Could the Orlando Magic co-founder Pat Williams’ dream of bringing a Major League Baseball team to Orlando become a reality?The Orlando City Baseball Dreamers announced Friday morning they have identified an anchor investor for the control ownership group of a team. “We are thrilled with the commitment made by our investor partner, which accomplishes a key remaining step in our initiative to bring a Major League Baseball franchise to the Orlando area. Our process all along has been to identify and bring on board “best of class” partners in every aspect of our process,” said Barry Larkin, the MLB Ambassador for the Dreamers. The Dreamers also announced an update on the financing plan for a baseball stadium in Orange County.”We now have a letter of intent towards financing our state-of-the-art, 45,000 capacity domed stadium right in the middle of the tourist corridor, where we will welcome approximately 80 million tourists this year,” said Jim Schnorf, Co-Founder of the Orlando Dreamers. “The financing structure will provide a minimum of approximately $1 billion towards stadium construction costs, under an arrangement that is highly attractive to Orange County government and citizens, team ownership, and Major League Baseball.”These two announcements from the Dreamers comes the day after the Tampa Bay Rays indicated they are backing out a proposed $1.3 billion deal to build a new stadium in St. Petersburg.“After careful consideration, we have concluded we cannot move forward with the new ballpark and development project at this moment,” Rays Principal Owner Stuart Sternberg said in a social media post Thursday. “A series of events beginning in October that no one could have anticipated led to this difficult decision,” Sternberg wrote. “We continue to focus on finding a ballpark solution that serves the best interest of our region, Major League Baseball and our organization.”Tropicana Field sustained serious damage during Hurricane Milton in October. The strong winds ripped apart the stadium’s domed roof. The Rays are set to play the upcoming MLB season at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, the Spring Training home of the New York Yankees. St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch said he has no interest in working on a new deal with the current Rays ownership group. “They’ve got a set of agreements that they signed, July 31 or August 1 of last year that we all agreed to. Why would I go back to the same group?” Welch told WFLA-TV in Tampa. Tampa’s Mayor Jane Castor posted on social media that the City of Tampa, Tampa Sports Authority and Hillsborough County are “happy to talk with the team again, but any proposal has to make sense for our taxpayers and community.” WESH 2 has reached out for comment from both the City of Orlando and Orange County government on the Dreamers’ latest effort to bring a professional baseball team to Central Florida.“Several groups within the last four to five years have pitched various plans to partner in building a baseball stadium in Orange County; however, nothing definitive has developed from those conversations,” Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said.According to the Dreamers, bringing an MLB team to Orlando to play in a domed stadium on a 35.5-acre parcel next to SeaWorld and the Orange County convention center would create about 25,000 permanent jobs and more than $40 billion in economic impact to the County over 30 years. The Dreamers’ study from 2023 found an MLB team in Orlando would generate an additional $26 million annually in tourist development taxes.
Could the Orlando Magic co-founder Pat Williams’ dream of bringing a Major League Baseball team to Orlando become a reality?
The Orlando City Baseball Dreamers announced Friday morning they have identified an anchor investor for the control ownership group of a team.
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“We are thrilled with the commitment made by our investor partner, which accomplishes a key remaining step in our initiative to bring a Major League Baseball franchise to the Orlando area. Our process all along has been to identify and bring on board “best of class” partners in every aspect of our process,” said Barry Larkin, the MLB Ambassador for the Dreamers.
The Dreamers also announced an update on the financing plan for a baseball stadium in Orange County.
“We now have a letter of intent towards financing our state-of-the-art, 45,000 capacity domed stadium right in the middle of the tourist corridor, where we will welcome approximately 80 million tourists this year,” said Jim Schnorf, Co-Founder of the Orlando Dreamers. “The financing structure will provide a minimum of approximately $1 billion towards stadium construction costs, under an arrangement that is highly attractive to Orange County government and citizens, team ownership, and Major League Baseball.”
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These two announcements from the Dreamers comes the day after the Tampa Bay Rays indicated they are backing out a proposed $1.3 billion deal to build a new stadium in St. Petersburg.
“After careful consideration, we have concluded we cannot move forward with the new ballpark and development project at this moment,” Rays Principal Owner Stuart Sternberg said in a social media post Thursday. “A series of events beginning in October that no one could have anticipated led to this difficult decision,” Sternberg wrote. “We continue to focus on finding a ballpark solution that serves the best interest of our region, Major League Baseball and our organization.”
Tropicana Field sustained serious damage during Hurricane Milton in October. The strong winds ripped apart the stadium’s domed roof.
The Rays are set to play the upcoming MLB season at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, the Spring Training home of the New York Yankees.
St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch said he has no interest in working on a new deal with the current Rays ownership group.
“They’ve got a set of agreements that they signed, July 31 or August 1 of last year that we all agreed to. Why would I go back to the same group?” Welch told WFLA-TV in Tampa.
Tampa’s Mayor Jane Castor posted on social media that the City of Tampa, Tampa Sports Authority and Hillsborough County are “happy to talk with the team again, but any proposal has to make sense for our taxpayers and community.”
WESH 2 has reached out for comment from both the City of Orlando and Orange County government on the Dreamers’ latest effort to bring a professional baseball team to Central Florida.
“Several groups within the last four to five years have pitched various plans to partner in building a baseball stadium in Orange County; however, nothing definitive has developed from those conversations,” Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said.
According to the Dreamers, bringing an MLB team to Orlando to play in a domed stadium on a 35.5-acre parcel next to SeaWorld and the Orange County convention center would create about 25,000 permanent jobs and more than $40 billion in economic impact to the County over 30 years.
The Dreamers’ study from 2023 found an MLB team in Orlando would generate an additional $26 million annually in tourist development taxes.
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