Oregon just made the race for an MLB expansion team a lot more compelling
FILE - The Major League Baseball logo is seen on the field before a spring training baseball game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Atlanta Braves Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024, in Bradenton, Fla. | Charlie Neibergall
Oregon lawmakers made it clear Tuesday that the state and Portland are all-in on adding a Major League Baseball team.
The Oregon House of Representatives voted 46-6 to pass Senate Bill 110 (SB110), which — pending final approval from governor Tina Kotek — would allocate $800 million in bonds to help fund the construction of a professional baseball stadium on Portland's South Waterfront, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.
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The bonds will not be paid for using any current state revenue, either. Rather they will be paid for through income taxes paid by MLB players and support staff, should Portland land a major league team.
'Tax revenues that are generated from the Oregon personal income tax liabilities shown on the income tax returns filed by the members of a professional athletic team engaged in Major League Baseball, including revenues that are generated from the tax liabilities of spouses of members of a professional athletic team engaged in Major League Baseball,' the bill reads.
The bill notes the expected cost of building an MLB stadium in Portland is approximately $2 billion, meaning the remainder of the funding for a ballpark will fall on the team, OPB reported.
Portland Diamond Project, the organization behind the push to bring MLB to Oregon, lobbied hard for the bill.
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Craig Cheek, the founder and president of PDP, told OPB, 'Today is an exciting moment for Oregon. Overwhelmingly passing SB 110 is more than securing funding support for a professional baseball stadium, this bill shows Major League Baseball Oregon is excited about America's pastime.'
The proposed site of a future ballpark in Portland is the 33-acre Zidell Yards site in the South Waterfront neighborhood.
Portland is one of a number of cities, along with Salt Lake City, thought to be in consideration if/when MLB decides to expand. Others in that group include:
Charlotte
Nashville
Montreal
Orlando
Raleigh
San Antonio
There is a thought that MLB will expand — or at least have started preparing for expansion — by the time commissioner Rob Manfred's third and final term concludes in 2028.
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Relocation of an MLB team has also been discussed, centering on the Oakland A's last summer, before recently transitioning to the Tampa Bay Rays.
On Wednesday, Sportico reported that the Rays may soon have a new ownership group, led by Jacksonville, Florida, developer Patrick Zalupski. The deal is reportedly for around $1.7 billion and Zalupski has signed a letter of intent to purchase the team.
Also part of the potential new ownership group, Sportico reported, are:
Ken Babby — owner of two Minor League Baseball teams; the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp and the Akron RubberDucks.
Bill Cosgrove — CEO of Union Home Mortgage, which has been the title sponsor of the Gasparilla Bowl (played in Tampa) since 2020.
The Rays are in desperate need of a new ballpark, with Tropicana Field now 35 years old and having suffered significant roof damage caused by Hurricane Milton last year.
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This season, the Rays are playing their home games at the New York Yankees' Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees' minor league complex in Tampa.
The roof of the Tropicana Field is damaged the morning after Hurricane Milton hit the region Oct. 10, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. | Julio Cortez
ESPN reported in March that the Rays are not going forward with the development of a $1.3 billion new ballpark in St. Petersburg, Florida, which has led to plenty of speculation about potential relocation of the franchise, although in a statement to ESPN, Major League Baseball expressed a commitment to keeping the Rays in the Tampa area.
'Major League Baseball remains committed to finding a permanent home for the club in the Tampa Bay region for their fans and the local community,' the statement reads. 'Commissioner Manfred understands the disappointment of the St. Petersburg community from today's announcement, but he will continue to work with elected officials, community leaders, and Rays officials to secure the club's future in the Tampa Bay region.'
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If Zalupski purchases the team, relocation outside of Florida seems unlikely, meaning cities like Portland and Salt Lake City would have to wait for an expansion phase in order to land an MLB team.
If/when expansion comes, Big League Utah — a coalition of prominent Utahns led by the Larry H. Miller Company — believes Salt Lake City is well positioned to land a team.
'I think expansion is taking a bit of a backseat to other priorities that Major League Baseball is dealing with. They know where we are and we have a dialogue with them. But we also respect that there will be a process and that that process hasn't begun yet. The worst thing we can do is try to force ourselves into a conversation when that conversation is not ready right now,' Steve Starks, Miller Company CEO, told the Deseret News last fall. 'We have done everything we can to this point to be the most prepared market for potential expansion and we'll continue to do that.'
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