Will an MLB Team work in Orlando?

An MLB Team in Orlando?

What about the other Florida teams?

Then there are, of course, the Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins, two teams that are vastly different in terms of performance on the field but so very alike when it comes to their poor attendance. Both the Rays and the Marlins have brought up the rear in MLB attendance for the last two seasons, with the former finishing dead for six-straight seasons from 2012-17.

Would it be wise to add another team into the mix when it’s quite obvious that baseball in Florida just doesn’t work? And population really can’t be used as an excuse, as all three cities are within a few hundred thousand in population:

2019 population

• Orlando: 2.5 million
• Tampa Bay: 2.783 million
• Miami: 2.744 million

The current state of baseball in Florida just doesn’t seem to indicate that there’s an untapped market; that’s if, of course, any of it even matters.

Also, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has already assured the public many times that there will be no talks of expansion until both the Oakland A’s and Rays are provided with new stadiums.

Not just that, but during this past All-Star Break, when Manfred was asked about expansion, he mentioned “a real list of cities”… and Orlando wasn’t included:

“Portland, Las Vegas, Charlotte, Nashville in the United States, certainly Montreal, maybe Vancouver, in Canada. We think there’s places in Mexico we could go over the long haul.”

Although, Manfred’s term will end after the 2024 season, following the completion of his contract extension that went into effect last November. So his list may not be the same as the next commissioner’s.

Still, it’s perhaps widely speculated that Montreal is the frontrunner for receiving a baseball team, considering the nostalgia that’s involved. Behind Montreal, it seems that Las Vegas has really picked up some steam over the last several years. And I certainly don’t expect the league to increase beyond 32 teams… not anytime in the near future, at least.

Will an MLB Team Work in Orlando?

Reasons why it could work

According to ESPN on Wednesday, former Orlando Magic executive Pat Williams — you know, the guy that brought Orlando Magic Basketball — is leading the charge of attempting to bring MLB to the city.

His comments from ESPN’s piece:

“Orlando keeps growing and sports needs to be part of that. Our resume here is much stronger than those other markets.”

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The former NBA executive even has a name for his hopeful Orlando baseball team — the Orlando Dreamers (how fitting). Williams has also created quite an impressive website for the team, featuring a place to sign up and become a “Dreamer”, as well as a fairly persuasive rally cry on the home page.

There’s no doubt about it… Williams is serious about bringing baseball to Orlando.

One thing Orlando has going for it, if indeed the city’s success regarding this project depends on the 79-year-old William’s, is that Williams really did work some magic bringing the NBA to the city. As he should, Williams uses the Magic as part of his main pitch, rightfully boasting of his accomplishment.

Per his website:

“We had no team, no arena and no guarantee of anything back then. Yet central Florida believed, and the season ticket commitments poured in. When the NBA saw that we had secured a staggering 14,000 commitments, it was overwhelmed. I believe to this day that Orlando was granted a team because of this area’s unwavering support in that respect. I have no doubt that this number will be easily exceeded this time around!”

The man definitely has prior experience with this sort of thing, and Orlando may have an advantage in having Williams as their outspoken advocate, especially compared to the other cities listed above.

Also, as mentioned before, the city’s tourism is a real impact. In 2017, Orlando broke its travel record, generating 72 million visitors that year. However, the city that’s home to the mecca Walt Disney park broke its record again the very next year, receiving 75 million visitors in 2018.

With that massive influx of people visiting Orlando every year, providing another piece of entertainment seems like a no-brainer.

Considering Walt Disney’s most active months fall right in line with the MLB season — April through September — an Orlando MLB team should be able to easily draw a respectable percentage of those tourists, as the city is essentially the size of New York City (by population) during those summer months.

It may seem like such a raw assumption, but it makes perfect sense why someone would feel so strongly about taking on this project. The numbers are there.

But in the end I’m afraid that’s all it is — a project, a pipedream that will never come to fruition. It seems that the combination of the state’s current troubles with MLB attendance, coupled with the lack of real interest from MLB’s brass will wind up being the death of this proposal.

For me, I’m all for expansion and allowing the game to grow. But I’m certainly not interested in another crowd-less team, stuck playing home games in an empty stadium.

If MLB wants to expand the league, they must select a city that will properly support it, and I’m just not too sure Orlando can consistently do that. For now, though, it’s at least a fun topic to debate.