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Charlotte MLB Team Speculation

ncguy06

By ncguy06
in Charlotte Coffee House

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Durhamite
Durhamite

Mediocre?  You gotta be kidding me. It's probably the greatest achievement of any mid-size (low density)  relatively conservative non-"world-class" southern metro ever.  Supported by a southern Republ

KJHburg
KJHburg

The fact that Raleigh Durham has one pro team the Carolina Hurricanes makes it less saturated with pro sports than Charlotte with the Panthers, the Hornets and FC Charlotte.  It is fast growing even f

J-Rob
J-Rob

Raleigh is the state capital that has consistently driven funding for infrastructure and investments in higher education away from Charlotte. There is a reason Charlotte is the largest metro without a

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RaleighHeelsfan Hamlet

RaleighHeelsfan

Posted
Posted (edited)

"Everybody thinks they are Charlotte bound"

 

Who is everybody?

 

 

People from outside NC. I have read ESPN articles and been talking to fans not from NC. They all think Charlotte bound. Then I explain to them how the Knights just moved uptown and I don't see how this could happen anytime soon. So my thought would be Raleigh is now in the drivers seat for Tampa IF they relocate

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RaleighHeelsfan Hamlet

RaleighHeelsfan

Posted
Posted (edited)

Look at it this way. Everyone knows the news paper and sports media have been talking from nearly day one how Tampa Bay will lose their team. Now, that does not mean it will happen. But the possibility is their if the city or someone with deep pockets does not fund a new stadium. The deadline? Sorry, I don’t know when the contract is up. So you have to ask yourself, what cities are available  for a relocation of a American league east team?  You have:

Jacksonville – In Florida so probably not

Birmingham/Columbia – Not going to happen

Greensboro/Winston Salem – Someone already tried to get the Twins franchise here a few years back when Minnesota was having the same problem Tampa is right now..they needed a new stadium

Raleigh – High possibility

Norfolk – Already have the Nats and Orioles near by.

Nashville – High possibility

Memphis – Too far west but strong chance I would think

So look at that list! NC would have a very strong chance of landing  the relocation. Everyone in the sports world agrees.

So because of the Knights, charlotte might lose out. I love the knights, of love the stadium…but I want MLB in Charlotte!

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cltbwimob Burg

cltbwimob

Posted
Posted (edited)

Look at it this way. Everyone knows the news paper and sports media have been talking from nearly day one how Tampa Bay will lose their team. Now, that does not mean it will happen. But the possibility is their if the city or someone with deep pockets does not fund a new stadium. The deadline? Sorry, I don’t know when the contract is up. So you have to ask yourself, what cities are available for a relocation of a American league east team? You have:

Jacksonville – In Florida so probably not

Birmingham/Columbia – Not going to happen

Greensboro/Winston Salem – Someone already tried to get the Twins franchise here a few years back when Minnesota was having the same problem Tampa is right now..they needed a new stadium

Raleigh – High possibility

Norfolk – Already have the Nats and Orioles near by.

Nashville – High possibility

Memphis – Too far west but strong chance I would think

So look at that list! NC would have a very strong chance of landing the relocation. Everyone in the sports world agrees.

So because of the Knights, charlotte might lose out. I love the knights, of love the stadium…but I want MLB in Charlotte!

Raleigh is probably not as much in the driver's seat as you think it is. Raleigh is not a great market for professional sports. The city hasn't even shown the ability to consistently support its one professional team, the Hurricanes. Furthermore, even though the Triangle is the second largest metro in the Carolinas, it is nowhere near the center of population for the Carolinas like Charlotte is. The Charlotte metro area, which is already the largest in the Carolinas by a significant margin, is also directly adjacent to 4 other metros (Triad, Upstate SC, Columbia, and the Unifour). The population within a 100 mile radius of Charlotte had topped 7 million last time I checked. Finally, Charlotte beats every other city in the Carolinas as well-as a substantial portion of Major League Baseball cities-in macroeconomic indicators such as Gross Metropolitain Product.

If anything, the Knights bolster the Charlotte case for MLB. They lead the minors in attendance, whereas other cities often mentioned for MLB either don't support the minor league franchise at all (Portland-their team moved a few years ago) or they do not support to the same level Charlotte does. For example, Nashville also built a new downtown stadium for their MiLB team this past year, yet it has not been nearly the success the Knights Stadium has. Attendance for Nashville Sounds games is 20-25% less than Knights games on a given night.

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R.Talbott Whistle-Stop

R.Talbott

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^I'd rather them just build any new football stadium on the BofA site similar to what the Vikings are presently doing. That location is hard to beat and one of the best located stadiums in the NFL.

 

Panthers would then have to play at Clemson again for 2 years?

 

Only reason I would want a new stadium is for hosting Final 4's and potentially Super Bowls (though I feel the current BoA would be enough since Jacksonville has hosted a Super Bowl).  I love BoA and would hate to see it go anytime soon.

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eastsider Burg

eastsider

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Posted

Look at it this way. Everyone knows the news paper and sports media have been talking from nearly day one how Tampa Bay will lose their team. Now, that does not mean it will happen. But the possibility is their if the city or someone with deep pockets does not fund a new stadium. The deadline? Sorry, I don’t know when the contract is up. So you have to ask yourself, what cities are available  for a relocation of a American league east team?  You have:

Jacksonville – In Florida so probably not

Birmingham/Columbia – Not going to happen

Greensboro/Winston Salem – Someone already tried to get the Twins franchise here a few years back when Minnesota was having the same problem Tampa is right now..they needed a new stadium

Raleigh – High possibility

Norfolk – Already have the Nats and Orioles near by.

