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I absolutely disagree that the Charlotte area couldn't support a MLB team. The demographics are there, the population and general growth rate is there, the weather/climate is there, there's a large chunk of the middle of the year that has no NFL or NBA games going on. There's great March -October weather. The exact same reasons that are being given on this thread of what we couldn't support a team were given when were were seeking NBA and NFL teams are being used for MLB now. The NBA and NFL detractors were proven totally wrong. I think the same would be for MLB.
The city of Charlotte itself has about 900,000 residents (2019 est.). The metro area has about 2.6 million (2019 est.). 50 mile radius 2.9 million. 75 mile radius 4.6 million. 100 mile radius 7.7 million. The per-year growth rate is 2.3%.
With Charlotte already having consistently successful NFL and NBA teams in terms of fan support, there’s a void in the Spring and Summer months with no major league sports for residents to enjoy. Minor league baseball is popular there and heavily attended by families. MLB would THRIVE! There's no indication at all that this wouldn't be the case.
Pittsburgh (NFL, MLB, NHL) and Cleveland (NFL, NBA, MLB) has 3 sports that are well supported. Pittsburgh metro is smaller than Charlotte metro and Cleveland metro is about the same size as Charlotte metro. Yet both Pittsburgh and Cleveland are losing population and Charlotte (with just 2 teams) has a very healthy 2.3% yearly growth rate with no slowdown in sight.
The Charlotte area has a Purchasing Power Index Score 8% below the national average, by far one of the best in the nation among metro areas with over 1 million residents. Better than Nashville and Las Vegas. MUCH better than Portland. This mean a wider variety of residents have more disposable income to spend. Baseball is popular in the South and MLB tickets are some of the most affordable in all of major league sports.
The only thing that I can see that would be a negative for an MLB team is the new BB&T Park not being expandable to a MLB level in terms of size/seating. That might be something that could really hurt us. Too, there are other cities wanting a team. I personally think that Charlotte is the best fit overall compared to other cities considering the stats stated above. I hope we get one. Whether we do or not remains to be seen.
Pittsburgh (NFL, MLB, NHL) and Cleveland (NFL, NBA, MLB) has 3 sports that are well supported. Pittsburgh metro is smaller than Charlotte metro and Cleveland metro is about the same size as Charlotte metro. Yet both Pittsburgh and Cleveland are losing population and Charlotte (with just 2 teams) has a very healthy 2.3% yearly growth rate with no slowdown in sight.
While I agree with almost everything you said, I do see many people bring up "smaller markets" that have 3 out of 4 of the Big 4 Major League sports in the US, for a reason Charlotte can also have 3 major league teams as well.
The only thing that I would add, is that many of those cities mentioned with 3 teams already also had some of their teams for a very long time and sports business dynamics in the US has changed drastically!
My point being, if Pittsburgh or Cleveland had only 2 major league teams, how likely would it be today in 2019 of them getting a third? In a weird way, those cities sort of "lucked out" and have been grandfathered in having so many major league teams in their metro area.
You could also probably add Buffalo, who is the smallest market with 2 out of the 4 major league sports, for being grandfathered in, because no way do they get 2 major league teams in 2019.
Nashville doesn't want it. 2 leaders right now would probably be Montreal and Portland. Wouldn't count out Vegas though.
The Las Vegas metro is roughly the same size as Charlotte's (slightly smaller), but unlike Charlotte, outside of that metro it's empty desert, whereas there are millions more people within the 50- or 100-mile radius around Charlotte. Also, there's a ton of other activities going on in Vegas to keep people entertained. They don't need baseball for entertainment. So I don't see Vegas as having a greater chance than Charlotte for getting a team.
I've never once thought this city was a good fit for the MLB. Between the Panthers PSL holders, the Hornets season ticket holders, and other sporting and even non-sporting entertainment dollars, an MLB team is pushing it really thin. 80 some home games a year, most of them in the dead of summer too. Maybe in another 15-20 years I'll change my mind, but right now I think major-league wise Charlotte is a perfect 2-sport town. Nothing wrong with that at all.
You have a good point there. I was also thinking along the same lines. There are so many more games per season with baseball versus football, and stadiums that are several times larger than the arenas where basketball is played. I live in San Diego. My gym overlooks Petco Park where the Padres play. That stadium gets fairly full on weekends, but really the only time it's guaranteed to be packed is when the Dodgers come to play. And that's a no-brainer because it's a fairly short trip for Dodgers fans to come down from L.A. But for a typical non-Dodgers game during the weekdays the stadium is mostly empty. We have no NBA team. We have no NHL team. We've lost the Chargers. So the only major league sports team we have is our Padres. I worry that could go, too. And this is a larger metro than Charlotte.
