MLB is not in an expansion mode.
It is official, there has been a site picked out in Portland, Oregon for a Major League Baseball team to play. That’s the good news. The bad news for people in Portland who want to see a Major League Baseball game is that there will not be any Major League Baseball games played in Portland for at least seven years because Major League Baseball is not adding any franchises in the immediate future. MLB still has stadium issues to resolve in Las Vegas as John Fisher, the owner of a team that is now just called the Athletics, still has not completed his plan to pay the cost of constructing a Las Vegas stadium. There are other stadium issues that need to be resolved in Chicago, in Kansas City and in Phoenix. If MLB adheres to the we won’t expand until we resolve stadium issues in Oakland and St. Petersburg then there is the possibility that MLB won’t expand until the Chicago, Kansas City, Las Vegas and Phoenix stadium problems are solved.
Meanwhile in Portland, the Portland Diamond Project has signed a letter of intent to buy Zidell Yards in the south waterfront area. Portland Diamond Project wants to develop the 33-acre former shipyard into a stadium-village. The parcel of land is owned by ZRZ Real Estate and this transaction could take up to three and half years to become final. The mayor of Portland is leading the cheering of the possible land sale with the intention of landing an MLB franchise. Ted Wheeler called the potential sale “a big moment for Portland. This is a tremendous opportunity to shape our waterfront, create new economic opportunities, and build a vibrant and sustainable neighborhood.” But there is a pesky detail that needs to be ironed out. Financing.
Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191
Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com
Proposed Portland ballpark.
