It seems as if MLB to Nashville has picked up steam...I'd guess there will be a MLB club in less than 10 years. Thoughts? I'd imagine the Atlanta Braves would not be big fans of this move.
BASEBALL Would Nashville support a MLB club?
- Thread starter Matt Dossett
- Start date
MLB will go over just fine here. I'm ready.
it won't affect the Braves, Baseball fans are loyal, it didn't hurt the Falcons with the Titans and Panthers came in. Braves will keep on keeping on
Are the Sounds a farm club? I know the minors changed a bunch with the new CBA. We lost our whole league here with the Appalachian League and it became its own summer college showcase league.
Could Nashville support both? Or would the Sounds fold? Or?
Could Nashville support both? Or would the Sounds fold? Or?
Yes. Over 2 million & growing live in Davidson County & its surrounding 9 immediate counties. Mid state & Nashville combined would do well. Always thought the Sounds was a perfect name for Nashville based baseball team.
What do you guys think would make for a good major league team name?
What do you guys think would make for a good major league team name?
I believe the front runner for a name would be the Nashville Stars
I’m a Braves fan and would drop them if we had a local team. There are a lot of people that will do that but I agree the Braves will be fine.
Have lived in ATL since ‘91, think it’s common knowledge that when MLB expands Nashville will be on the short list. As they should be, they have earned it.
Adding another baseball team in the burgeoning Southeast market simply helps grow the sport.
ATL could really use a natural geographic rival. Cincinnati & Tampa are 7 hours away. Neither is in the NL East.
Competition makes every business better. Those that don’t rise to the occasion simply wilt away.
On a somewhat related note, when NashVegas gets their baseball team, it will be yet another obstacle MT will need to confront to just maintain what little wallet share they get of customers discretionary entertainment spending.
Adding another baseball team in the burgeoning Southeast market simply helps grow the sport.
ATL could really use a natural geographic rival. Cincinnati & Tampa are 7 hours away. Neither is in the NL East.
Competition makes every business better. Those that don’t rise to the occasion simply wilt away.
On a somewhat related note, when NashVegas gets their baseball team, it will be yet another obstacle MT will need to confront to just maintain what little wallet share they get of customers discretionary entertainment spending.
You would be correct. The ownership team is already in place and that will be the name of the team. Here is their official Twitter account for anyone that wants to follow along.
I’m not familiar with MLB, or the NHL, for what I’m about to ask. It seems like the recent NHL expansion teams are set up for automatic success with whatever rules they use. The Golden Knights and Kraken both had immediate playoff success. Is MLB set up the same way?
Edited after I thought about the NFL expansion when Jacksonville and Carolina were awarded a team. They both had immediate success too in the mid 90s. The Texans had a very slow climb though
Edited after I thought about the NFL expansion when Jacksonville and Carolina were awarded a team. They both had immediate success too in the mid 90s. The Texans had a very slow climb though
I'm 50/50 on this. There was talk of this years ago, and I never thought that Nashville was big enough to really support an MLB team. This isn't the NBA or NHL, with 40 nights of 17k fans and you're fine. The salary cap in those leagues at least means smaller markets have a chance.
With MLB, there's no salary cap and the revenue system is broken, and if you're a smaller market, you're battling against teams like the Dodgers and Yankees and teams with massing revenue streams. You're probably going to need 80+ nights of much higher attendance. You're going to need a gigantic TV revenue stream to really compete with the top half of the league. There's much bigger markets, with far more established teams that struggle to compete.
Could Nashville support a team? Just from size of population moving here, probably. But it would very likely have more in common with the Royals, Rays, and Indians than the teams in the top 10 of baseball.
With MLB, there's no salary cap and the revenue system is broken, and if you're a smaller market, you're battling against teams like the Dodgers and Yankees and teams with massing revenue streams. You're probably going to need 80+ nights of much higher attendance. You're going to need a gigantic TV revenue stream to really compete with the top half of the league. There's much bigger markets, with far more established teams that struggle to compete.
Could Nashville support a team? Just from size of population moving here, probably. But it would very likely have more in common with the Royals, Rays, and Indians than the teams in the top 10 of baseball.
