Raleigh MLB bid gains momentum as Rays talks continue
Marc Lasry says he wants to back MLB in Raleigh, as the Triangle weighs a $4 billion stadium path and Rays relocation chatter keeps Wake County in the mix.
Marc Lasry has put Raleigh squarely in the Major League Baseball conversation, saying he wants to invest in a big-league team in the area and is open to partnering with Tom Dundon. The pitch now carries real money behind it: Lasry’s Avenue Sports Fund launched in 2023 and has raised more than $1 billion, with investments already spread across the Baltimore Orioles, a NASCAR team, PGA Tour Enterprises and Tiger Woods’ TGL.
The case for Wake County rests on both growth and cost. The Triangle has grown about 18% over the past 10 years to 2.2 million residents, giving the region a larger market than it had when earlier expansion talk was mostly aspirational. Even so, the baseline to buy a franchise and build a stadium could reach about $4 billion, a number that raises the stakes for any local ownership group, public subsidy package or land deal.
The state’s political leadership is now openly testing the idea. Gov. Josh Stein said, “We want Major League Baseball to come to North Carolina,” and Senate Leader Phil Berger said he would be interested in seeing what steps would be needed to put the state in the best position for a team. NC State economist Michael Walden has estimated an MLB club in Raleigh could generate $300 million in new economic activity each year, a figure supporters are already using to argue that a ballpark could be more than a sports project if the surrounding development pencils out.
Raleigh’s opening also depends on what happens in Tampa Bay. Hurricane Milton tore the roof off Tropicana Field in December 2024, and the Rays played the 2025 season at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. The club’s future remains unsettled, with relocation cities including Raleigh and Charlotte on a possible list if the Tampa Bay situation falls apart. Any move would need approval from 23 of MLB’s 30 owners, while repairs to Tropicana Field were estimated at $55 million.
New Rays owner Patrick Zalupski has also said the team needs a new ballpark in the Tampa Bay area by 2029 and wants a public-private, fixed-roof development on roughly 100 acres. That keeps Raleigh in a broader competition, not just as a Rays fallback but as one of several markets that could be in line as Major League Baseball moves toward 32 teams by the early 2030s.
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