MLB expansion to Austin | Texas: The problem is

The World Series is approaching in a few days and no team from Texas will take the mound.

Major League Baseball’s commissioner wants to expand to Austin before his retirement in 2029. However, there are many factors to consider as Austin looks to take another step toward becoming a world-class city.

A group called the Austin Baseball Commission is getting to work, working on a plan to make a bid.

FOX 4’s Steven Dial and reporters from FOX 7 Austin and FOX 26 Houston spoke with members of the group about why they believe Austin deserves an MLB team.

Matt Mackowiak: “It’s time for Austin to take another step toward becoming a world-class city. The only way to do that in terms of sports is to take advantage of this tremendous opportunity to build an expansion franchise here in Austin.”

FOX reporter Rudy Koski in Austin: “Why do you think baseball will work?”

Derrik Fox: “We are the largest city that Major League Baseball is considering in this round of expansion. We are the second largest city behind Portland. We’re the richest city by average household income…I think in terms of fan engagement and business atmosphere, we’ll be the best city there too.

Rudy Koski: “You have the Rangers in the Metroplex, the Astros in Houston. Why do you think they’re going to let Austin in the game?”

Derrik Fox: “I would say it’s not about allowing. You used the word allow. Texas, the state’s economic powerhouse, comes from the Texas Triangle. The triangle has three points. Austin, San Antonio, we make up the third point.” By the end of this decade we will have 6,000,000 people between us and San Antonio. We know that the league and people in sports are now talking about Austin as a market, and they weren’t doing that back then. We were under the impression that Nashville would get a team without question and that Salt Lake City was very well positioned, to get the second team.

Matt Mackowiak: “It’s time for Austin to stop looking at our state in a way that makes us feel like we have to ask Dallas and Houston if we can have nice things.”

Rudy Koski: “Who is your main investor? Do you already have one? And who is your ownership group? Do you have any names ready to be announced?”

Matt Mackowiak: “We don’t have any names at this point. “This is really the hardest nut to crack because we spent some time both in the due diligence phase and afterwards to understand exactly what this means.” We assume that this is the case a minimum $4,000,000,000 venture, $1,000,000,000 for a stadium, 40 to 45,000 people, ideally in the central core. and then an operating budget of $1,000,000,000 for the major league and the three minor league teams. If we develop a site closer to 1 30, that’s a street where people can come from San Antonio. And look, there are three or four locations in Williamson County, and we’re going to Hays County in the next, probably next week to talk to them and understand what those locations are down there too, because we want to understand everything.”

Rudy Koski: “Steven, the ATX team claims that some political heavyweights support it. Are there any signs that North Texas lawmakers might get involved and try to pull a block?”

Steven Dial: “Steven, the ATX team claims to have some political heavyweights behind them. Are there any signs that North Texas lawmakers might get involved and try to pull a bloc? So does Austin have the market for it? Secure. Will it happen? I don’t think so.”

You can watch Texas: The problem is every Sunday evening on television and at any time FOX LOCAL.