What is the Orlando Dreamers stadium proposal? MLB expansion talks heat up after ambitious announcement

The city of Orlando, Florida has been gearing up for an MLB expansion for quite some now. In 2019, Pat Williams, the founder of Orlando Magic expressed his desire to lure the Tampa Bay Rays or bring a new baseball team by the name of "Orlando Dreamers" to Central Florida. Recently, the media got the first look of a proposed dome-shaped new stadium in Orlando.

The proposed stadium is going to be a $1.7 billion project. It also called for $700 million in private funds and nearly a billion dollars in public financing through the Tourist Development Tax (TDT), a resort tax on tourists that brings in millions of dollars for tourism development. This is going to be the single-largest private financing amount for an MLB stadium in the history of baseball.

Officials stated that the tourist district on International Drive is their preferred choice of location for the stadium, which is being planned to hold about 45,000 fans.

Williams credit to four factors to help an MLB franchise in Orlando a reality - the marketplace, the ballpark, the front office staff and the owner. He also stated that it can generate an estimated $40 billion in revenue for Central Florida over the next 30 years.

A professional baseball team in Orlando can happen two ways - either a team like Tampa Bay Rays move to their new location or MLB can expand its roster of teams.

It is expected that talks regarding the expansion of MLB in Orlando will continue and they will eventually get an MLB team in the future.

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Cities that could be next on the list for MLB expansion

MLB is looking to expand their teams

MLB has long since been interested in expanding to 32 teams just like the Orlando Dreamers. They have been seeking an expansion of a team to the east of the Mississippi River and one to the west.

With the Oakland Athletics possibly relocating to Las Vegas, there are strong contenders. These include Charlotte, Nashville and Montreal in the east and Portland and Salt Lake City in the west. Out of these, only Nashville has a strong chance as a competitor with Orlando in the east. Montreal is not expected to have a baseball team due to previous problems with the MLB while Charlotte does not have any news of any development regarding a baseball team.