Sports Business Journal Profiles Tom Dundon and his quest to bring MLB to North Carolina
In mid-April, the Sports Business Journal did an in-depth profile on the Carolina Hurricanes’ owner, Tom Dundon.
In the article, Alex Silverman told the story of a non-traditional hockey market, struggling to stay successful prior to Dundon’s arrival in Raleigh. Since then, the Hurricane’s have become an annual playoff contender and have sold out the PNC Arena (now Lenovo Center) every game this past season, while being in the Top-5 for average NHL attendance.
The article then dives into Tom’s next stated goal…
Bring Major League Baseball to Raleigh, North Carolina.
Dundon officially went public with his intentions in October of 2023, and while there will plenty of competition, then Hurricanes’ CMO Mike Foreman explained why Raleigh might have a leg up.
“The biggest thing about Tom is he’s super competitive. So, if all of a sudden it’s either us or another city that’s going to get an MLB team, he’s going to do whatever it takes to win.”
Dundon explained what it may take to make this happen…
“You can get a public-private partnership to build a great stadium, and I think the people would support it. The revenues would do really well here, and we could sell tickets and sponsorships to be of value to Major League Baseball.”
As for where the stadium may end up being, Philip Isley, a board member for the Centennial Authority (the group who owns the arena) gave a hint…
“It would absolutely be the cherry on top if it was located somewhere near our facility. This really could be the next great entertainment district in the South.”