Sacramento’s MLB bid swings — and misses without a big name Investor | Opinion
Sacramento rolled out its official bid for a Major League Baseball team on Thursday—and if you felt more cringe than excitement, you weren’t alone. Thursday’s announcement was a political stunt dressed up as a bid for Major League Baseball. I walked into the venue, and all I saw were politicians taking selfies with their “Sacramento Pitch” hats on. That’s the name of Sacramento’s bid for MLB. Sacramento Pitch.
As with most Sacramento political events, the first 20 minutes were spent acknowledging every local, state, and federal official. It would not have annoyed me as much if had the gathering had been about baseball, a sport centered on community. I want baseball in Sacramento. But our so-called leaders keep mistaking press conferences for progress, spewing optimism instead of laying out a strategy. This felt less like a bid and more like a surrender. “What’s gonna put this over the finish line is to change the mindset inside our own community, shifting away from the naysayers to the doers,” said Barry Broome, president and ceo of the Greater Sacramento Economic Council. “This is a doers town now.” Regardless of what Broome and others said, do you have an investor to buy and run a team? Without one, the road ahead looks unclear.
Salt Lake City already has a buttoned-up ownership group. Sacramento? The locals have got $800 in land and investments and a committee with a catchy name, the Sacramento Pitch. Major League Baseball’s expansion fee is expected to be at least $2.1 billion, according to USA Today.
If Sacramento is serious, it needs a big fish with big pockets — fast. Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty, ever the optimist, stayed positive about his chances to land a big investor. “We’re laying the foundation and then we’re evaluating the number one option,” McCarty said. “We wanna make sure it makes sense for Sacramento and our bid. We have time and we’re talking to a number of lead investors.” McCarty said he would like to find that lead investor by the end of the year. Right now, Sacramento’s ownership group is still playing catch-up, and everyone knows it. Involving local tribes is a step forward, but until Sacramento has a real ownership group, it’s all just talk.