SALT LAKE CITY — In a few years, fans in Salt Lake City may be spending Memorial Day at a big league ballpark, according to someone with insight into the MLB expansion process.
Insider Bob Nightengale has long considered Salt Lake City to be one of the likely winners when Major League Baseball expands to 32 teams, and he doubled down on that belief over the weekend.
In his latest USA Today column, Nightengale said cities such as Portland and Sacramento "might be wasting their time" on expansion bids, and he now believes that Salt Lake City and Nashville are "heavy favorites" to land teams.
An exact timeline on MLB expansion is not yet known, but new franchises are expected to be awarded before the end of the decade. Commissioner Rob Manfred has been a proponent of expansion, so it would likely take place before his planned retirement in January 2029.
Portland has always seemed like Salt Lake City's main competition for a western expansion location; however, Vancouver has made a late effort to bring a second MLB team north of the border. According to the CBC, the Vancouver city council opened a process last month to explore a potential ownership group.
Many feel Nashville is a near lock to be awarded an expansion team in the eastern section of North America.
