Though the league is still awaiting permanent homes for the Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays, MLB expansion appears to be a near certainty in the following years.
Major League Baseball has objectively changed in a drastic way over the course of the past 15 years, both in terms of the eye test and the rulebook.
A pitch clock has been instituted, bases are bigger and relief pitchers are seemingly all studs while home runs and strikeouts continue to dominate.
While these changes are significant and have impacted the sport and viewing experience, they are all more recent than the last time the league opted for the most noticeable change – expansion.
It was in 1998 when the Arizona Diamondbacks and then-Tampa Bay Devil Rays began play as the 29th and 30th teams in MLB, with that number remaining the same since through plenty of rumors and changes.
There was the MLB contraction plan before the 2002 season that would have led to the Montreal Expos and Minnesota Twins folding as franchises, though the Twins’ obligations to their lease at the Metrodome saved both teams as the league could not play with a 29-team schedule.
The Expos ultimately relocated to Washington, D.C. before the 2005 season, while then-Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty signed legislation in May 2006 that provided funding for what would become Target Field, which opened in 2010.
While MLB has floated the idea of expansion numerous times in recent years, the league is still waiting on the Rays and Athletics to find permanent homes. The Athletics are expected to move into their future home of Las Vegas by the 2028 season, while the Rays are anticipating a new stadium in the Tampa Bay area in the coming years after returning to Tropicana Field next season under new ownership.
Once the two clubs move into permanent stadiums, there are several cities looking to serve as the homes for the 31st and 32nd MLB franchises, a move that would also likely result in the realignment of the league’s divisions.
Though listed in no particular order, here’s a look at eight North American cities that have been floated in recent years as the home of a possible MLB expansion team and how a baseball team would look and work in that city.
1. Montreal
The most apparent of the expansion options, Montreal served as the home of the expansion Expos from 1969 to 2004, the first MLB team located outside the United States.
Though known for longstanding mediocrity and poor attendance that especially tapered off in the franchise’s later years, excitement and interest around the possible return of the Expos remains apparent over 20 years after they played their final game.
An expansion would surely require a new, fixed-roof stadium, as Olympic Stadium was long seen as one of the worst ballparks across the league during the Expos’ heyday.
While there’s plenty of nostalgia surrounding the Expos, bringing a team back to Montreal is a move that would come with at least a little trepidation from league officials – the city is not quite the economic powerhouse that Toronto is, and officials may believe that the club can only succeed commercially if the on-field product is strong enough.
The addition would also reignite a language barrier in promotional materials and marketing for one of the league’s teams, something the league has been out of practice in since the Expos left for Washington.
A team back in Montreal is no surefire success, but one would have to be living under a rock to not notice the nostalgia and fan support the idea has.
2. Charlotte
Seen as one of the more likely options, MLB in Charlotte would finally put a big-league team in the center of what has long been a baseball state without a team to prove it.
The city has served as the host of the minor league Knights for nearly 50 years, with the team acting as the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox since 1999, providing a longtime existing baseball fan infrastructure to any hope for expansion.
A fast-growing city in a fast-growing state and region, Charlotte also provides plenty of opportunity and hope for future growth after moving, even if the team’s presence would start to chip away at the dominance of the Atlanta Braves in the southern baseball market.
With climate change continuing to be a growing concern for the sport, a fixed-roof stadium for a Charlotte team would probably be the best bet, with stifling humidity and heat along with frequent thunderstorms providing some barriers to consistent outdoor summer baseball.
Currently, an organization known as the Charlotte Bats are campaigning for an MLB team in the city, pointing out poor attendance in cities such as Miami while also touting the city’s strong sports culture. Charlotte is the home city of both NFL’s Carolina Panthers and NBA’s Charlotte Hornets.
3. Nashville
Perhaps the best bet to be one of the next two MLB expansion cities, Nashville has also long been floated as a possible destination while boasting a strong existing pro sports infrastructure and fanbase.
Currently the home of NFL’s Tennessee Titans and NHL’s Nashville Predators with a new stadium on the way for the former, Nashville offers a few of the same pros to the league that Charlotte does. It is also a fast-growing city in a fast-growing region, a tourist destination for many Americans along with a climate and city likely to be attractive to many players.
Nashville also offers the most infrastructure behind an expansion project of any contending city, thanks to the Nashville Stars organization, looking for the expansion team to adopt the name of the city’s former Negro Leagues team name.
Publicly led by former MLB star Dave Stewart, the organization also has support and/or involvement from Don Mattingly, Bruce Bochy, R.A. Dickey, Tony LaRussa and Barry Zito, along with music industry figures such as Justin Timberlake, Luke Combs and Darius Rucker.
The organization hopes to privately fund the stadium, a facility that also would likely have to have a fixed roof when considering the sweltering heat and frequent precipitation of Nashville summers.
4. Salt Lake City
One of the possible western destinations for MLB, it’s hard to find a hotter city for sports than Salt Lake City right now.
On top of a vibrant college sports culture with the Utah Utes and the long-standing tenancy of the Utah Jazz, the city welcomed the now-Utah Mammoth in 2024, the newest team in the National Hockey League.
Similar to Nashville and Charlotte, Salt Lake City offers obvious economic promise – the city’s population grew by 9% between 2020 and 2024 as an increasingly diverse set of Americans relocate to Utah’s largest city.
