Major League Baseball in Salt Lake City? (2013 edition)

The Colorado Rockies and the Seattle Mariners played the final 2013 Spring Training game at Spring Mobile Ballpark in Salt Lake.  The game sold out in 40 minutes.  This does not really mean that Salt Lake is closer to having a Major League franchise, but the Wasatch Front may be closer to this reality than a lot of people think.  It may be just as far away as some others lament.

If MLB expands to 32 teams, in 2016 as some people predict, would Salt Lake City be one of the two cities named?

Personally, I am not holding my breath waiting for the Bigs to settle permanently in Utah.  Here are the arguments for and against Major League Baseball in Salt Lake.

Arguments for:

-The Salt Lake City Combined Metro is now listed as 1.7 million in population.  This no longer includes the Provo/Orem area, which is counted by the Census Bureau as a separate metro.  But nearly all of Salt Lake's media goes into the Utah Valley, so why not count those in Provo as well?  Add another 526,000 and that puts the Wasatch Front at 2.23 million and growing.  This means that Salt Lake City has a higher population than Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Nashville and Buffalo who have 2 major sports teams.  If you look at city population alone, Salt Lake may be ready to give the Jazz company.

-The Salt Lake Bees have been one of the best supported AAA franchises since moving to SLC in 1993.

-Salt Lake City is the largest big city for hundreds of miles in each direction.  Fans could come to Salt Lake from as far away as Boise to enjoy big league baseball in Utah.

-The Utah Jazz, in spite of a few down years, continue to be one of the model of small-market success.

-I can't find anything to confirm nor deny this; however, it does seem like Spring Mobile Ballpark could be expanded to major league size.  It would have to be roughly doubled in size over it's current 15,500 seat capacity.

Arguments against:

-Salt Lake City is just one of, perhaps, a half dozen cities that could support a Major League Baseball team.  Vancouver, Canada is larger than Salt Lake.  Salt Lake is comparable in size to Portland, Oregon and Charlotte, North Carolina; who would also be interested in getting an expansion team.  Las Vegas is also similar in size and does not have a single major sports franchise.  Same goes for the Virginia Beach/Hampton Roads area of Virginia, who also does not have a major sports team and is slightly larger than Salt Lake City.  The Austin Texas area is slightly smaller than Salt Lake and does not have any sports teams either.  Finally, Sacramento, California; should they actually loose the Kings, may turn their attention to attracting Baseball to California's capital city.  Sooner or later, baseball will expand south of the border to Monterrey or Mexico City.

It is also arguable that New York and Los Angeles are markets that could easily support a 3rd baseball team.  During the golden age of baseball, before Major League teams moved west, New York easily supported 3 baseball teams.  Why not today?  The inland empire of California, the Riverside/San Bernardino/Redlands area, though close to Los Angeles, is the largest metro in the US without any big sports teams. The Yankees play in the Bronx and the Mets play in Queens.  If someone could find the land and cut through the red tape, a stadium and team in Manhattan would work, but most think that Northern New Jersey would be better.

-The other sport in America that is gaining traction is Soccer.  And Salt Lake is home to Major League Soccer's Real Salt Lake.  However, the addition of Soccer in Utah has not really seemed to diminish support for the Bees.  But would Major League Baseball in Salt Lake hurt Real at the gate?  That is something that someone would need to explore.

-The weather in April is not always conducive to good baseball.  Even though Salt Lake is a desert, there have been times when the AAA Bees have led the minors in rain outs.  Usually the snow in the valley stops by Mother's Day, but weather can be miserable in Salt Lake all May long.  And the monsoon-driven thunderstorms in August usually hit in the evening.   Those who want to bring Major League baseball may want to consider putting a retractable roof on that Stadium.

-Sunday play.  The LDS Church, the dominant religion in the area, discourages members from participating in recreation on Sunday.  The Bees see their smallest crowds on Sunday afternoons.

Steps for Major League Baseball in Salt Lake:

-An owner, or ownership group needs to be found.  It was once said that Larry Miller dreamed of bringing Major League Baseball to Salt Lake.  Do his survivors have this same dream?  What about another family that has more money than they know what to do with?  Sports teams, at best, break even.  It would have to be someone who has other business interests to balance out the investment in baseball?

-A stadium site needs to be found.  The site of Spring Mobile Ballpark is great for baseball, with views of the mountains beyond center field.  It's a major-league worthy view.  It seems logical that a third deck can be added to the park that would fit withing the footprints of the current stadium, with the grass berm in the outfield replaced by seats.  I would think that the roof, if added, could be like the roof at Safeco Field.  It could be placed on tracks and moved over main street when not in use.

Parking around the stadium would need to be increased, the parking lot directly north of the stadium could have 3 or 4 levels added to it.  UTA would need to plan on having more train cars and more trains on game day.

If Spring Mobile Ballpark can't be expanded, another site would need to be found.  That may be more difficult to deal with than it sounds at first.  Look at all the trouble Real had in getting their stadium built.  There are many great sites that would work.  But, in my opinion, some all-but-abandoned shopping centers would be great sites.  It would need to be a site that has easy access to the interstates and to the trains in the valleys.  And you still may need to use Spring Mobile Ballpark as a temporary field.  The best option, the one with the fewest questions is to expand the current stadium. 

Finally, who will pay for all of this?  This is the most difficult question to answer. No doubt, some of the cost of the stadium expansion would need to come from taxpayer dollars.  That would be, at best, controversial.

It may be easier to bring baseball to Salt Lake than it would be to put a 3rd team in New York, but that does not mean that it is the right thing to do.  Currently, greater London has 7 out of 20 English Premier League teams (Tottenham, Chelsea, Fulham, Arsenal, Queen's Park, Aston Villa and West Ham).  A balance like this helps keep the spending of Chelsea and Arsenal to reasonable levels.  A 3rd baseball team in New York and a 3rd baseball team in Los Angeles would curb the spending power that the Yankees, Dodgers, Angels and Mets have.  It gives star players who crave a big market another option.  Where expansion to Salt Lake or some other smaller city would have no effect on the big spenders in baseball.  And as Jazz fans can attest to, smaller market teams have trouble attracting and keeping big stars.

I would think, however, that baseball would rather not have the controversy of a 3rd team in the bigger cities.  But playing in a nearly-empty stadium one day per week is not something that baseball wants, either.  I doubt that Salt Lake is at the top of the list.  I think that, perhaps, Charlotte would be.  That would make Charlotte the smallest city in America with a 3rd sports team.  But baseball, football and basketball overlap, but not enough to make a difference.  From late April to late August, baseball is the only game in town.  I guess the 2nd expansion team would be in Central Texas, either Austin which would get it's first major sports franchise or San Antonio for it's second.  Vancouver, Canada; Monterrey, Mexico; and Las Vegas are probably ahead of Salt Lake.  Doesn't mean that baseball in Salt Lake won't happen.  It just means that in this round of expansion, it's unlikely.

In the meantime, we have some good basketball and good soccer played every week in the Salt Lake Valley, we see the best talent in these sports right here.  The Bees are still a good diversion.  We are on the doorstep of world-class skiing and other outdoor activities.  And some of the most outworldly scenery on this planet is less than a tankful of gas away.  The fish still bite and fight.  All in all, there is plenty for the Utah sports fan to do.  I would love big league baseball to come here.  But if it goes elsewhere, I can live without it.