According to a Beacon Center poll received by The Tennessee Star, Tennesseans are not keen on the state spending their tax dollars on a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium in Nashville.
According to the poll, 58 percent oppose using state tax dollars for a new MLB stadium, while only 27 support it.
The numbers look even worse when broken down by political party. Most Democrats, Republicans, and Independents don’t support the plan. Sixty percent of independent voters reject the idea, while 59 percent of Democrats and 57 percent of Republicans oppose using their tax dollars for the ballpark.
The polling’s news is relevant given that MLB has been considering adding an expansion team, and Nashville is near the top of the list of potential expansion cities.
“Based on conversations with high-ranking executives within the sport, it seems close to a fait accompli that Nashville will win one of the next expansion teams,” ESPN reported. “When the owners actually form a committee to study the possible growth from 30 to 32 teams, they will talk about how the Music City is already a major league city, with the NFL’s Titans and NHL’s Predators and tremendous population growth, in a part of the country that is wild about sports.”
That report also noted that the city spent more than $1 billion last year for a new stadium for the Tennessee Titans.
When polled, 56.9 percent of Davidson County residents opposed the stadium deal, while only 28.3 percent supported it.
As for reasons why Nashville might not be part of the MLB’s next expansion, ESPN’s Buster Olney said, “Nashville is not necessarily close to Cincinnati, St. Louis or Atlanta, but the major league teams from those cities probably will cringe at the idea of having pieces of their respective fan bases shaved off — though those concerns probably would not preclude Nashville from getting a team.”
Other cities on the list for expansion are Austin and San Antonio, Texas, Charlotte, North Carolina, Mexico City, Mexico and Montreal, Canada, which previously had an MLB team until it relocated to Washington, D.C. in 2005.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on X/Twitter.
Idiots.
Put the Ball Park in Memphis.
Could name the Team after the famous Memphis Bell of WWII.
Nashville has sucked up far too much Taxpayer money.
Perhaps, Sugar Daddy Bloomberg can build the Stadium for Freddie.
This is up to the taxpayer to decide and not the political Oligarchs of Nashville.
I don’t go to Nashville for any kind of event.
Nashville is liberal controlled and is just not safe.
I even hate going thru Nashville because one never knows what will happen.
If getting a major league team is such a great deal, let the owners pay for their plaything.
Instead of adding more cost to the taxpayers, I am all in favor of killing off the “wonderful” grants that the state government gleefully spreads around to both public and private concerns. That includes many NGO’s that pay their leaders outrageous salaries. It is time for these so-called worthy operations to pay for themselves. I am very tired of my tax dollars being given away. I could use the money myself.
Well we here in Chattanooga are getting hosed for a $131 million stadium for a AA team. Thanks RINOS.