Details on the latest pitch to bring an MLB team to Orlando
Will Major League Baseball ever come to Central Florida?
Well, that’s exactly what Orlando Magic co-founder Pat Williams is pushing for. Williams held a news conference Wednesday to announce the Orlando Dreamers, his pitch to bring baseball to Orlando.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, it’s not Williams first attempt to get baseball to Orlando. He previously attempted to get an expansion team in 1990.
MLB later put franchises in Miami and St. Petersburg. The Miami Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays, though, were examples of where baseball hasn’t worked, Williams said Wednesday.
“This market is different,” Williams said.
Williams said Orlando could draw three million fans due to the amount of tourists who visit the city each year.
The Rays, despite fielding a regular contending team during the past decade, have struggled with attendance at Tropicana Field, because of its location in St. Petersburg in comparison to Tampa. There was a failed attempt at securing a future stadium in Ybor City, and there are reports the Rays are working on a plan to share home games with Montreal in the future.
In either case, the 79-year-old Williams did not discuss at length about luring the Rays from the Tampa Bay area down the I-4 corridor to Orlando.
The Rays still have eight years left on their lease at the Trop.
The focus of Williams new conference was to unveil the team’s logo, hat, T-Shirt and a website, OrlandoDreamers.com, to give fans a platform to show “how badly this community wants to do this,” according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Williams told media members that he left a message for MLB commissioner Rob Manfred about Wednesday’s announcement.
