Unsure if a MLB team relocating to Nashville would require a new stadium, or would be share the new domed structure.   The domed stadium is badly needed because of the numerous concerts and special that are held there year-round. 

[jjbradleyBrooklyn]

I'd love to see Memphis land an MLB team. 

But the market has several key factors working against it with the MLB--

*demographics (high earners) and population are not in place with the Memphis market, in order to support an MLB crowd needed to consistently fill a stadium year-round

*In Tennessee, MLB already  has its sights set on Nashville. Nashville has formed a group which has been in place for years, working on recruiting a team to Nashville. MLB and its players have said Nashville is in the top 1 or 2 choices for relocation or expansion, once the MLB does

*Memphis is in Cardinals territory, mostly

*Memphis and its metro are very slow growing--not a lot of population growth happening

Memphis would do better with landing an NFL team, if the expansion ever happens in that league.

1 hour ago, Nothingspectacular said:

The Tennessee Titans are starting construction of their new domed structure adjacent to the Nissan stadium. The current stadium will be torn down and replaced by mixed use condos, apartments and parks. Unsure if a MLB team relocating to Nashville would require a new stadium, or would be share the new domed structure.   The domed stadium is badly needed because of the numerous concerts and special that are held there year-round. 

Yes! Such an awesome design.

I think Nashville will land a super bowl once the new domed stadium is finished. 

[MDC26]

10 minutes ago, jjbradleyBrooklyn said:

I'd love to see Memphis land an MLB team. 

But the market has several key factors working against it with the MLB--

*demographics (high earners) and population are not in place with the Memphis market, in order to support an MLB crowd needed to consistently fill a stadium year-round

*In Tennessee, MLB already  has its sights set on Nashville. Nashville has formed a group which has been in place for years, working on recruiting a team to Nashville. MLB and its players have said Nashville is in the top 1 or 2 choices for relocation or expansion, once the MLB does

*Memphis is in Cardinals territory, mostly

*Memphis and its metro are very slow growing--not a lot of population growth happening

Memphis would do better with landing an NFL team, if the expansion ever happens in that league.

Yes! Such an awesome design.

I think Nashville will land a super bowl once the new domed stadium is finished. 

Getting that stadium built will put them in a short line for the Super Bowl, as well as NCAA football championship game, Final 4, and Wrestlemania. 

[Memphisborn]

13 hours ago, JTM1 said:

I think focusing on professional tennis, football, hockey, soccer, pickleball, and rugby would fare better than pursuing a MLB. They pretty much have golf secured, because of the FedEx St Jude Cup, just need an LPGA tournament. Honestly, I believe Memphis host one of the best golf tournaments on the PGA circuit. Definitely, the most energetic and surprising, because these past four days have been unreal.

In my opinion, the pursuit of an NHL franchise is more realistic than an MLB, because Memphis is overlapped with the Cardinals and Braves fanbases. I just don’t see the older Brave and Cardinal fans coming out to support an MLB franchise when it doesn’t include these two teams. I could be wrong though. Having said that, I do believe the newness would create a lot of interest at first and interest could go either way as the team become more of a community fixture.

The next mayor will be crucial on what sports will look like in Memphis going forward and I have only heard two candidates address bringing more amenities and options to the city.

Like the possibility of NHL. I hear that too. Let’s see how the renovation @ FedEx Forum goes.  That is huge with determining NHL possibilities Robert Pera is the ex factor. WNBA is also a behind the scenes discussion by city council & Commission.  Our next Mayor will be instrumental in determining if the city pursues any additional sports franchise. One more should be on the table IMO 

Edited August 14, 2023 by Memphisborn

[JTM1]

3 hours ago, Memphisborn said:

Like the possibility of NHL. I hear that too. Let’s see how the renovation @ FedEx Forum goes.  That is huge with determining NHL possibilities Robert Pera is the ex factor. WNBA is also a behind the scenes discussion by city council & Commission.  Our next Mayor will be instrumental in determining if the city pursues any additional sports franchise. One more should be on the table IMO 

I agree. Hopefully the WNBA considers Memphis as a  site city. Honestly, the WNBA teams should be playing in cities that have NBA teams. The next mayor is also going to be overseer of the renovations of FedEx Forum and what becomes of the Liberty Bowl. 

I don’t like that the Sports and Event Center didn’t include and ice sheet. I think it was shortsighted by city planners, because just like rugby, tennis, basketball, volleyball, and soccer, there is a market for youth hockey.  Many kids in Memphis would probably play it, if it was an option for them to choose, but they aren’t given the option.

When Leftwich opens it will be a premier tennis facility and I believe it will host all types of tournaments. Now, I would like to see Tennis Memphis start a capital campaign to raise funds to build one or two center courts, because I would like for the ATP and WTA to return to Memphis. Every time I drive by the old racquet club location, I think about what could've been, if there were more proactive people involved. I know why the tournament was relocated to NYC,  it was a slap in the face to us tennis fans, and it never should've left Memphis, but the tournament owner was a egoistical jackass.  I was at a tennis camp in June and there are some kids here in Memphis that are going to be phenomenal tennis players. I could several of them going pro. 

[MDC26]

38 minutes ago, JTM1 said:

I agree. Hopefully the WNBA considers Memphis as a  site city. Honestly, the WNBA teams should be playing in cities that have NBA teams. The next mayor is also going to be overseer of the renovations of FedEx Forum and what becomes of the Liberty Bowl. 

I don’t like that the Sports and Event Center didn’t include and ice sheet. I think it was shortsighted by city planners, because just like rugby, tennis, basketball, volleyball, and soccer, there is a market for youth hockey.  Many kids in Memphis would probably play it, if it was an option for them to choose, but they aren’t given the option.

When Leftwich opens it will be a premier tennis facility and I believe it will host all types of tournaments. Now, I would like to see Tennis Memphis start a capital campaign to raise funds to build one or two center courts, because I would like for the ATP and WTA to return to Memphis. Every time I drive by the old racquet club location, I think about what could've been, if there were more proactive people involved. I know why the tournament was relocated to NYC,  it was a slap in the face to us tennis fans, and it never should've left Memphis, but the tournament owner was a egoistical jackass.  I was at a tennis camp in June and there are some kids here in Memphis that are going to be phenomenal tennis players. I could several of them going pro. 

Shame that the tournament was lost after 43 years.  Not many US cities host ATP events, and Memphis hosted the only indoor venue.  

Also sad the Memphis International Raceway is now closed after previously hosting NASCAR Nationwide and Camping World series, as well as NHRA/IHRA events for many years.  

[JTM1]

9 minutes ago, MDC26 said:

Shame that the tournament was lost after 43 years.  Not many US cities host ATP events, and Memphis hosted the only indoor venue.  

Also sad the Memphis International Raceway is now closed after previously hosting NASCAR Nationwide and Camping World series, as well as NHRA/IHRA events for many years.  

 

9 minutes ago, MDC26 said:

Shame that the tournament was lost after 43 years.  Not many US cities host ATP events, and Memphis hosted the only indoor venue.  

Also sad the Memphis International Raceway is now closed after previously hosting NASCAR Nationwide and Camping World series, as well as NHRA/IHRA events for many years.  

Greed, a lack of investment, is why the ATP tournament relocated to NYC. They lost their sponsors, after the local ownership sold the tournament, because they were killing interest in the tournament.  

The same thing happened with the Memphis International Raceway, a lack of investment from the owners, because they didn't care nothing about Memphis.