Carolina Hurricanes announce new CEO, President and plan to bring MLB to Raleigh
In what might be one of the most significant press conferences for baseball fans in North Carolina, the Carolina Hurricanes announced a new CEO, a new President and publically announced their plans to be a contender in MLB expansion.
On August 1st, the Canes announced Brian Fork as the new CEO of Hurricanes Holdings, and Doug Warf as the new president. As each came up to the podium to make their comments, they were very direct in their goals to not only continue the Hurricanes success and work on the build-out of the district around the PNC Arena (now Lenovo Center), but also working to bring MLB to Raleigh.
Brian Fork talked about Dundon’s level of interest in the project and what it’s going to take to make it happen…
“(Hurricanes owner) Tom (Dundon has) talked about it publicly, but he’s also very serious about trying to bring a Major League Baseball team to Raleigh. That’s much easier said than done. We will not be the only city, will not be the only ownership group looking to get one of the new expansion teams that will probably be created by Major League Baseball next couple of years. But Tom is very serious about pursuing that opportunity, bringing it here to Raleigh, and we’ll be taking a lead, helping him on the corporate side and business side,”
This was the first time that the Hurricanes announced these plans in an official capacity.
Prior to the press conference, it has been Tom Dundon and Governor Roy Cooper speaking about the goal to bring MLB to Raleigh in a few local interviews and in a national piece published by the Sports Business Journal.
Fork went into more detail in an interview following the presser, discussing North Carolina’s growth, the growth of the Raleigh region, and MLB’s expansion plans all happening at the same time. He also added that if a relocation team became available, that too would be an option.
“It’s the perfect storm, and If relocation is on the table, then that’s absolutely something that Tom would be interested in,”
Fork also detailed the challenges they’ll face as they attempt to make MLB in NC a reality.
“You’d have to find a place to play. You’re going to need a stadium, right? So you’re going to have to find a place to put a stadium. I don’t know where that’s going to be. It’s going to need a lot of land. You’re going to have to figure out a way to pay for the stadium. You’re going to have to get it zones. That’s going to affect a lot of people that live around there.
One of the key components that Major League Baseball is going to look at before bringing a team is: Who are your corporate partners? Who are your big corporate partners that are going to invest in it in the short term and the long term? So you’re really going to need everybody on board.
“The most important thing is to have an owner that has the means and desire to do it. So that puts us way ahead of most places in the U.S.”
