Jul 8, 2020 - Sports

The push to bring baseball to Nashville

Kendall Baker, author of Sports

Nashville's skyline. Photo: Donald Miralle/Getty Images for Rock 'n' Roll Marathon

MLB wants to eventually expand to 32 teams, and Nashville, Tennessee, has emerged as a potential landing spot.

Driving the news: The Music City Baseball group, which hopes to bring a team to Nashville through expansion or relocation, gained considerable clout Monday when former GM Dave Dombrowski joined the effort, USA Today reports.

  • The group already includes Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa and three-time World Series champion Dave Stewart.
  • What's next: The goal is to present an official expansion proposal to MLB at the 2021 Winter Meetings in Nashville.

Details: The team would be called the Nashville Stars, the first MLB club to be named after a Negro League team, and the plan is to build a privately-funded, 42,000-seat stadium in honor of Jackie Robinson.

  • They also hope to become the first MLB team to have Black ownership, and only the second in all major U.S. sports (Michael Jordan, Charlotte Hornets).

The backdrop: The Houston Oilers moved to Nashville in 1997 and later became the Tennessee Titans, while the Nashville Predators debuted in 1998. Nashville SC was the city's newest addition, staging its first MLS match in February.

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