Six cities are in the mix for the next round of Major League Baseball expansion, with Salt Lake City described as the most advanced bid for a West Coast franchise.
The candidate list includes Salt Lake City and Portland, Oregon, in the west, and Nashville, Orlando, Raleigh and Montreal on the east. Commissioner Rob Manfred has said he wants both a West Coast and an East Coast franchise in place before his retirement in January 2029, with the expected timeline calling for an expansion committee to be preparing to review bids by September 2028.
Salt Lake City’s advantage comes from a stadium plan already in motion. The Larry H. Miller Company is prepared to commit $3.5 billion to build a new stadium and mixed-use development in the Power District just west of downtown, and the state of Utah has approved $900 million in public funding to cover roughly half of the stadium cost. The Miller family previously owned the NBA’s Utah Jazz for more than three decades.
Portland has state-backed potential funding for a stadium and a site earmarked for the field, but no committed ownership group. That gap is the single largest obstacle to its bid; if Portland lands an anchor investor able to cover the portion of stadium costs not covered by state government and pay the expected multi-billion-dollar expansion fee, it would move closer to challenging Salt Lake City.
On the east side, Nashville had been treated as a presumed frontrunner but is being held back by the absence of a committed owner, public financing plan and stadium site. Raleigh has moved into contention, with Trail Blazers owner Tom Dundon identified as the leading candidate to head an ownership group there. Orlando and Montreal round out the six-city list.
