The MLB has talked about expanding the league from 30 teams to 32 in recent years. However, Tampa Bay and and Oakland have stadium problems of their own and Rob Manfred (MLB Commissioner) has said those situations have to be solved before the MLB expands to other markets. This leaves the possibility of 4 new cities to get a team which would change the landscape of Major League Baseball forever.
Tampa Bay and Oakland
Both, Tampa Bay and Oakland have rotting stadiums that are no longer suitable for the MLB. Both of these markets also have very low attendance rates which leads many to believe that both these teams could relocate. For Oakland, there has been a numerous amount of possible stadium renderings that have never been approved by the city and they have started thinking about relocation. Two cities that I have heard as possibilities are Portland, Oregon and Las Vegas, Nevada. It seems like every major sports league is trying to expand to Las Vegas so why don't the Athletics take their team to where the Raiders went when they left Oakland. Tampa Bay, on the other hand, has talked about possibly about splitting their season up and play half their games in Tampa and half in Montreal. I do not think that could be possible because what happens when they make the playoffs, where would they play the games then? I think that two cities for the Rays to relocate to is Charlotte, North Carolina or Austin, Texas. Charlotte is always at the top of Minor League attendance and I believe they have a better shot at getting a relocating team rather than getting an expansion one. Austin is a city that I have not heard too much about in talks but I believe Texas could support another Major League team since the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers have solid attendance numbers. Both of these teams have to find a permanent home before the MLB ever thinks about expanding.
Some of the renderings that the Oakland Athletics have released about their unapproved
stadium in Oakland, California.
Top Expansion Possibilities:
1. Las Vegas, Nevada
I think that it is impossible to leave Las Vegas out of any talks about expanding in the MLB. Las Vegas have already gotten a NHL and NFL team and another one could be coming with the NBA talking about possibly expanding as well. The Las Vegas Golden Knights have had no problem filling the stands at their games but we are going to get to see how the Raiders do in their first season having fans in the stands this year. I think that Las Vegas will definitely get either a relocating team or and expansion team in the near future.
2. Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville makes a lot a sense to me when talking about MLB expansion because they only have three major sports teams with the Tennessee Titans, Nashville SC, and the Nashville Predators and they could definitely support another one. There is also no other baseball team within the region that would compete with a new team in Nashville. Tennessee would be such a great location for Major League Baseball to expand to and Nashville has had interest in acquiring a team in the future.
3. Austin, Texas
Austin makes sense for a couple of reasons, it has only a Major League Soccer team and Texas has so many people it could support another baseball team. Since Austin only has a MLS team, the people in Austin would love to have another sport within the city limits that they can enjoy. The team would have to possibly draw fans away from both the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros but I think they would be alright (they would at least have to have better attendance than the Florida teams).
4. Virginia Beach, Virginia
This is a location that I have not heard too much about in the new but I think it would be an interesting place to put a MLB team. Virginia really does not have a major sports teams and I believe that they would be able to support one. You have the teams that are in Washington DC that are close to the area but Southern Virginia could draw fans from Virginia, North Carolina, and even South Carolina which could be enough to fill a major league stadium. The Virginia Beach area has not been in the talks of the possible expansion locations but I believe they definitely could be.
5. Buffalo, New York
This is another interesting possibility for expansion. Buffalo recently had the Toronto Blue Jays play games in their minor league stadium which started out slow but began to pick up before they moved back to Toronto after Canada opened back up from the pandemic. Could you imagine the Bills Mafia but in baseball? The tailgating would be crazy for a baseball game and would bring excitement to the city. The only problem with this location is that the Bills are looking for a new stadium as well and I do not know if Buffalo would be willing to build two new stadiums. However, if the Bills end up moving out of Buffalo, I believe that a MLB team would be an even bigger possibility in the Buffalo area.
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