As the Tampa Bay Rays and the Oakland Athletics struggle to fill their stadiums, and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred refers to baseball as being baseball 2″a growth business” where “expansion may be possible” the time is now to bring Major League Baseball to Portland, Oregon.
We need your help!
By signing the petition at MustLoveBaseball.com we can show Major League Baseball Portland is the right city for an MLB team – whether by relocation or expansion.
Let’s consider these facts for a second:
- Portland is the 24th largest TV market, ahead of Kansas City, Baltimore, Cincinnati, and Milwaukee
- With a population of over 620,000 in the city limits, Portland outranks Atlanta, Milwaukee, Kansas City, Oakland, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Tampa Bay, St, Louis, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati -while lagging Boston, Seattle and Baltimore by less than 50,000 people
- Oregon is the home to over 800 athletic and outdoor companies employing over 14,000 sports-minded, passionate people
- 70% of the estimated three million residents of the entire Portland metropolitan area are between the ages of 20 and 64 – the prime audience for baseball attendance metrics.
The last point is one of great importance when determining if residents of Portland could fill a baseball stadium for 81 nights a year.
“We are talking about an age group that is mobile, has the money and is begging for entertainment,” says Dr. Lynn Lashbrook, President of Sports Management Worldwide.
“Portland is a growing West Coast city with a young, savvy, high-tech crowd.”
Not only is Portland a young, mobile city, it’s a passionate sports city. Over the last five years the Portland Trail Blazers have ranked 5th in the NBA by average nightly attendance with over 19,800 filling up the Moda Center. Since their debut in 2009, the Portland Timbers have ranked 6th in MLS with an average attendance of 21,142 – otherwise known as maximum capacity of Providence Park – while their season ticket waiting list is 12,000 deep.
Dr. Lashbrook, architect Barry Smith and former Major League Scout Larry D’Amato continue to spearhead the effort to bring MLB to Portland, hiring consultants to review stadium proposals and local demographics. All of the consultants have left the City of Roses convinced.
“Not one consultant, out of the 20 people that have been in over the last three years, have said that we are wasting our time with our vision, because baseball is going to expand if they don’t relocate, and Portland is the perfect place for them to do it,” says Dr. Lashbrook emphatically.
Help us in our quest to bring MLB to Portland – sign the petition today.