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LAYTON — Salt Lake City is pretty much out of the running when it comes to the future home of the Oakland Athletics, as the team announced last month that it had signed a binding agreement to buy land for a new stadium in Las Vegas.
The stadium is planned to open in 2027, barring any setbacks, but can Big League Utah's recent bid to bring an MLB team to the state potentially draw in another major league club?
Steve Starks, the CEO of the Larry H. Miller Company, said the coalition still has its sights on an expansion team; however, speaking at the One Utah Summit on Tuesday, he noted that it could "potentially" bring in a team relocating from elsewhere.
It's unclear whether a team has reached out to Big League Utah since it publicly launched on April 12; KSL.com reached out to the coalition on Wednesday but has not received a response by press time.
The Tampa Bay Rays are currently the only club whose future home city is in limbo, according to MLB and multiple media reports, now that the A's future is all but settled. That said, the Las Vegas move still isn't a done deal.
The land agreement is contingent on a $500 million tax incentive that the Nevada Assembly would have to approve by June 5, and there hasn't been a "concrete" proposal sent to the legislation yet, the Nevada Independent reported Wednesday.
"If something was going to happen, it really should have been in place last week," Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager told the outlet, adding that the state government may "run out of time" before the end of its current legislative session.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said last month that he believes he could see Salt Lake City offering "something like" the reported Nevada incentives package when he was asked what Utah might offer to attract an MLB team last month. He said Utah wouldn't pay for a stadium outright but could offer incentives that "alleviate some of the costs around a stadium" should Utah land a team someday.
When she announced Utah's intentions last month, Gail Miller, the owner of the Larry H. Miller Company, said the coalition is seeking to be considered "an expansion market." Of course, it wouldn't be the first time Salt Lake City became a relocation destination for a major sports franchise if a team resettles in the Beehive State. The New Orleans Jazz moved to Utah in 1979 and has continued to thrive in Utah's capital.
Most of Starks' message at Tuesday's event centered around the same argument made when Big League Utah launched. The state is growing along with a strong and stable economy, and has a "shovel-ready" site picked out in Salt Lake City's new Power District.
It also has the highest median income of any of the other markets vying for an expansion team. On top of that, Salt Lake City is already positioned in the middle of most of the flight paths when MLB teams travel West, making it a "geographical fit."
He also talked more about the MLB meeting last year, noting that MLB came prepared when the Larry H. Miller Company arrived in New York City to meet with MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and other top league executives.
"Major League Baseball was really positive on our state. It was obvious to us that they had done their work on Utah," Starks said. "They knew about us, they knew about the great things happening in the state, so over the past year, we've had the chance to build quite the coalition."
It's still unclear what the timeline is for when MLB will expand from 30 to 32 franchises. The league is still focusing more attention on its current teams, setting a January 2024 deadline for both the Athletics and Rays to have a binding deal in place in regard to their respective homes, according to ESPN.
Contributing: Logan Stefanich