The Sounds are consistently in the top 5 highest attended in all of minor leagues. They are usually in line with where the A’s and Rays are currently. I think Nashville would support it and we probably would fall in the middle somewhere. 28k would put them right in the middle which will be tough because the stadium, I’ve heard, is supposed to be 35k seats. I think the bigger issue is where they put it. They’ve supposedly narrowed it down to two locations; SA Recycling near the Titans stadium or right beside TSU. If they get the SA location I think they will be just fine. If it is TSU I think they will struggle.
That would be a shame on many fronts. The Sounds is a great name and First Horizon Park isn't that old. Only holds 10k though.
Interesting read here. Apparently the Sounds are actually a hurdle to getting MLB as they have rights to the territory and a major $ deal with the city. Old article. Looks like the MLB group as of June '22 had raised $4.5m of the $2b needed.
Why Metro’s deal with the Sounds is a major hurdle for MLB to Nashville – Tennessee Lookout
As a group of business people ramps up efforts to bring Major League Baseball to Nashville, the Triple A Nashville Sounds pose the biggest obstacle.
tennesseelookout.com
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I worked in three different MLB organizations before I left athletics for a different career field, and was working for the Mets when the league expanded with Tampa and Arizona. One rule of thumb when it comes to expansion is that the league isn't going to cannibalize itself with expansion candidates at the expenses of another club. For example, MLB expanded to Tampa just five years after adding the team in Miami. And those two are about the same distance as ATL is to Nashville. Even Arizona and San Diego are relatively similar distance but you're talking about completely different areas and markets in all of the above.
As for the Braves, not everyone in Tenn is an Atlanta fan. I grew up a Cardinals fan (and have ever since) listening to games on KMOX which reached all the way to the mid-state at nights in the 80s. The three closest clubs to Nashville are Atlanta, Cincinnati and St. Louis.
Yes, the Braves will lose some fans, but there isn't another team within 450 miles of Atlanta. And nothing to the east or west of them. The footprint for the Braves in the southeast is so big they don't really have to worry at all. Same with the Cardinals. Aside from KC, there isn't much in the midwest within 300 miles. The Cubs and Cardinals pretty much own the midwest and St. Louis has huge followings in all directions including Arkansas, KY and Tenn. Cincinnati would be the only one that could be affected because they've virtually had no success. But there's a lot more Braves fans in Tenn than Cincy, so really another non-issue. Bottom line is I think this is a moot concern and Nashville wouldn't even be on a short list if it was.
Baseball in Nashville would be awesome. Personally, I feel like it's long overdue. That said, I see signficant barriers to expansion. One has been resolved. That's the A's move to Vegas. But the other is the team team in Tampa. Is there going to be a commitment to build a new stadium for them there? Or are they also going to relocated. I don't and haven't seen any chance of expansion until the A's and Rays situations were resolved.
The other big barrier is going to be how to split of the divisions. And I think this is where some owners may balk (pun intended) if they either don't know or don't like the configuration. Those issues could include:
1) Whether MLB will attempt to make drastic changes to the AL and NL configuration to make better regional rivalries.
2) That decision largely depends on whether they have four eight team divisions (two in each) or eight four team divisions. To do the latter would require drastic changes to not only which teams are in which divisions but also with league (i.e. AL or NL). Would MLB consider putting the NY and Chicago teams in the same league? DC and Baltimore, Miami and Tampa, etc., in an effort to set those up?
3. There's some pitfalls with the regional media deals that will make owners nervous about adding teams. That's a whole other topic though.
I hope it happens. And though I love the idea of geographically tight four, four team divisions, I don't know how they could pull it off without upsetting a lot of the history and tradition of the game. Therefore, we would probably be looking at four eight team divisions. And that sucks too, because MLB would probably put my Cardinals in the NL West (and perhaps even a Nashville team too), so you see the conundrum MLB would have. People aren't going to be happy with the changes that inevitably come with adding two more teams.
As for the Braves, not everyone in Tenn is an Atlanta fan. I grew up a Cardinals fan (and have ever since) listening to games on KMOX which reached all the way to the mid-state at nights in the 80s. The three closest clubs to Nashville are Atlanta, Cincinnati and St. Louis.
