Dave Stewart, an ex-All-Star pitcher and three-time World Series winner, leads a group looking to purchase an MLB franchise for Nashville. It would be the league’s first majority minority-owned MLB team.
Music City Baseball selected Stewart to head its Diverse Equity Ownership Initiative. This initiative aims to find a big league baseball team, possibly with the next three to five year, according to Stewart and MLB sources.
Baseball’s priority is expansion. The sport hasn’t added any teams in almost a quarter century. ArizonaAnd Tampa BayThe league was founded in 1998. Commissioner Rob Manfred stated that the league must resolve issues with the stadiums in Oakland and Tampa Bay before it can grow. Both cities have no long-term stadium commitments. Tampa Bay tried to negotiate a Montreal-Tampa Bay joint solution, but Manfred rejected it. Oakland owner John Fisher made a public bid for a relocation to Las Vegas and a new Oakland ballpark.
“I spoke to commissioner a couple weeks ago, and the same thing remains,” Stewart said Tuesday. Stewart played eight seasons in Oakland and was instrumental in helping the team win a World Series title in 1989. There are two teams without homes: the “The” and the “The”. Oakland A’sThese are his top priorities in making sure that those areas have homes to play in. After that, expansion will be next on his agenda.”
Stewart has been pursuing ownership in the past with the baseball team. It would be a historic first for the majority minority-owned team. Miami MarlinsThe A’s. Many high-profile Black players in the past have attempted to own the sport over the years, from Reggie Jackson and Joe Morgan to the late Hall of Famer Henry Aaron. Earvin “Magic” Johnson, a NBA Hall of Famer, currently holds a 2% stake. Los Angeles DodgersDerek Jeter owned a 4% equity share in the Marlins before he sold his stake. It would be rare to have a minority control interest in an MLB team.
Stewart indicated that the group, which includes former U.S. attorney general Alberto Gonzales and Stewart, plans to raise $2 billion for an expansion team.
The Nashville Stars are the proposed name for the team, a homage to the Negro League team which made Nashville its home in 1950s and 1960s. Based on the success stories of the NFL, Nashville has been an increasingly popular baseball city. Tennessee TitansNHL’s Nashville Predators.
The plan includes mixed-use development and market-rate housing. It also has a relationship with Tennessee State University, a historically Black college. Stewart’s group is also working with the Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City.
“We started this four years ago. Nashville is a rapidly-growing city. Stewart stated that Nashville has a wonderful population. There’s so much happening here. MLB ranked Nashville among its top expansion areas, and that was what prompted me to pursue this path.