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A top Republican lawmaker has joined the group of state officials ready for a Major League Baseball team in North Carolina, and potentially Raleigh.
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Senate leader Phil Berger, a longtime Yankees fan, told reporters on Thursday that he’d love to see it happen, and lawmakers could play a role in ushering it along.
Democratic Gov. Josh Stein would also like Raleigh, or at least the Triangle, to be the home of the next major league team.
“Well, Charlotte has two, three major professional sports: the MLS, NBA and NFL. Of course, Raleigh and the Triangle has now the NHL and World Champions, Stanley Cup champions, Carolina Hurricanes,” Stein told reporters on Wednesday.
He went on to say that the Triangle “is a lucrative and potential market for the MLB — baseball — and we’re going to be working to do all we can.”
“I think that the region really showed out, the viewership on this NHL playoffs were the highest in like seven or eight years. People care about what happens here. One of the fastest growing metro areas in the country, 22nd largest media market, which places them bigger than any other potential expansion site in the country. So we’re eager for this opportunity to be considered, and we’ll do all we can to support it,” Stein told reporters in Charlotte.
Berger agrees with Stein, for similar reasons.
“All projections are we’re going to be the seventh most populous state when the next census comes out. We’re the largest state that does not have a major league baseball team. … If someone had told you 20 years ago that a professional hockey team drew the kind of response that we’ve seen — not just in Raleigh and not just in Wake County, but across the state of North Carolina — you wouldn’t have believed it,” Berger said.
“And I just think sports has a way of doing that, and if there’s an opportunity for North Carolina to get an expansion baseball team, I’d love to see that. I am hopeful that we’ll have an ability to put forward something sooner rather than later that will give us that opportunity,” he said.
Asked if there could be money for an MLB project in the state budget, which is now in final negotiations between Berger and House Speaker Destin Hall, Berger said, “I don’t know.”
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“To the question of money, (it) is not necessarily the thing. Maybe. But I’d be interested in seeing what steps we would need to take in order to facilitate putting North Carolina in the best position to be successful in having an owner’s group, because obviously we need that, be awarded a franchise,” Berger said.
He said he is “agnostic” about specifically where the team would be located.
“I do think that the growth in this market, and the success that this market has had as far as support for the Hurricanes argues that this market is one that I think would stand in pretty good stead as a candidate,” Berger added.
Berger said if it’s not money, the role of the General Assembly could be in authorizing local taxation to finance sports venues, like other states do.
“There are conversations that have taken place, but nothing has been decided as of yet,” he said, beyond the interest in putting North Carolina in the best position for it.
He gave the example of the Centennial Authority, which includes the state, the city of Raleigh and N.C. State University, as “a starting point.”
Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon has talked about his support for bringing major league baseball to North Carolina, The News & Observer previously reported. “I think we’re gonna put ourselves in a really good place, and if they decide to expand, we’ll have a compelling offer,” Dundon said in Las Vegas, after the Canes won the 2026 Stanley Cup.
Hurricanes CEO Brian Fork is the former chief of staff to Berger, and was seen at the Legislative Building within the past month.
This is Berger’s final year in the Senate, as he lost his primary election. His term ends in December. Asked if he would be interested in being part of MLB coming to the state, Berger said he has made no plans or decisions about what he’ll do when he leaves office, “but if they’d allow me to manage a major league baseball team, I’ll apply.”
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