Major League Baseball Won’t Expand To Nashville, Elsewhere Before 2029
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The Center Square [By Jon Styf] –
Major League Baseball is not planning to begin an expansion process until 2029, Commissioner Rob Manfred told the Associated Press Sports Editors in an annual meeting at the MLB offices, The Tennessean reported.
That means Nashville will not have an expansion team until at least 2030 and likely after that at earliest, the newspaper reported.
“I have never identified particular cities as targets,” Manfred told the group, according to The Tennessean. “We need an Eastern time zone and either a Mountain or Western time zone (city), just in terms of making the format work in the best possible way.”
The group Music City Baseball has continued to push to bring baseball to Nashville, but where the funding would come from for a team and ownership remains uncertain.
Nashville was the favorite to receive an expansion team as of last summer, according to Gambling.com, and an MLB player poll said Nashville was the preferred city by players for the next MLB team.
Manfred’s MLB office hired a group of four lobbyist during the 2023 Tennessee Legislative session but not in 2024. MLB also hired lobbyists in Tennessee in 2019 and 2020.
MLB held its Winter Meetings in Nashville last offseason.
Funding for a potential stadium will also be an issue after Tennessee put $500 million toward a new $2.1 billion Tennessee Titans stadium, set to open in 2027, along with creating a tax capture along with the city of Nashville expected to collect $3.1 billion to fund stadium bonds, infrastructure and both improvements and maintenance during the life of the Titans’ lease.
About the Author: Jon Styf, The Center Square Staff Reporter – Jon Styf is an award-winning editor and reporter who has worked in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan in local newsrooms over the past 20 years, working for Shaw Media, Hearst and several other companies. Follow Jon on Twitter @JonStyf.
This is great news for Tennessee and especially Davidson County tax payers! I guarantee you, the ‘smart’ people (those same Tennessee and Davidson County property owners and tax payers) know EXACTLY where and from whom, the Politicians and Music City Baseball will DIG for more money! And, it all starts when MLB hires more snakes in the grass, uh, I mean lobbyist, because the politicians all get GIANT campaign contributions to help them ‘decide’ that Tennessee and Davidson County tax payers need another professional sports team to pay for! I propose a “sports tax” on politicians and professional players for playing their games, like deferring open records on the tax money spent on the Titans Stadium!
Sorpts are a major loos for everyplace they land including public schools.
Woops. major loss