Major League Baseball in Tennessee. How to beat out Charlotte for an Expansion Bid. New Brave King of the South.

    A Tale of Two Stadiums.  Two Cities.  Who has the Business Bravery to do it?

Nashville and Memphis.  Rhythm and Blues Country, sound off!

Charlotte is bigger than Memphis or Nashville.  But not combined.  

You know in your gut that Charlotte might win the day for an expansion bid.  What do you think of building two 35,000 seat Major League ballparks in your state versus one that would be typically built in Charlotte (a city that already has a newly built downtown one for Minors).   Build parks in Memphis and Nashville.

Share the love.  Spread the love.

But what if the Charlotte and the Carolinas counter offered MLB with building two stadiums for fear of losing the bid?  From Atlanta, Charlotte and Nashville are a 240 mile hike.  It's pretty much an equidistant draw.  380 miles from ATL is Memphis, which is 280 miles from Cardinals cathedral.  

You have two large cities spread apart in your state.  In all of the Carolinas, stretching south Charlotte and a non-enormous population in South Carolina doesn't make for a great Carolina draw.  Both stadiums if built would be better in North Carolina, unless you had weekend games now and again in South Carolina.

Surrounding states with MLB?  Georgia.  That's it.  Technically Missouri.

9 minor league MLB affiliate teams are in the state of Tennessee.
The same amount are in North Carolina.  In South Carolina,  there are 3, if you're thinking another Carolina brand.  160 miles separate Charlotte and Raleigh in state.  3.2 million between the two.  0.65 million people are in between around Winston-Salem.  Were a stadium to be placed south for a more Carolina brand, loosely speaking there are a million people between Columbia and Charleston 100 miles apart.

There are 1.3 million folks around Memphis and 1.5 in center state capital.  That's less of a concentration than North Carolina.  Two Triple-A teams in NC.  But there's more AA in Tennessee.

The Volunteer state has two Triple-A baseball affiliates, too.  Double A on the east side in three teams:  Smokies and Lookouts and Jackson Generals.  The love is spread out.  Can a Tennessee brand unite better than the brand in Atlanta?  Of course.  Two stadiums in Tennessee beats two in the Carolinas.  You know it.

Well over half a million people round off the east side of Tennessee in places like Chattanooga.  Baseball in Knoxville above.

SO WHO COULD WIN OUT A BID?!

160 and 200 miles separate the two metro distance comparisons (Charlotte-Raleigh v. Memphis-Nashville).

One on one, coming down to Nashville and Charlotte and the whole population concentration, Charlotte would win out.

In my unconventional model of two MLB Ball Parks for one franchise, with consideration to feasibility, if you think distance of the parks and separation from other ball clubs as advantageous, Tennessee baseball could win out.

The Braves may still have the hearts of Alabama.  But baseball hubbed in Tennesse could be a Little Rock draw.

New Nashville

As far as any bid in the east for MLB Expansion, big brand baseball absence from Indianapolis's 1.7 million people are less than that in Charlotte, and less complicated of a decision since Indy is Reds, Cubs and Cardinals country claim.  In any such regard, ditto for Louisville.  Hampton Roads?  A:  See Carolinas.

What would you name them?  In naming, you could break the tone of the old game.  Fightin' Irish..... Fightin' Appalachians.  Smokies is nice.

Bordering Cardinals Country in Memphis

Share the love.  Spread the love.  Could you spread the love further?  Are you thinking New Orleans or anyone else?

I have talked before of a Southern brand of sharing baseball in Nashville and Charlotte, as well as others.
Click below links (from Index):

Time for more MLB in the South

Southtown Soundhounds MLS Franchise 

Dream up the next Northern MLS Franchise. And a Southern one.

Gulf Run Rays. Major League Baseball in Monterrey, New Orleans and Tampa

MLB in Columbia, Carolina in general, and Charlotte

MLB to 2100 AD. A Little Brainstorming for Beyond.
Atlanta having two baseball teams ??? Existing infrastructure strengthens the argument for a team called "Southern".

Nashville: Visiting the Possibility of more Pro Sports

Tennessee Pioneers MLB Team Might Play where NFL's Titans Should. Sharing the State. MLB Memphis and Nashville.
Major League Baseball in Nashville and New Orleans

www.majorleaguenashville.org/How_Do_You_Build_It/

Major League Soccer in Nashville, Charlotte and beyond.
Minor League Soccer. A Travel Team Representing Two Towns or more.
MLB Memphis and Nashville.

Defunct American CFL Teams

Some Failed Expansion Bids of the Past

tennessean.com________nashville-next-major-league-city/25987035/
tennessean.com/story/opinion/2014/06/07/nashville-ripe-major-league-baseball/10115717/
bleacherreport.com/articles/2041269-the-best-names-for-a-nashville-major-league-baseball-team

Is this talk even feasible in the first place?  Running two stadiums with less-than-fulltime usage?  To make it so, would you build smaller, more charming and expensive tickets?  Gun to your head, how would you make it work?  Could you make more efficient use of a multi-use facility?  Would a stadium in Memphis and/or Nashville also house Major League Soccer?  So many questions.  So much room for innovation and land use.

What say you?

See more expansion, co-location and relocation talk for football, baseball, basketball, hockey and soccer on my blog http://prosportsexpansion.blogspot.com/