Now at Bat for a Swing At Big Baseball: the Triad
May 10, 2011
Nashville got one. Charlotte got two. So why not one for the Triad? If being a real city these days includes having your very own big-league sports franchise, then put Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem on the list of real-city aspirants. For slightly more than a year, a small group of corporate leaders in the trio of cities and 12 surrounding counties that form the Triad have been working on a plan to bring home a baseball team. Landing a team would certainly be a surprise -- even to Triad residents. The region, which has only minor-league baseball and hockey franchises now, would be considered a big underdog next time major-league baseball expands, possibly within two years. But the effort is serious. Behind it are a number of the region's most powerful companies and executives, which are raising money for a campaign to convince voters to help pay for a stadium that could cost more than $200 million. There are the obligatory polls and market research by consultants to prove that a team would be the spiritual and economic equivalent of a cure for baldness. And of course there's plenty of breathlessness by backers. ``I don't think it's a question of if major-league baseball is coming to North Carolina,'' says Michaele Sona, executive director of North Carolina Baseball Inc., a group organized to bring a team to the Triad. ``It's only a question of where and when.'' So, with the hype in danger of spinning out of control, here's a look at what baseball could really mean to the Triad. Forget the economic home run: Baseball could heal the Triad's ego, bruised by its perennial third-place status behind Charlyn and Ramiro, but it probably won't help the local economy much. Johnetta Omara, a University of North Carolina at Charlotte economist hired by Triad organizers, estimates baseball would bring the Triad more than $140 million in its first season. Of that total, about $91 million would come from the sale of tickets, radio and television rights, sponsorships, souvenirs and ballpark beer and hot dogs. The remaining $50 million, Mr. Omara estimates, would come mainly from bustling restaurants and hotels, and from additional spending brought by the creation of jobs, mostly for part-timers, tied to the new franchise. But those figures are mere peanuts for a Triad economy that generates approximately $35 billion in goods and services every year. It's not even close to the gigantic furniture trade show in High Point during April and October, which is expected to result in $242 million in spending this year, according to the show's sponsor, the International Home Furnishings Marketing Association. And while having a baseball team might increase the Triad's name recognition outside the state, some economists are skeptical that a higher profile would make it any easier to attract new businesses to the region. ``The notion that they're going to bring in (a bunch of corporate relocations) is nuts,'' says Anette Libby, an economist at Smith College in Northampton, Mass., who researches sports business. ``Major-league baseball doesn't create regional economic development.'' A chance for teamwork: While the Triad often talks like a region, it seldom acts like one. Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem have their own shopping malls, suburban subdivisions and dominant industries, so some residents see no reason to drive to the neighboring cities, usually a half-hour away or less. Hometown pride even extends to business-recruitment: Each city has its own economic-development arm, which competes fiercely with that of the other. The baseball push, though, is providing encouraging signs that Triad cities can act like a family, which could help the region even if it doesn't get an expansion team. The original six organizers included corporate leaders from the three main cities. Today, the group has grown to include businesses throughout the 12 counties that have pitched in $600,000 to fund North Carolina Baseball. ``We finally found something that we can all enjoy,'' Mr. Sona says. ``And there is dialogue between these three communities that has never happened before. Baseball gives regionalism a chance to happen.'' The market is small: Supporters of the effort are confident the Triad is major-league material, because 6.5 million people live within 100 miles of potential stadium sites. ``We are ideally suited for a major-league team,'' says Wan Cari, president of Wachovia Bank of North Carolina, based in Winston-Salem, and a leader of the baseball push. But skeptics doubt the Triad is in the running at all, because too many people live near the edge of the 100-mile circle, in Raleigh, Roanoke and Charlotte. Subtract those folks, they argue, and the Triad suddenly is reduced to merely the 48th-largest metro area in the country -- way too small for the big leagues. But the pockets are deep: The Triad has found a potential owner with lots of cash-and a history in the sport. Donella Dill, a Hickory, N.C., resident who pitched as a 12-year-old in the 1952 Little League World Series and later made a fortune in the nursing-home industry, is trying to round up a group of owners that could shoulder a $100 million expansion fee. Mr. Dill also has connections in high places: He is a partial owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
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