What a Raleigh MLB bid would cost, and who would pay for it

A plan to help finance a projected $1.7 billion Raleigh ballpark is reportedly being left out of a state budget deal that North Carolina House and Senate leaders reached Sunday evening. The news dims, at least for now, the latest effort to bring Major League Baseball to the Triangle.

Lawmakers hope to vote on the spending plan this week. The baseball framework, championed by the Senate, fell to opposition from House leaders wary of committing public money to a stadium, WRAL reported. Lawmakers could revisit the idea in a standalone bill or a future budget.

The push for an MLB stadium is not going away anytime soon. The Carolina Hurricanes’ run to the 2026 Stanley Cup title revived a long-running question in Raleigh: Could the Triangle land an MLB team next?

The championship generated $13.4 million in economic impact for Wake County, according to figures released by Visit Raleigh. The Hurricanes’ June 20 downtown celebration drew an estimated 192,922 fans, according to the Downtown Raleigh Alliance, likely the largest single-day event in the city’s history. Supporters point to that turnout as evidence the region can support another major-league franchise.

Who is backing the team?

Tom Dundon, who owns the Hurricanes, has led the most visible push since first expressing interest in 2023. “We’re going to put ourselves in a really good place, and if they decide to expand, we’ll have a compelling offer,” he told WRAL after the Cup win.

Dundon is not alone. Marc Lasry, the co-founder and chief executive of Avenue Sports Fund and an investor in the National Women’s Soccer League’s NC Courage, told WRAL he wants to invest in a Raleigh team and would prefer to be the majority owner, though he would be willing to work with Dundon.

The state Department of Commerce has had conversations with interested investors dating back more than a year, the agency told WRAL. A grassroots organization, MLB Raleigh, has promoted a Triangle franchise since at least 2018.

Why Raleigh?

MLB Raleigh argues the region has much of what the league looks for in an expansion market: a population that rivals established MLB markets and is growing faster, the nation’s 22nd-largest television market — the biggest without a locally or regionally broadcast MLB team — and the distinction of being the wealthiest metropolitan area in the continental United States without a team within 100 miles.

Backers also cite the potential payoff. Mike Walden, an economist at North Carolina State University, has estimated that an MLB franchise in Raleigh or Charlotte could create 2,000 to 2,500 permanent jobs, generate more than $300 million in annual economic activity in the host county, and produce roughly $12 million a year in new public revenue for state and local governments.

Where would a stadium go?

The most-discussed site is the Lenovo District, roughly 80 acres of open land around Lenovo Center that the state-appointed Centennial Authority has agreed to lease to Dundon’s group for a $1 billion mixed-use development. 

The state has leverage there: North Carolina owns more than 1,000 acres adjacent to Lenovo Center, most of it undeveloped. Under the original Senate plan, a new public authority could lease state-owned land to build the stadium and a surrounding entertainment district, according to WRAL.

How much would it cost?

The Senate proposal pegged the stadium itself at $1.7 billion, a figure it attributed to independent financial models, per WRAL. The combined cost of acquiring an expansion franchise and building a stadium is projected at more than $4 billion.

For comparison, Yankee Stadium remains the most expensive ballpark ever built at about $3.4 billion, according to Front Office Sports.

What would taxpayers cover?

This was the heart of the fight. The Senate plan called for $500 million in state funding, with the rest drawn from local revenue, sports-gambling taxes, income-tax withholdings from players and performers at the facility, and a new sports-and-entertainment taxing district, according to WRAL.

A seven-member North Carolina Baseball Authority — modeled on the Centennial Authority that owns and manages Lenovo Center — would finance, design, own, and operate the ballpark. The governor, House speaker, Senate leader, agriculture commissioner, state treasurer, Raleigh City Council, and Wake County Board of Commissioners would each appoint a member, with the treasurer naming the chair.

The financial commitments would take effect only if MLB awarded North Carolina an expansion or relocated team, carried a four-year sunset provision, and would return any unspent money to the state’s general fund.

Local taxes are central to the plan. Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell, a Democrat, has backed raising Wake County’s hotel occupancy tax to help fund professional sports and said the financing behind any Raleigh bid would need to be locked in by next year.

Charlotte is using a similar approach, paying $650 million in tourism and hospitality taxes toward an $800 million renovation of the Carolina Panthers’ Bank of America Stadium. The state has already earmarked at least $35 million for road improvements around Lenovo Center.

State leaders split on public funding

Support for pursuing a team is bipartisan but not universal. Gov. Josh Stein, Republican State Treasurer Brad Briner, Senate Leader Phil Berger, and Cowell have endorsed the idea, and Commerce Secretary Lee Lilley called MLB “a great addition to Raleigh.”

Berger, the chamber’s longtime leader who lost his March primary and is serving his final months in office, has been the primary champion of the plan.

“I don’t think you get a Major League Baseball team or a professional football team at this point without there being some cooperation on the part of local and/or state governments,” he told reporters.

House Speaker Destin Hall has been the main opponent, saying private companies should pay for their own facilities “instead of relying on the General Assembly” and that he would need to see a compelling case for return on investment.

Skepticism extends to Wake County’s own delegation: state Rep. Erin Paré, R-Wake, said she will not support raising the occupancy tax unless the county changes how it shares that money with smaller towns. “I don’t want my towns getting ripped off, which they have been for 30 years,” she said.

What’s next?

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has said he wants to add two expansion cities before his term ends in January 2029, in what would be the league’s first expansion since 1998. Raleigh would compete with markets including Nashville, Salt Lake City, Sacramento, and Montreal.

“What a Raleigh MLB bid would cost, and who would pay for it” was originally published on www.carolinajournal.com.