3 Baseball Stadiums of Greater Salt Lake
And I'm looking to implicate the state of Utah, namely its capital and regional population hub of SLC, as a major league capable baseball home.A stadium with over 8,250 seats and another with 5,000.
And Triple-A ball affiliate for the Angels of Los Angeles houses 14,500 seats at SLC for the Bees.
So, for 3 pro teams located in the state, to include the SLC Bees, that over 27,750 seats between 3 ballparks in a 70 mile stretch in a metropolis virtually in no-man's land.
The Rockies could use some competition in their backyard. Salt Lake Mountaineers do the trick? Maybe some fishy Utah Lakers?
Geographically, I spy Albuquerque in the neighborhood. Well, region. Utah is double the pop. of that of New Mexico. So, there you have it. I figure by the time New Mexico has a big league club, they have a robust enough population to house their own affiliates while the big leaguers are on a road trip. Baseball could be world wide on a promotion-relegation system by then.
Back to Utah. Building a slightly higher priced ticket in a 30k seat expandable-friendly construct'able (add additions) fashion in Salt Lake City, if it's a beauty to look at, is doable. What complicates this fantasy is the pecking order, with metropolises like Omaha, OKC and population centers like San Antonio (double that of SLC). And SLC doesn't have a city like Austin within a hundred miles. Yet the heart of Utah has the edge of population and elbow room over greater Omaha. And give or take it's the same population of Oklahoma, which could be in Royals territory (as is Omaha) or leaning to Ranger nation (more aptly to be called Ranger region in that regard).
If you're in Utah, you're no Vancouver. Or Portland or Charlotte. You are Olympic caliber a la the 2002 Winter games.
No, you won't be in the next round of expansion. But long-term planning ahead of time can do some good for groundwork. Have your pitch in your pocket. Let others scramble.
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