Yes, the Braves will lose some fans, but there isn't another team within 450 miles of Atlanta. And nothing to the east or west of them. The footprint for the Braves in the southeast is so big they don't really have to worry at all. Same with the Cardinals. Aside from KC, there isn't much in the midwest within 300 miles. The Cubs and Cardinals pretty much own the midwest and St. Louis has huge followings in all directions including Arkansas, KY and Tenn. Cincinnati would be the only one that could be affected because they've virtually had no success. But there's a lot more Braves fans in Tenn than Cincy, so really another non-issue. Bottom line is I think this is a moot concern and Nashville wouldn't even be on a short list if it was.
Baseball in Nashville would be awesome. Personally, I feel like it's long overdue. That said, I see signficant barriers to expansion. One has been resolved. That's the A's move to Vegas. But the other is the team team in Tampa. Is there going to be a commitment to build a new stadium for them there? Or are they also going to relocated. I don't and haven't seen any chance of expansion until the A's and Rays situations were resolved.
The other big barrier is going to be how to split of the divisions. And I think this is where some owners may balk (pun intended) if they either don't know or don't like the configuration. Those issues could include:
1) Whether MLB will attempt to make drastic changes to the AL and NL configuration to make better regional rivalries.
2) That decision largely depends on whether they have four eight team divisions (two in each) or eight four team divisions. To do the latter would require drastic changes to not only which teams are in which divisions but also with league (i.e. AL or NL). Would MLB consider putting the NY and Chicago teams in the same league? DC and Baltimore, Miami and Tampa, etc., in an effort to set those up?
3. There's some pitfalls with the regional media deals that will make owners nervous about adding teams. That's a whole other topic though.
I hope it happens. And though I love the idea of geographically tight four, four team divisions, I don't know how they could pull it off without upsetting a lot of the history and tradition of the game. Therefore, we would probably be looking at four eight team divisions. And that sucks too, because MLB would probably put my Cardinals in the NL West (and perhaps even a Nashville team too), so you see the conundrum MLB would have. People aren't going to be happy with the changes that inevitably come with adding two more teams.
Good stuff, MT01. Thanks.
But it's always so funny to me, given the MLB team fandoms that exist in the Nashville area (Braves fans are typically native Middle or East Tennesseans, Cardinals from West Tennessee and some transplants, little to no Reds fans, which was different when the Sounds were the Reds AAA farm team back in the day, and Cubs fans, which today are mostly transplants), that a Nashville expansion club would be in the NL.
We've already outlined how close we are to Atlanta, Cincinnati and St. Louis. But the closest AL club is 460+ miles from Nashville. And that's the White Sox.
Either way, I have a feeling tradition would MOSTLY win out with division/league realignment. If the Rays don't come to Nashville, I feel like us and either Charlotte, Austin or Portland would be the biggest expansion targets. One team would go to the NL and one to the AL, and 8 divisions of 4 makes the most sense, to have everything balanced. And no existing team would have to move from one league to the other since they'd both have 16 like the NFL since '02.
But it's always so funny to me, given the MLB team fandoms that exist in the Nashville area (Braves fans are typically native Middle or East Tennesseans, Cardinals from West Tennessee and some transplants, little to no Reds fans, which was different when the Sounds were the Reds AAA farm team back in the day, and Cubs fans, which today are mostly transplants), that a Nashville expansion club would be in the NL.
We've already outlined how close we are to Atlanta, Cincinnati and St. Louis. But the closest AL club is 460+ miles from Nashville. And that's the White Sox.
Either way, I have a feeling tradition would MOSTLY win out with division/league realignment. If the Rays don't come to Nashville, I feel like us and either Charlotte, Austin or Portland would be the biggest expansion targets. One team would go to the NL and one to the AL, and 8 divisions of 4 makes the most sense, to have everything balanced. And no existing team would have to move from one league to the other since they'd both have 16 like the NFL since '02.
Can't think of a worse place to put a new franchise of anything than in Portland.
Many businesses have already left or trying to find a way to do so.
Many businesses have already left or trying to find a way to do so.
People forget that from ‘69-94, the Braves, Reds, & ‘Stros were in the NL West with LA, SD, & SF.
Heaven forbid your team played on the left coast, your local newspaper went to print before the game was over.
Anyone under 30 won’t get that!
One site is Cumberland Park. So between Korean Veterans Blvd and Nissan Stadium. Original plan had a walkway connecting them but that was before the new Titans stadium deal.
