Salt Lake City may have already solved the problem that almost derailed the Athletics’ move to Las Vegas. The A’s spent years fighting to get a ballpark deal across the finish line, while Utah already has its proposed MLB home under development. According to an insider, that progress is why the city is ahead in the expansion race.
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“The city with the most compelling case for MLB expansion right now: Salt Lake City,” ESPN reporter Jeff Passan posted on X. “It’s got an owner. It’s got a public-private partnership to fund a stadium. And it’s got a site that’s already being developed. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox talked with us about how far ahead SLC is.”
“We’ve already done the thing that is the hardest part to do,” the Governor claimed.
The Larry H. Miller Company is the owner behind the project and has already pledged $3.5 billion in funding for the stadium and a 100-acre, mixed-use development. Additionally, $900 million in support from the state of Utah will help cover part of the ballpark’s cost.
“The Miller Group is designing the actual stadium right now. They have the design partners. We know what this is going to be, what this is going to look like,” Cox told Passan. “It’s going to take other municipalities and other states a long time to catch up just on that piece alone.”
Nashville, Orlando, Raleigh, Portland, and Montreal are also in the race. While each of them has its own set of advantages, Passan highlighted three criteria for a serious expansion bid: credible ownership, structured funding for the stadium, and a viable site for the same. And right now, Salt Lake City checks all the boxes.
The owner, Larry H. Miller, is particularly known for saving the Utah Jazz when the team was on the verge of being sold and relocated outside the state. The Miller family secured last-minute funding and announced an $8 million purchase of the team at the Salt Palace just minutes before the deadline.
He bought 50% of the shares in 1985 and the remaining in the following year to save them from moving out of Utah. That move and the way the Miller family has shepherded the Jazz for over three decades lend them considerable credibility as owners.
But Salt Lake City isn’t ahead in all aspects. The media market is one of their biggest challenges. This city in Utah ranks behind all the other contenders in this aspect, sitting 28th. While Nashville, Portland, and Raleigh aren’t too far ahead, Orlando and Montreal are playing in a different ballgame.
The city in Florida has a proposed site for the stadium, but it has yet to secure an owner or funding for the ballpark. However, it ranks 15th in terms of media market size. Montreal, on the other hand, doesn’t check any of the boxes Passan considered necessary. However, it ranks second in media market size in Canada. Still, the governor of the Big League Utah advisory board isn’t concerned about that.
“It’s not enough to just have a market. You have to have people within that market that actually care about the product. And that’s where Utah exceeds many of these other places,” Cox said in the interview. “We’ve proved it with the Utah Jazz, where the numbers – not just the media numbers, but all the numbers, all the spend, all the box seats and the sponsorships – are all more on par with a larger market.
“And I think that’s one thing that makes Utah really unique and really fascinating. It’s why we’ve gotten so much attention. I know it’s why the league is looking very seriously at us.”
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred had already declared his dream for a 32-team MLB format, and that needs one team each from the East and West Coast. But before they can confirm any expansion, MLB and MLBPA have to agree on a Collective Bargaining Agreement by December 1, 2026.
If that predicament is out of the way, Salt Lake City will make one of the strongest cases for MLB’s next expansion team.