‘Dreamers’ MLB expansion franchise eyes $72bn local impact after building new $975m domed ballpark
Orange County legislators are set to meet over the next few months to make some decisions over the future, one of which will include whether to pursue a Major League Baseball expansion project.
The county’s Tourist Development Tax Citizen Advisory Task Force are set to hold its first meeting next week to decide what they will do with the millions of dollars in TDT money they have brought in.
One of the project applications that has been submitted for review is from the ‘Orlando Dreamers’ who are lobbying to bring an MLB team to Orlando.
But the task force doesn’t have unlimited funds, and needs to decide whether to go all in on one big project, like that of the Dreamers, or to invest the money into smaller, but more, community projects.
“Almost a billion dollars is a lot of money, and it would literally restrict us from doing anything else in this town for probably the next decade,” District 3 Commissioner Uribe said, via Spectrum News 13.
“You have to remember, those TDT dollars are created by the workforce that works in that industry. We just want to make sure that it’s a give and take kind of relationship.”
But Dreamers CMO Andrew Herdliska wants to see the project go through.
“Our goal, whether it’s through expansion or relocation, is to bring a Major League Baseball team to Orlando,” Herdliska said.
“Funding approval for the stadium would be a signal to Major League Baseball that Orlando is ready to bring a team here. It’s a part of the process to be competitive with other expansion cities.
“It’s less than what the Rays are asking for in Tampa, so we’ve kind of used a comparative model looking at recent stadium requests and builds as what would be a rational number to ask for from the county.”
Dreamers have spent months putting together plans
Earlier this week, the Dreamers unveiled its economic impact data, constructed in partnership with independent consulting firm JLL.
According to their proposal, the MLB initiative would create over 38,000 jobs during the stadium construction phase.
After construction is completed, this would pave the way for an additional 52,000 permanent jobs, with them estimating economic impact of this to exceed $72 billion over 30 years in Orange County to aid new public revenues and to support local businesses.
Furthermore, it is predicted that they would bring in, on average, $32 million annually in TDT revenues.
Baseball Hall of Famer and Dreamers MLB Ambassador Barry Larkin said, “Orange County has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to step up to the plate and attract an MLB franchise.
“The Dreamers are financially ready from our side, having in place in excess of $2 billion combined for team acquisition and stadium financing.
“Now we need our local elected officials to make a statement to Major League Baseball that Orlando is ready to be a Major League city.”
According to Jim Schnorf, who co-founded the Orlando Dreamers with the late Pat Williams, the project will serve the surrounding community tenfold.
“In addition to providing unparalleled job creation and economic impact in Orange County, this project will allow us to continue to be extremely active in the community, specifically by working with local officials to use team and stadium revenue to directly contribute hundreds of millions of dollars to transportation and workforce housing initiatives,” Schnorf said.
“In addition, we plan to build lighted youth baseball and softball fields throughout the county.”
The music to Orange County legislators’ ears, though, is the Dreamers’ intentions to pay for the construction of its stadium – a projected 45,000-seat domed stadium – should they be granted approval.
“The Dreamers will pay for the substantial majority of construction costs for a stadium Orange County gets to own,” Schnorf added. “We are confident that using TDT funds towards the construction of our stadium will generate by far the highest return on investment for Orange County.”
The Dreamers have been engaged in advanced stadium design and surrounding development plans for months now, and have targeted a 35-and-a-half acre site north of Aquatica.
They are expected to release renderings for the proposed state-of-the-art domed stadium later this summer.
Nonetheless, Commisioners across Orange County are looking forward to the upcoming discussions.
“Let’s play some baseball,” District 6 Commissioner Michael Scott said. “I’m absolutely an advocate of the Dreamers. But I also have to be able to counterbalance what they need versus the public good.”
The waiting game continues.
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