Other site is north near TSU on their farmland. Just read an article that the development group signed an agreement with TSU to perform a site survey last fall. So looks like if it happens, that is where it will go.
MLB stadium at Tennessee State University
Music City Baseball to begin site assessment for future MLB stadium at Tennessee State University Julia Masters ~2 minutes TSU could not immediately be reached for comment Monday afternoon. Music City Baseball's goal is to have construction — site preparation work such as...
middletennessee.forums.rivals.com
I read this other day on another site... I don't see them leaving Milwaukee, but who knows nowadays.
Could do wonders for a school with a fermentation field of study
it works well for the braves and their affiliate being in the same metro area.
Yea, but to keep in same area, Sounds would have to be in Murfreesboro or Clarksville, maybe even Franklin. Just my thought...
did the zephyr's go under in New Orleans, they had a nice park down from the saints facility
Yeah they moved to Wichita a few years ago. They couldn’t come to an agreement on a new facility or upgrades to the current one.
At this point, I don’t think it’s a matter of if Nashville will get MLB team, but when Nashville will get a MLB team.
Nashville group has lobbied & it looks like they’ll get it.
Nashville group has lobbied & it looks like they’ll get it.
IDK. Metro Raleigh-Durham has the Durham Bulls and Carolina Mudcats with much less population.
I could see the Sounds becoming the affiliate of a new MLB team and/or maybe dropping class. Since the minor league re-org, it seems MLB teams like to have affiliate relatively close to the big league team.
Raleigh and Durham have two different MSA. If you’re looking at just Raleigh’s metro it appears a lot smaller than Nashville. If you look at the CSA which encompasses the entire research triangle they are actually slightly larger (2,144,608 vs 2,143,407).
I think we could support two minor league teams. One in Nashville and one in Murfreesboro. However having a MLB seems to me that a minor league team in the biggest suburb would hurt attendance for Nashville’s MLB team. MLB wouldn’t be a fan of that since we’re a smaller market. I don’t know of any smaller market MLB teams that have a minor league team in the same city (didn’t look into it though). Just my opinion.
Living in Murfreesboro I know a number of people who regularly go to the Sounds games. With Franklin being about the same distance imagine they probably have similar game commuters. If MLB did come to Nashville one would almost think the 'Boro or Franklin could be too close a distraction for an affiliate franchise. Maybe not though. Was thinking with Clarksville's size (slightly larger than Murfreesboro) & further distance from Nashville seems about perfect for a AA or AAA franchise without possibly losing surrounding community fans.
I was just looking at the DMA rankings... how crazy is it that Nashville (ranked 27th in the US) is the AAA affiliate for Milwaukee (ranked 38th)? I don't think any other affiliate situation is flipped like that in baseball.
And Nashville is larger than 5 (soon to be 6 when the A's move to LV) of the existing MLB markets (Baltimore, San Diego, Kansas City, Cincinnati and Milwaukee).
I don't think AAA would stay in the area if MLB comes. I could see other bigger cities that don't have either MLB or AAA taking on the renamed Sounds franchise: Portland, San Antonio, Birmingham, New Orleans, etc.
And Nashville is larger than 5 (soon to be 6 when the A's move to LV) of the existing MLB markets (Baltimore, San Diego, Kansas City, Cincinnati and Milwaukee).
I don't think AAA would stay in the area if MLB comes. I could see other bigger cities that don't have either MLB or AAA taking on the renamed Sounds franchise: Portland, San Antonio, Birmingham, New Orleans, etc.
I was thinking the same metro, not exactly the same city.
One part of the minor league reorg was to bring more affiliates closer to the parent club. Having the AAA or single A club close (<2 hours) is seen as a positive. Maybe not the same city, but same general metro area.
Truth is, it’s a way to get people (money) that you normally wouldn’t. I’ve been to 3 Braves games in the time I have lived in the ATL. I have been to ~20 Striper games.
The effort, cost and time to drive over to Truist for my family of 4 just isn’t worth it to me versus the 10-15 minute drive to the cheaper Striper game. And if the Stripers weren’t here, I doubt I would have gone to more Braves games. I would find something else to do.
Who knows, at least 6 cities think they are getting a MLB. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.
