Bring Major League Baseball to Portland

Bring Major League Baseball to Portland

It’s a warm, summer’s day and you have nothing to do--why not go check out a ball game? Wait a minute! Portland doesn’t have a baseball team. If you have lived in Portland your whole life and are a fan of baseball, you’ve probably wondered why we don’t have a Major League Baseball team. Portland is the largest metropolitan area in the nation without a MLB franchise, and it’s the largest city with only one major professional sports team. Every time I want to watch a professional baseball game, I have to drive three hours to Seattle to watch the Mariners play. I, (like many other Portlanders), would rather drive 20 minutes to see my hometown team play. In getting a team in Portland there would be many new jobs opening up. The revenue the team would bring in is astounding. It also rains less during the baseball season in Portland than in 16 other cities that have Major League teams. Portland should be chosen as the next city for a Major League Baseball team because it would make the economy in Portland better, create jobs for people, and the rainfall here is less than in 16 other cities with teams during the season.

The first reason that Portland should have a Major League team is that it would make the economy better. People in Oregon always ask who will pay for the stadium and if it will take money away from the education. The funding for the stadium will not be diverted from crucial rural or other state projects. In fact, revenue generated by an MLB team will contribute to the State's general fund and be available for education, social services and other valuable programs. The money used to start the stadium would come from income taxes paid by MLB players and managers of the Portland franchise as well as the visiting players’ incomes. A portion of the money earned by the organization would also be shared with Oregon’s education. Additional visitors from out of state would also increase revenue from hotel and airport taxes, and generally increase tourism dollars statewide. A new stadium would raise surrounding property values and spark economic development. The precedent has been set elsewhere. Property in the surrounding area of Coors Field in Denver has jumped from $10/foot to $80/foot since the opening of the stadium.1

The second reason a Major League team would be good for Portland is because it would create a lot of jobs. There would be over 200 full-time jobs available and more than 1,400 part-time jobs would be open for supporting the construction project. Portland has had one of the highest rates of unemployment over the past seven years and this would help that statistic drastically. In the first year of its operation, Baltimore's Camden Yards pumped more than $52.8 million into