Remember when MLB expansion felt like something that was always five years away? That timeline is starting to look a little more real after Commissioner Rob Manfred recently reiterated his plans to expand the league to 32 teams.
That doesn’t mean we’ll be seeing two new teams taking the field next season, but MLB is clearly getting more serious about making it happen. That would be a pretty big deal for Major League Baseball. The league has not added a new team since 1998, when the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays made their debuts and brought MLB to its current total of 30 teams.
There are still some major hurdles to clear before expansion is possible. The biggest one is the league’s collective bargaining negotiations with the MLB Players Association. But once that’s sorted, the expansion conversation could really start gaining momentum.
That leaves one big question: where will MLB’s next two teams come from?
Several cities are already in the conversation, with local groups and potential owners putting together their pitches for MLB. From Montreal to Nashville, Portland and beyond, let’s take a look at a few of the cities hoping to land one of those two new franchises.
Montreal
For Canadian baseball fans, Montreal is the obvious name to watch. The city already has MLB history, with the Montreal Expos joining the National League as an expansion team in 1969. The Expos played in Montreal until 2004 before relocating to Washington, D.C., becoming the Nationals the following season.
More than two decades later, the idea of bringing MLB back to Montreal is still alive. Much of the recent push was led by businessman Stephen Bronfman and the Montreal Baseball Project. While that effort has since stalled, the city remains part of the broader expansion conversation.
Montreal would offer something no other candidate can: the chance to bring baseball back to a city that already knows what it means to be an MLB market.
Salt Lake City
Utah has been making a serious push for an MLB team through Big League Utah, a local coalition put together by Gail Miller and the Larry H. Miller Company. The group has proposed a new ballpark in Salt Lake City’s Power District and has been working on plans for the surrounding development.
The bid also has an ownership group behind it, with the Millers once again leading the effort. The Miller family is no stranger to major-league sports, having owned the Utah Jazz for 36 years before later acquiring controlling interests in MLS club Real Salt Lake and the NWSL’s Utah Royals.
For a city that has never had an MLB team, Utah is suddenly positioning itself as a legitimate expansion market.
Raleigh
North Carolina has never had an MLB team, but Raleigh has been gaining momentum as a potential expansion market. The push is being led in part by Tom Dundon, owner of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes. There’s also another potential investor in the mix, with former Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry saying he wants to invest in an MLB team in Raleigh.
The bid has also attracted attention from North Carolina lawmakers, who discussed a potential $1.7 billion stadium plan, though the proposed $500 million in state funding did not make the final budget.
The city already has a major-league sports presence with the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, while Dundon and Lasry have both been involved in ownership at the highest levels of professional sports. If the ownership and stadium pieces can come together, it would be tough for MLB to overlook what Raleigh has to offer.
Nashville
Nashville has become one of the more prominent cities in the MLB expansion conversation, and it already has plenty of baseball credibility. The city is home to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds, as well as Vanderbilt, one of the top college baseball programs in the country.
The push for an MLB team is being led by Music City Baseball, a group formed specifically to bring Major League Baseball to Nashville. The city even got a taste of the MLB spotlight in 2025, when the Braves and Reds played the Speedway Classic at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee.
Nashville would give MLB a new market in a fast-growing sports city, while providing an opportunity for the league to expand its footprint further into the Southeast.
Portland
Portland has been chasing an MLB team for years, with the Portland Diamond Project leading the latest effort to bring baseball to Oregon. The city has remained part of the expansion discussion through several rounds of speculation about MLB’s next move.
The Portland Diamond Project has already proposed a new ballpark at Zidell Yards, a 33-acre site along the Willamette River in the city’s South Waterfront. The project has also received support from the city and state, including legislation authorizing up to $800 million in potential funding for an MLB ballpark.
Portland has a strong sports culture with the NBA’s Trail Blazers, the MLS’ Timbers and the NWSL’s Thorns. It hasn’t had a major professional baseball team since the Portland Beavers left in 2010, but that could soon change if Portland’s MLB expansion plans move forward.
Orlando
Orlando has emerged as another serious name in the MLB expansion conversation, with the Orlando Dreamers leading the effort to bring a team to Central Florida. The Dreamers were formed specifically to pursue MLB, with a group that includes former MLB players and executives, including Hall of Famer Barry Larkin.
The Dreamers have also put together plans for a new domed stadium on a 35.5-acre site near International Drive. The group says it has secured more than $2 billion in private funding for the potential team and stadium, while seeking additional public funding from Orange County. Its proposed $1.7 billion stadium plan includes a request for $975 million in tourist development tax funding.
With a huge tourism industry and a growing Central Florida population, Orlando is making a serious pitch to show MLB that the region can support another major-league team.