Portland mentioned again as possible MLB town (Eugene, Beaver: real estate, condos)

[PNW-type-gal]

$14 million for the property is one thing, but a quick internet search says recent stadium construction costs are between $250 million and $1.6 billion. I can't see Portland voters agreeing to fund any of that.

Google some of the news about the new football stadium in Las Vegas, where apparently polls show that something like 58% of residents aren't willing to fund it - which is why bonds were approved at the legislative level without public vote. I don't think the Oregon legislature will roll over quite the same way the Nevada one was on that topic.

[Yankeemama]

Originally Posted by Merry Lee Gather

They put an unsolicited offer on the school district HQ near the Moda Center for the MLB site. The school district is going to mull it over on Thursday. I think it's a brilliant spot for it and the school district should talk to the Zidell yards developers or vice versa about relocating to the Innovation Quadrant (IQ). Educators should be tied in with all that. I can imagine the possibilities.

Major League Baseball backers offer to buy two close-in Portland sites for stadium | OregonLive.com

Interesting idea! I just read this article last night and it’s a great concept but so many people here don’t watch baseball. I bleed Orange and Black for SF Giants but a stadium would bring me in town weekly to watch baseball. Plus, many of us from “away” would still bring up our kids to appreciate their home team so merch sales would be decent. A rivalry under one roof can be a good thing. If MLB came to Portland...my life would be complete.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

$14 million for the property is one thing, but a quick internet search says recent stadium construction costs are between $250 million and $1.6 billion. I can't see Portland voters agreeing to fund any of that.

Google some of the news about the new football stadium in Las Vegas, where apparently polls show that something like 58% of residents aren't willing to fund it - which is why bonds were approved at the legislative level without public vote. I don't think the Oregon legislature will roll over quite the same way the Nevada one was on that topic.

The U of O is planning to spend over $200 million just to renovate and install 12,000 seats at Hayward Field for track: University of Oregon rolls out a space-age design for a new Hayward Field | OregonLive.com and that is on an existing site with an existing track so no major street work, parking, utilities re-routing etc. that comes with major new construction.

There is probably zero chance that a brand new 35-40,000 seat baseball stadium build from ground-up to major league standards will cost less than $1 billion. Given this is the Pacific Northwest I'm guessing that any stadium would have a retractable roof so probably closer to $1.5 billion conservatively.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by Merry Lee Gather

They put an unsolicited offer on the school district HQ near the Moda Center for the MLB site. The school district is going to mull it over on Thursday. I think it's a brilliant spot for it and the school district should talk to the Zidell yards developers or vice versa about relocating to the Innovation Quadrant (IQ). Educators should be tied in with all that. I can imagine the possibilities.

Major League Baseball backers offer to buy two close-in Portland sites for stadium | OregonLive.com

That part of I-5 is already the most congested in Portland where it comes down to 2-lanes. I can't even imagine what traffic will be like with 40,000 fans trying to get to the stadium at 6 pm for an evening game on the average weekday. Yes there is a MAX station right there but still. I'm guessing that baseball would be trying to reach a wider regional audience from all of Oregon rather than the more local inner city hipster audience that frequents Timbers games.

Of course there is probably no place anywhere in the greater metro area where you could drop a 40,000 seat baseball stadium and not create major traffic and parking hassles.

[harrishawke]

Baseball is in a decline and unless an existing team is willing to help fund a stadium, I doubt there will be any momentum to build one.

[Minervah]

Baseball on the decline? Some people don’t think so. People in Cleveland and Chicago certainly don’t. Go Tribe!

https://www.azcentral.com/story/spor...ort/832852001/

[PNW-type-gal]

TV ratings and stadium attendance are definitely down for major league sports. Maybe there is a market or two where that isn't true. It's not just NFL, either, it is also NBA, MLB, NHL, NASCAR. The only sport that has picked up viewers is soccer (English Premier League) and that is most likely because they are actually broadcasting them real-time in the US now, it used to be catch-as-catch-can.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other...ans/ss-BBEBT7V

[take57]

Like daffodil's that spring up this time of year, so too blossoms the chatter of Major League Baseball in Portland. It will wilt in roughly the same time frame as the aforementioned flowers.

The circle of life and all that crap...

[Merrily Gather]

Did anyone read the updates on this yesterday? It sounds like they really want it and they're coming here.

They offered 80 million but it may be valued at 110 million and they're willing to negotiate the difference and pay for a new headquarters for the school district elsewhere. The school district doesn't want to relocate because they're centrally located with the best reach to all their schools where they're at but they'd get new offices designed to their specified needs. They want a good relationship with the school district. The developers also have to jump through more hoops on the east side property with city council and rezoning. The school district says they're going to continue to think about it after Thursday and get an independent estimate on their property.

In addition to that they said they don't need public funding for building a stadium here though 150 million has already been set aside in our budget for the potential of one according to the article. It seems they're going to build it with private funds similar to what the Las Vegas Golden Knights did with starting a new Hockey team with the NHL. They didn't do public solicitation like the Raiders with the NFL. Which makes sense because prior articles said these developers who want to come to the Portland market have the opportunity to either bring a team like the Raiders from Oakland or start a new one like what the Vegas Golden Knights did. It's leaning towards starting a new MLB team in Portland if they're dumping their own funding into it like the owner of the Vegas Golden Knights did. I was there for that and we had a lot of fun with participating in the creation of a new franchise. The reveal was exciting and it created a real home grown hockey fan base there in the desert of all places. I think if they did that same model here organically I'd be a fan from day one! My brothers played baseball and soccer and football growing up so I always supported them. I was the only one that played basketball.

The article mentions that the developers also made a simultaneous offer on the NW industrial park area that's no longer in use. It has a better chance of going through and it's on the Providence Park west side so there's that.

They're really making an almost to good to be true deal for the school district imho because they really want that deal for the location and more transportation options. The market isn't what it used to be. I'm wondering if they're thinking that by getting in now they'll get a better deal in this city than if they waited longer?

Major League Baseball backers offer Portland Public Schools $80M for headquarters | OregonLive.com

[karlsch]

[quote=Merry Lee Gather;51675184].....................
In addition to that they said they don't need public funding for building a stadium here though 150 million has already been set aside in our budget for the potential of one according to the article. [quote]

150 million has not been set aside in the state budget. Construction bonds have to be sold to raise the money. Many contingencies: Oregon Ballpark Financing -- SB 5 (formerly HB 3606) • Oregon Stadium Campaign

I'd like to see the contingencies for the two offers they have made. So far, they don't even have a team.

No mention of where the half billion or so dollars are coming from to build the stadium.