Nashville – High possibility

Memphis – Too far west but strong chance I would think

So look at that list! NC would have a very strong chance of landing  the relocation. Everyone in the sports world agrees.

So because of the Knights, charlotte might lose out. I love the knights, of love the stadium…but I want MLB in Charlotte!

Montreal, a natural rival for the AL East Toronto Blue Jays plus already have a MLB stadium available while a new stadium is being built.

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RaleighHeelsfan Hamlet

RaleighHeelsfan

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Montreal, a natural rival for the AL East Toronto Blue Jays plus already have a MLB stadium available while a new stadium is being built.

 

Montreal had horrible attendance and does not deserve another chance at MLB. So Tampa, who can't draw a big crowd, although they are good every year, is going to move to Montreal where they could not support a team or win before? The Expos are now in Washington and there should not be MLB in Canada anyway.

 

If Charlotte gets a MLB team, it would have to be expansion now because of the knights.

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ah59396 Town

ah59396

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Montreal had horrible attendance and does not deserve another chance at MLB. So Tampa, who can't draw a big crowd, although they are good every year, is going to move to Montreal where they could not support a team or win before? The Expos are now in Washington and there should not be MLB in Canada anyway.

If Charlotte gets a MLB team, it would have to be expansion now because of the knights.

"there should not be MLB in Canada anyway."

Cool story bro, exit is over there.

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eastsider Burg

eastsider

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Montreal had horrible attendance and does not deserve another chance at MLB. So Tampa, who can't draw a big crowd, although they are good every year, is going to move to Montreal where they could not support a team or win before? The Expos are now in Washington and there should not be MLB in Canada anyway.

 

If Charlotte gets a MLB team, it would have to be expansion now because of the knights.

The Expos were well above the National League average attendance for many years but fans became disillusioned by ownership and front office moves and failure to not resign free agents. Sounds very much like version 1 of the Charlotte Hornets and yet they were given a second chance despite being a "failure". 

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jednc Burg

jednc

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Would/could anyone speculate on who might be able/willing to lead a Charlotte effort to land an MLB team? Forget the opinions about Charlotte's not ready and all. Who would own it? Who is in a position to seriously pursue it? Any thoughts?

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HopHead City

HopHead

Posted
Posted (edited)

The Bruton Smith family has a ton of money, but I know they've been mentioned as an eventual owner of the Panthers once Jerry Richardson is no longer with us. Though you could say that for a number of NASCAR families in the area I'm sure. In all honesty, I think owning an NFL team is far more appealing to groups with deep pockets than MLB unless you own someone like the Dodgers, Yankees, etc. I think until that domino falls, there may not be a clear cut push for a local owner to bring MLB to Charlotte if that were to ever happen -- which I still don't believe will occur.

Edited by wend28
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Bikeguy Hamlet

Bikeguy

Posted
Posted

The Bruton Smith family has a ton of money, but I know they've been mentioned as an eventual owner of the Panthers once Jerry Richardson is no longer with us. Though you could say that for a number of NASCAR families in the area I'm sure. In all honesty, I think owning an NFL team is far more appealing to groups with deep pockets than MLB unless you own someone like the Dodgers, Yankees, etc. I think until that domino falls, there may not be a clear cut push for a local owner to bring MLB to Charlotte if that were to ever happen -- which I still don't believe will occur.

 

Who's to say Bruton will outlast Jerry.  My money's on Jerry.

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HopHead City

HopHead

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Posted

The Bruton Smith family has a ton of money, but I know they've been mentioned as an eventual owner of the Panthers once Jerry Richardson is no longer with us. Though you could say that for a number of NASCAR families in the area I'm sure. In all honesty, I think owning an NFL team is far more appealing to groups with deep pockets than MLB unless you own someone like the Dodgers, Yankees, etc. I think until that domino falls, there may not be a clear cut push for a local owner to bring MLB to Charlotte if that were to ever happen -- which I still don't believe will occur.

 

Who's to say Bruton will outlast Jerry.  My money's on Jerry.

I was referring to the family in general, not just Bruton. 

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ah59396 Town

ah59396

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Posted

Despite the belief of some that Charlotte will never get a team; it seems pretty clear that someone out there in Metrolina is expressing some interest in an expansion team.  This is right out the mouth of the MLB commissioner only 2 weeks ago, Rob Manfred:

 

commissioner Rob Manfred said Montreal, Portland, Ore. and Charlotte, N.C., have "maintained recent interest in expansion,"

 

http://www.si.com/mlb/2015/06/25/rob-manfred-mlb-expansion-montreal-baseball-portland-charlotte

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HopHead City

HopHead

Posted
Posted (edited)

^Very interesting to say the least... Who love to know "the who in" part of Charlotte. 

EDIT: I pinged Chris Kroeger of WFNZ on Twitter about this. This is news to him as well. He will be talking about it on his show this afternoon... Nice work, ah59396 ;)

Edited by wend28
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RaleighHeelsfan Hamlet

RaleighHeelsfan

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This is exactly what I have been talking about. ESPN had an article about it months ago. I just could not find the link when I posted it here.

Many think Tampa will be leaving...

I love the knights, but MLB would be much better. I also strongly believe Charlotte can support a team. Can they support MLB and the minors? This opens the door for Raleigh IMO. Don't forget the Triad fought hard to win the Twins franchise a few years back. If Minnesota had not built a new ballpark (thankfully they did)...we might already have a team.

 

I love the old school teams like the Twins, but Tampa I am rooting for to leave!

 

If you are from Canada, don't be offended. Baseball is Americas sport! Ha HA. (USA's sport)

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