Despite possible Rays sale that could keep them in the Bay area, Orlando Dreamers insist Orlando's baseball dream is still alive
- Alastair Mac
- Jun 23
- 7 min read
The Rays who look likely to be sold for about $1.7B, would remain in the Tampa Bay area, so what does this mean for Orlando's baseball dream?
The Orlando City Baseball Dreamers ("Orlando Dreamers"), have responded to an announcement that the Tampa Bay Rays are in discussions with a group interested in potentially buying the team.
Barry Larkin, the MLB Ambassador for the Dreamers, confirmed that the media reports indicating the Rays were in discussions with a possible buyer group did not come as a surprise. "We have been aware of various groups indicating interest in potentially acquiring the franchise. Multiple prospective groups have reached out to more than one of the key people affiliated with the Dreamers over recent months. This does not complicate our mission, nor does it change our plans for aggressively moving forward to the next phase of our initiative. We plan to open our downtown office in the very near future and we are laser-focused on finalizing the public side of the public/private partnership. We continue to see Orange County and the greater Orlando area as an unsurpassed market for the next MLB location," he said.
Rick Workman, the anchor investor in the control ownership group for the Dreamers, further elaborated on Larkin's comments. "The enthusiasm for bringing MLB to our designated 35.5-acre site in the middle of the tourist corridor in Orange County is clearly at a fever pitch. We have put in place all of the key team-side pillars that Major League Baseball requires for an area to qualify for a franchise. Orlando is undeniably the top market in the country without a franchise. We have an unparalleled site for our venue, right in the middle of 80 million tourists this year, and our stadium design will be the most impressive in all of baseball. With my partner, John Morgan, in the ownership group, we are local owners committed to delivering transformative benefits to Orange County and Central Florida with this initiative. Hall-of-Famer Barry Larkin provides us the baseball intuition and connectivity to round out a highly impressive leadership team," he said.
John Morgan, the other primary investor in the control ownership group, owns many successful businesses across the country, including operations in the International Drive area near the indicated stadium site. He indicated that he had been approached by people vying to purchase the Rays, with plans to keep the team in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area. "While that's a fine region, as an investor I made clear I had no interest in making a financial commitment if the team was going to remain there. For Major League Baseball, the Tampa area does not compare with Orange County. Central Florida is growing faster than Tampa-St. Pete, which is limited by elevation, water, and other challenges, especially when it comes to finding the right location for a large sports venue. In comparison, Orlando continues rapidly expanding in every direction. And don't forget: tourism matters. Las Vegas is a great example of why tourism helps sports teams succeed, and Orange County will get about double the number of tourists this year as Las Vegas will welcome," according to Morgan.
Jim Schnorf, Co-Founder of the Orlando Dreamers who has been coordinating the team acquisition and stadium financing, added further commentary. "We have letters of intent from highly qualified investors approaching $1.5 billion in equity financing towards MLB team acquisition and have been very purposeful in limiting the investor pool at this point, despite continued strong interest from numerous other interested investor parties. The Dreamers are fully confident of arranging any supplemental senior debt financing that might be relevant to supplement the equity investment already identified. Our separate stadium funding letter of intent from a major institutional partner will provide more than $1 billion towards the team portion of construction costs, under an arrangement that is highly attractive to Orange County government and citizens, team ownership, and Major League Baseball. Senior representatives from our stadium financing source visited with us in Orlando earlier this week, further emphasizing their heightened interest in our stadium initiative."
Schnorf also reconfirmed Barry Larkin's comments at the June 16 luncheon that the Dreamers have multiple "trips to the plate" in regards to opportunities to attain an MLB team. "Pat Williams and I launched this mission when Major League Baseball announced the intent to expand by two teams. It was coincidental that the Rays encountered insurmountable challenges with the unexpected damage to Tropicana Field last fall and the subsequent inability to satisfactorily conclude a new stadium solution. The media has focused in recent months on this option for Orlando to acquire a team. However, there are multiple other MLB teams that also have stadium challenges, in addition to two expansion slots that will be added," he confirmed.
Schnorf concluded by saying, "We believe it is unlikely that a sale of the Rays can consummate without an affirmative stadium site and stadium financing solution in place, steps which are very challenging and time consuming, but that we are fortunate to have under control. Regardless of the circumstances with the Rays and their discussions with any prospective buyer group, the Dreamers are continuing to move forward in concluding the final aspects of our initiative. With all the recent progress over the past 90 days, we have demonstrated that we are fully prepared for any opportunity to bring Major League Baseball to Orange County."
Orlando is experiencing a surge in tourism with meaningful growth expected from the recent opening of the new Universal Epic Universe theme park located a short distance from the Dreamers' proposed stadium site. The Orlando metro area is the most-visited destination in the country and recently passed Denver to become the #15 media market in the country. It is anticipated that Orlando will pass Detroit in 2025 to become the #14 media market in the country, the largest without an MLB team.
The Orlando Dreamers previously reported that based on an independent study completed in 2023, bringing Major League Baseball to Orlando and playing in the planned domed stadium located on the 35.5 acre parcel adjacent to SeaWorld and the Orange County Convention Center will yield approximately 25,000 permanent jobs and create in excess of $40 billion in economic impact to Orange County over 30 years. In addition, the study concluded that the MLB initiative would generate an additional $26 million annually in tourist development taxes (TDT).
About Orlando City Baseball Dreamers, LLC
Orlando City Baseball Dreamers, LLC was established to bring Major League Baseball to Orlando and Central Florida.
Updates can be found at www.orlandodreamers.com.
Comments
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