Another obvious perk of a team in Salt Lake City would be helping to fill a void and slightly reduce travel constraints in the Mountain West region, with the Colorado Rockies long serving as the team of the northern Mountain West. The proximity between the two teams could also create a new natural rivalry, one that could help reignite interest in the sport in both cities.
Though there’s no ballpark ready for move in, the opportunity for a naturally breathtaking stadium would be essentially limitless, with Salt Lake City being perhaps the only location where the majestic views of Coors Field in Denver could be matched, or perhaps bested.
5. Portland, Oregon
Another perennial candidate for MLB expansion, Portland joins Salt Lake City as the other almost-obvious option in the American West.
Already the longtime home of NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers, the city’s sporting culture picked up a second wind in the early 2000s upon the addition of the Portland Timbers in Major League Soccer.
The Timbers are locked into one of the league’s fiercest rivalries with the Seattle Sounders FC, perhaps providing a preview of a natural rivalry between the American Pacific Northwest’s two major cities that could expand to baseball.
Similar to Salt Lake City, a team in Portland would greatly help reduce Seattle’s relative isolation from other MLB teams. The Mariners boast the league’s most daunting travel schedule each year, providing a practical benefit for the proximity in addition to rivalry potential.
A Portland team would likely benefit the most from a retractable roof stadium similar to what is seen at T-Mobile Park, providing cover for frequent rain while letting fans still experience the mostly mild climate the region offers.
6. Oakland
I’d be doing everyone a disservice by not mentioning The Town.
One of America’s greatest sports cities for decades, Oakland lost all three of their teams in essentially the blink of an eye – 2019 saw the final season of the Raiders before they moved to Las Vegas, while the Golden State Warriors played their last game at the Oracle Arena before moving across the bay to the new Chase Center in San Francisco.
Just five years later, the Athletics played their final game at Oakland Coliseum, temporarily relocating to West Sacramento before a permanent move to Las Vegas in 2028.
While the A’s struggled immensely with attendance in Oakland, that can best be described as a decades-long self-fulfilling prophecy from John Fisher and A’s ownership as they succeeded in manufacturing an excuse to leave the East Bay behind.
Routinely posting a bottom-tier payroll in baseball, an early 2020’s fire sale was the final nail in the coffin for the A’s in Oakland, though it doesn’t have to be that way.
Though it would likely take the waterfront ballpark the A’s tried for and never received to coax a team back to Oakland, there’s no doubt that the support will be there if there’s ownership that cares. And I don’t mean cares as in just cares about the team winning – I mean cares about the city, the fans, the players – sees people as human beings and not dollar signs. Something John Fisher has proven himself wholly incapable of doing.
One can chalk it up to say the fans didn’t care, but I certainly would beg to differ.
7. Sacramento
The longshot of the eight cities listed here, Sacramento nudged its way into the conversation thanks to getting the chance to temporarily host the A’s for the 2025-2027 seasons, albeit across the river in West Sacramento.
While any real steam of Sacramento being a legitimate destination has fallen off with the A’s lackluster attendance at Sutter Health Park, the franchise does have two more years with one of the league’s most exciting offensive cores to ignite excitement in the city.
Even if that doesn’t occur, Sacramento shouldn’t be a complete afterthought when considering future spots for MLB teams – after years of relocation rumors, NBA’s Sacramento Kings were able to secure a new arena, with the city continuing to rally around the fledgling franchise.
Sacramento also has a few other pros that perhaps other California cities don’t – while the recent California exodus has heavily impacted the state’s coastal cities, Sacramento’s population has continued to grow, growing by another 11,000 residents between 2020 and 2024 after a 12.5% population growth between 2010 and 2020.
Similar to other cities on this list, a team in Sacramento would need at least a retractable roof stadium for a permanent home. While the A’s have benefitted from a mild NorCal summer in 2025, a devastating 2024 heat wave that saw 45 days of 100+ degree temperatures in the city showed the possibility of how dangerous Central Valley summers can get.
8. Vancouver
The final city on my list and the second Canadian option, Vancouver hasn’t been floated nearly as much as I believe it should be, as it offers several attractive characteristics for a future MLB team.
In addition to being the 55-year home of NHL’s Vancouver Canucks, the city also served as the home of the NBA’s Vancouver Grizzlies from 1995-2001, relocating to Memphis after a brutal stretch marred by awful on-court performance and middling attendance.
The cosmopolitan metropolis has only grown since then, offering the mildest climate of any of Canada’s big cities with a majestic skyline and vibrant nightlife that would play well with tourists, fans and players alike.
Though not considered a baseball powerhouse by any means, the city is currently home to the Vancouver Canadians, the Toronto Blue Jays’ High-A affiliate, with a metropolitan area that has produced several great MLB players over the years. Larry Walker, Justin Morneau, Ryan Dempster and Jason Bay are among the several notable big-leaguers to come out of the Vancouver area.
Similar to Seattle and Portland, the city would likely need a retractable roof stadium to handle frequent precipitation, but few other obvious barriers exist for a team in Vancouver.
While nostalgia fuels Montreal as the more likely option for the return of a second Canadian MLB team, Vancouver may prove to be the better bet on a long-term success.
Leave a Reply