North Carolina and South Carolina combined can support a Major League Baseball team based in Charlotte. When would Major League Baseball want to expand the American League and the National League?
North Carolina and South Carolina combined can support a Major League Baseball team based in Charlotte. When would Major League Baseball want to expand the American League and the National League?
Except that states don't really support baseball teams, cities do, especially for midweek games. No one is driving from Charleston or Wilmington for a Tuesday night game.
The short answer to the "when" question is no time soon. MLB has said Oakland and Tampa need new stadiums before expansion will be considered, and the Commissioner, who turns 61 this year, has said he "hopes" to be around long enough to see expansion occur.
Except that states don't really support baseball teams, cities do, especially for midweek games. No one is driving from Charleston or Wilmington for a Tuesday night game.
The short answer to the "when" question is no time soon. MLB has said Oakland and Tampa need new stadiums before expansion will be considered, and the Commissioner, who turns 61 this year, has said he "hopes" to be around long enough to see expansion occur.
I discussed that numerous times here on C-D. MLB and even the NHL and NBA are different animals as compared to the NFL. With the NFL you have 2 preseason and 8 regular season games, with the regular season games played mainly on Sunday afternoons, yes, your team might have that random Thursday, Monday, or Saturday game, but for the most part you can probably live as far out as 2-3 hours away and still have season tickets for an NFL team.
A MLB, NHL, and NBA season ticket holder will probably be living less than an hour away, and that's with traffic. Will people in Columbia, Greenville, Asheville, Greensboro, the Triangle, Winston-Salem, etc. buy like a 10-game flex pass for mostly weekend games for a MLB team in Charlotte, sure, but it's those midweek night games that you really need the locals to fill those seats.
And as others have mentioned, there is this thing called the "sports dollar" or entertainment dollar, and it's not unlimited. Depending on the size of a metroplex and how many of the major league teams there are, that "sports dollar" could be spread really thin. And you also have to think of corporate sponsors and their willingness to buy all those uber expensive luxury boxes and spend big marketing bucks on a team. Those corporate sponsors can also be spread pretty thin as well, depending on how many teams and how many corps (both large and small) a metroplex has.
The MLB Commissioner announced last year that the two top expansion cities were Montreal and Charlotte. Charlotte is the largest metro in the US without MLB. Charlotte has more corporate headquarters than other cities without teams. Most of the support for MLB games comes from within a 30 minute to one hour drive. Charlotte has the led the minor leagues in attendance in attendance in 4 of last 5 years. So, Charlotte is the largest market in the US without MLB and has led the minors in attendance.
But Charlotte has a new minor league park so it is not interested. I know cause I have talked with the city about it. Charlotte is content to wait another 20 years for the next expansion. It makes no sense to me. Charlotte with a metro population of 2.6 million supports the NBA and NFL. Denver with 2.9 million supports the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, and MLS.
But it appears that Tepper has plans for MLS so I cannot believe the city will not
support him. So maybe it is best to wait 20 more years. That is especially true since BB&T ballpark is still 10 years from a payoff.
This will probably thrust Portland to the best city in the US along with Montreal. MLB is not moving to Orlando, San Antonio or Sacramento cause of the number of teams already in those states.
^ If the right owner wanted to bring MLB to Charlotte, I'm sure the city would be interested. There just isn't enough tourism tax dollars to go around subsidizing stadiums for NFL, NBA, etc.... in a city the size of Charlotte. If somebody wanted to come in, self-finance a stadium, and bring a team I'm sure the city would support it. Offering $1 billion to build the stadium at taxpayer expense for the billionaire owner.... probably won't happen until NFL and NBA have gotten their millions in subsidies.
^ If the right owner wanted to bring MLB to Charlotte, I'm sure the city would be interested. There just isn't enough tourism tax dollars to go around subsidizing stadiums for NFL, NBA, etc.... in a city the size of Charlotte. If somebody wanted to come in, self-finance a stadium, and bring a team I'm sure the city would support it. Offering $1 billion to build the stadium at taxpayer expense for the billionaire owner.... probably won't happen until NFL and NBA have gotten their millions in subsidies.
So true, just look at what the A's and Rays have gone through over the past 5-8 years trying to get their new stadiums built. There's not too many "Cobb Counties" out there willing to give a team $400 million to move there. I've been reading Oregonlive.com about Portland's ballpark plans, and depending on how serious they are, it seems like they are in a good position to either get a relocated A's team or an expansion team.
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In a weird way, those cities sort of "lucked out" and have been grandfathered in having so many major league teams in their metro area. 
