Remember when the Triad tried to get the Twins? Raleigh, Charlotte still hoping for MLB team.
Hard to believe it was nearly 30 years ago this month that businessman Don Beaver was trying to bring Major League Baseball to North Carolina, a state rich in baseball tradition but bracketed by franchises to the north and south and with no team to call its own.
Beaver's plan was to move the Minnesota Twins from the Minneapolis-St. Paul area to the Triad. All he needed to do was convince voters to say yes to a ballot proposal to approve public funding to build a new ballpark. Truthfully, the Twins were angling for a new stadium and were using Kernersville to force the local hands.
At the time, Beaver already owned the Hickory Crawdads and interest in six other baseball teams, including the Triple-A Charlotte Knights and Pittsburgh Pirates. He planned to pay for a third of the stadium, while Guilford and Forsyth County taxpayers absorbed the other two-thirds by way of a 50-cent tax on ballpark tickets as well as a 1% tax on prepared foods and beverages, basically a restaurant tax. A group of restaurant owners opposed the plan, while supporters pointed to the economic benefit of bringing baseball to the Triad.
On May 5, 1998, the plan to bring the major leagues to North Carolina struck out swinging. Voters in Forsyth and Guilford counties overwhelmingly rejected the plan to help fund the stadium, which reportedly would have been located in the vicinity of the split between Interstate 40 and the now-Salem Parkway.
It was 19 years later that MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred stirred the pot again when he said Charlotte could be in the top three cities for expansion. It wasn't long before Raleigh was included in the conversation, adding another layer to the perceived feud between North Carolina's capital and its largest city.
On deck
Forbes magazine, cited on the website MLBRaleigh, said in an article that MLB expansion "must begin with Raleigh." But in most instances, Raleigh has barely scared up a mention in the expansion conversation.
Nonetheless, Raleigh organizers are offering t-shirts, caps, bats and other merchandise promoting support for a franchise. The website also lists potential sites for a stadium, ranging from south of downtown Raleigh to the land near the Lenovo Center, home to the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes and a short distance from the NC State Fairgrounds.
A spokesperson for MLB Raleigh is pleading its case.
"We believe that North Carolina deserves MLB to complete the core five pro sports leagues," the group said in response to an email. "Raleigh has been carrying the torch and making the necessary moves. Hope everyone is ready to join the effort."
Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon seems to be out front on the mission. In October 2023, WRAL-TV reported that Dundon expressed interest in bringing baseball to Raleigh, admitting the move would be ambitious and "a lot of work."
"It's the only thing we're kind of missing if you look at the size of the state and the support of the teams," Dundon said. "It sort of feels obvious."
Details on the Charlotte effort can be found on a Facebook page called the "Charlotte MLB Project." Instead of merchandise, the page features multiple images of the potential team's unforms, down to color scheme and lettering. It's also proposed a realignment of the American and National leagues, with Charlotte joining the AL East along with the Tampa Bay Rays, Baltimore Orioles and the Cleveland Guardians.
That alignment even includes a franchise in Montreal, suggesting baseball would return to that city after the franchise relocated to Washington. Dundon doesn't appear to be picking sides. He wants baseball, and MLB can decide where it wants to locate.
"We've got to, just as a state, put our best foot forward, and wherever that is, wherever we think is our best chance, then I think that's where everyone would focus," Dundon said.
MLB Raleigh says Charlotte has problems that will hurt its chances.
"Charlotte is a great city and, at any point in time over the last decade plus, would have been the ideal city," the email said. "But no movement in investor, political or community levels. They are on the verge of spending $1B in public money on sports facilities, and with the Knights' ballpark unable to expand, it becomes a major hurdle."
Prospects aren't promising
From the latest reports, Charlotte and Raleigh will suffer the same fate that Beaver's bid endured.
Both The Sporting News and Yahoo! Sports report that Nashville, Tennessee, and Salt Lake City, Utah, are the frontrunners to land expansion teams. Sacramento, California, current and temporary home to the Athletics, is the most recent contender. That's despite the fact that the Athletics already have plans to move to Las Vegas, where a stadium is already under construction.
"While cities like Portland and Sacramento are preparing their bids for potential MLB expansion sites in 2031 or later, they might be wasting their time. If MLB indeed expands, Salt Lake City and Nashville are the heavy favorites," Bob Nightengale of USA Today wrote.
While Raleigh's bid is rounding third, the folks there are still hoping they won't be thrown out at the plate.
"We are making great progress," their email said, "and feel very confident about Raleigh's position."
Here at home
The Winston-Salem Dash are hosting the Rome Emperors this week, returning to Winston-Salem after lending Truist Stadium to the Hickory Crawdads last week after their stadium was damaged by fire. The Dash have won the first two games in the series leading into Thursday night's meeting. Going into Thursday night, the Dash were 6.5 games behind Bowling Green in the South Division after winning seven of their last 10.
Riding a five-game winning streak prior to Thursday, the Greensboro Grasshoppers are also at home and in the midst of a series with Hub City. The Hoppers, who opened the series with a 19-13 victory, are a half-game behind Frederick in the North Division.
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This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 10:33 AM.