Potential MLB Expansion? The Case For 9 Cities in 3 Countries

Before there can be realignment in MLB, there needs to be expansion.

Expansion to where? That's the question the next few years will answer. 

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has stated that there could be a shuffling of teams into different divisions or leagues. Which means that, before the end of the decade, MLB will have two new teams in it to make that realignment work.

There is no shortage of candidates: let's dive in to nine (in alphabetical order) that could host an MLB team by 2030. 

A Charlotte team would have a ton of fans and plenty of media behind it from the start, so it’s no wonder that Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon has shown an interest in bringing MLB to Charlotte in the recent past. 

North Carolina is no stranger to professional baseball: it currently hosts nine minor-league baseball teams, including four in the Carolina League, as well as an additional three MLB partner clubs on the independent circuit. The Triple-A affiliate of the White Sox, the Knights, play in Charlotte.

The NFL’s Carolina Panthers and NBA’s Charlotte Hornets are located there, too. There's also several soccer clubs, from MLS to NWSL to various USL outfits on the men’s and women’s side.

Of all the American cities on this list, it has the largest media market, and its metro population places it in between the likes of Denver, Baltimore and St. Louis. It shouldn’t be discounted, either, that Raleigh (where the NHL's Hurricanes play) is also an in-state city with its own significant metro population.

In 2016, Manfred mentioned North America's most populous city as an international expansion possibility. Consider its sheer size: Over 9 million residents, nearly a full million more than New York City, while the metro area has nearly