As MLB Ponders ‘Pool Teams’ In Nashville, Loar Pushes For Baseball In The Music City

With Major League Baseball finally reaching an agreement with the MLBPA for an abbreviated 2020 baseball season, an interesting sidebar has developed about the free agent talent pool. As teams start their preseason work, MLB has been in talks with Nashville as a potential location for a reserve pool to display their skills.

Turning to Nashville will hopefully provide fans the opportunity to get familiar with John Loar’s efforts to bring Major League Baseball to Music City. Loar is the managing director of Music City Baseball’s leadership team. His board includes former Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, as well as Hall of Famer Tony LaRussa, World Series champion Dave Stewart and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum president, Bob Kendrick.

Loar started Music City Baseball in 2018 to draw attention to the need for an MLB franchise in Nashville. While MLB has definitely said they do not have plans to expand, he sees a chance for a progressive step in bringing their product to the city.

“I think it’s good for the market,” Loar said via telephone. “It just shows the interest in Nashville, and the kind of passion people [here] have for baseball.”

His group has paid homage to the Negro Leagues branding their efforts under the Nashville Stars moniker. He feels this connection would help to present a grander statement that MLB is willing to push into this area of the country.

“I think there’s such a unique opportunity for Major League Baseball to be very proactive and be a leader in the professional sports industry,” he said. “I think you can take a market connected to the South, and provide a clear message that you can take a step forward in this market.”

In recent years, Nashville has seen tremendous growth in real estate and corporate development. With Amazon
AMZN
’s presence, a vivid music scene and a growing health care industry, Nashville is prime to expand their professional sports footprint.

“It’s one of the hottest markets in the country,” he said. “If you add up all those things together and look at the existing sports franchises here that are having success … there’s potential to have both major and minor league teams in the same market.”

In the uncertain economic times surrounding COVID-19, MLB has a primary responsibility to make sure they can keep their teams on the field for the 2020 baseball season. While the prospect of moving a team to Nashville or expanding anytime soon seems unlikely given the bleak financial outlook across the country, Loar’s group is currently doing a feasibility study in their efforts to present a compelling case for a Nashville franchise.

“This market can be a revenue contributor to Major League Baseball,” he said. “It’s up to us to put a package together and present to Major League Baseball why Nashville works. I think there’s real estate opportunities, and there’s an opportunity to build a potentially privately financed a ballpark that’s truly a world class entertainment venue.”