Portland may have taken the lead for new MLB team

PublishedJune 26, 2025 8:39 PM EDT•UpdatedJune 26, 2025 8:40 PM EDT

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Cities across the country are lining up in an attempt to woo an existing or expansion Major League Baseball franchise. 

There have already been several strong candidates to emerge in the early going. A group in Salt Lake City announced way back in 2023 that it was intent on bringing a team to Utah, even releasing renderings of what a new stadium could look like.

Then there's Austin, which offers high incomes, a young, desirable demographic, corporate base, and a rapidly growing metro area. The Austin region has gone from just under 1.7 million people in 2015 to nearly 2.5 million in 2025, not including its proximity to another major city in San Antonio.

Efforts to bring a team to Nashville have gone as far as designing a logo for a prospective team. 

READ: Potential Nashville MLB Expansion Team Releases Logo

But what teams, and the league itself, care about most isn't just market size, income, or growth, it's getting free money from local taxpayers. And that's where one potential destination may have distinguished itself this week. 

Aerial view of Willamet River running through downtown Portland Skyline, Oregon. (Photo by: Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Oregon Governor Signs Off On Bill To Bring MLB To Portland 

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek on Thursday signed a bill passed by the state legislature that would give up to $800 million in financing help for a potential MLB stadium in the Portland area. The bill has a somewhat unique design, which would take income taxes from the prospective team and top employees to pay off bonds over a 30-year period.

While the financing is a huge, important hurdle to bringing a potential expansion team, or even a team relocating from a different city, it doesn't necessarily mean baseball fans in the area should start celebrating.

The $800 million is nowhere close to the necessary construction costs for a modern ballpark, meaning an interested owner would still have to arrange financing for likely at least another $700 million-$1 billion. Especially considering a ballpark in Portland would necessitate a retractable roof. That's on top of paying MLB's $2 billion expansion fee. And dealing with whatever hurdles remain at the site of the potential stadium in the southwestern part of the city.

Not to mention that Portland's reputation deservedly remains poor. The city, like Seattle, became a hotbed of extremist violence and crime in 2020. The city's downtown, once a thriving destination, is now blighted by empty storefronts as businesses gave up after waves of vandalism and attacks were supported by local progressive politicians. Oregon and Portland have shown little interest in reforming their destructive policies, making it a potentially less desirable option.

Still, it's a big step forward to give out $800 million, and Portland's much closer to bringing in a team than it was before the bill was passed. There's a long way to go, with expansion unlikely until at least 2029, but you can't fault the city for trying.