1. How do I get involved in helping get MLB to Raleigh?
Start by signing the petition (click ‘Join the Movement’ button in the menu). You can also help by sharing the message on social media, wearing your hat and shirt on the streets and attending our events. Tell your friends, your family, local businesses, and make sure you let the media know you want coverage of our movement. Check out all the ways you can play a part in bringing baseball to Raleigh.
2. Can the Triangle actually support a Raleigh anchored Major League Baseball team?
Yes, and it’s not just our opinion. One of the main reasons we decided to move forward with this campaign was because when we looked at the statistics, it was clear that the Triangle could, in fact, support a Raleigh anchored MLB team right now. Check out the numbers for yourself.
3. MLB has mentioned Charlotte for possible expansion? Does Raleigh stand a chance?
Actually, yes. The idea that Charlotte is North Carolina’s only viable city for pro-sports is more marketing and myth than it is reality.
We’ve dug into the census reports and the surrounding data to show you that Raleigh and Charlotte aren’t that much different and in fact, Raleigh may actually be the more logical long-term location for professional sports.
4. What would happen to the Durham Bulls? Don't they have territorial rights?
Let us start by saying, the Durham Bulls aren’t going anywhere. However, the much-discussed ’25-mile territory rule’ has been a bit misconstrued over the years and definitely is not a deal breaker. According to the current rules, nothing can stop an MLB team from picking its location. While it would cause some arbitration and discussions, there are no true roadblocks from getting a major league team to our area. In fact, The Seattle Mariners and the AAA Tacoma Rainiers have successfully coexisted within 30 miles of one another for over 40 years. If you’d like all the details, we’ve broken it all down, right here.
5. When is MLB planning to expand?
Commissioner Rob Manfred has been on record a lot over the past two years confirming that it’s in the MLB’s plans to expand in the near future. This alone should have Raleigh at least prepping for a pitch to MLB. In fact, a few other cities are already involved in lobbying MLB for a team.
If Raleigh wants their name in the hat, now is the time to start the ground-swell.
If you want to dig deeper on MLB expansion and how Raleigh fits in, we have the breakdown.
6. Do you have a plan to actually make this reality?
There is no doubt that it’s going to take a strong combination of both community support and financial backing.
The initial goal of this movement is to ramp up support throughout Raleigh and the Triangle, attract the attention of the media, the MLB and eventually investors, putting Raleigh as one of the few cities ready and organized to land a team.
While it might initially sound crazy, the data supports it and movements like this have been successful before. At the end of the day, getting this thing to happen begins with a large and loud community buy-in.
Want to learn more about the process? We laid it out for you.
7. Who is going to fund a Raleigh-based MLB franchise?
A community movement is great and all, but, baseball isn’t coming to Raleigh without real investors and a solid ownership group. We know that, but phase 1 of this movement is to educate, organize and activate the community around baseball. Once we get the wheels turning, we’ll start the discussion about ownership and financing options.
8. Who is behind this and why are you doing this?
We are a collective of local creatives, business owners, and residents who love baseball and who want to work alongside the community to help put Raleigh in the conversation for a Major League Baseball team.
Our main goal is obviously to get an MLB team in Raleigh, but as a by-product of that goal, we hope to bring people together, explore brand, and amplify Raleigh’s community, culture, and creativity so the rest of the world can see what we see in our city. See who helped out.
9. Why did you choose black and white as the colors?
First off, we aren’t proposing that the potential team wear black and white, but we also aren’t not proposing it. We just wanted the initial release to be more about the support for baseball in our area and the discussion of its viability.
Black and white also made sense because Raleigh doesn’t have an official city color. We felt it was more genuine to roll out without one and begin to explore brand, colors, and team name together with you via this campaign.
Later in the summer, some of the area’s most well-known designers will be helping lead us through that process at events and on social media. Stay tuned!
10. Where are the profits from this project going?
We have teamed up with The Boys and Girls Club of Raleigh to pinpoint baseball facilities that are in need of some help. We are going to donate our profits from this movement and organize volunteer events to help give those facilities a fresh makeover. Find out more about our plans to revitalize fields and help promote baseball in some of Raleigh’s underserved communities.