Major League Baseball in North Carolina??? Not that crazy an idea….MLB could well be, well-served to place a team in the Raleigh-Durham area, the Triangle Region of North Carolina, and why not call the team, the Durham Bulls…
You could even give some consideration to moving the Tampa Bay Rays to Durham, and load up the bases for the Durham Bulls…
Look at what Tampa Bay is drawing these days at their place, down in Florida….
The average attendance for Tampa Bay Rays games in 2024 was 16,515 per game. This is based on data from Baseball-Reference.com. In 2023, the average was 17,781, and in 2022, it was 13,927.
**********So far in 2025, the Tampa Bay Rays are averaging 9,852 fans per game….**********
The current Durham Bulls Athletic Park, seats just over 10,000 fans, and the smart money says the Raleigh-Durham area would support a new stadium, there in and around Durham, that would seat in excess of 30,000 fans…And that is what you really need…One of those 25-30 thousand fans ballparks, that make sense, and fits the needs of your market….
Why the Raleigh-Durham market??? Well, if you look real close, Charlotte already has major league football(NFL Carolina Panthers), major league basketball(NBA Charlotte Hornets), and major league soccer(Charlotte Football Club)…Three major league teams already in that market, and that is sucking up a lot of sports dollars, and also just because Charlotte is a larger city, and in a larger market, that doesn’t mean they should get all the pro teams…
There is a nice opening/hole in that Raleigh-Durham market for Major League Baseball, and the Durham Bulls name would be a great fit…That Durham Bulls name is pretty much like “Baseball Royalty”…But, some critics might say that there is already one pro team with the Bulls name, and that is those Chicago Bulls(NBA)…But I say bull to that argument…You have the Carolina Panthers in pro football, and the Florida Panthers in pro hockey, and both of those teams are doing alright(Carolina Panthers not great, but alright)….
Just one major league team in the Raleigh-Durham market, the Carolina Hurricanes, from the NHL, and that would make one think that Triangle Region market could well be ripe and ready to support Major League Baseball, and the New Durham Bulls….
Durham says, “Bring it to Durham” and others are saying, “Durham don’t know bull”…..
Well, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but every once and awhile, I think this here Durham stumbles onto a very good idea, whose Time Has Come…
“The Time is NOW!!!!!”
The MLB, in the BIG D, Durham, N.C.
Take it from me, this will all come to be, no later than 2033…Maybe I am barking up the WRONG tree, but just wait and see, you have heard my plea, now let’s go Claim our Vic-tory, in the MLB….
Ha Ha, hee-hee, don’t talk that way to me, or I might take my MLB ideology to Tennessee…..
As we hear may times from Dicky V, YES BABY, on the MLB from Andy D…..
++++++++++(The writer of this post does drink, but for me, it is just MORE water and cold iced Tea.)++++++++++
I like it! Out of our three major market teams that already exist you could easily argue that the hurricanes are the most supported.
And it sure helps that the Hurricanes are making the playoffs on a regular basis….Seems like the the last time the Carolina Panthers made the playoffs was when Cam Newton led them to the Super Bowl, and that seems like a long time ago to me…Hurricanes have that fan dedication you like to see and it gets your attention….The new Durham Bulls might have a shot to get that same sort of support around the Triangle and around the state….