Another MLB team considering relocation

The Brewers have apparently given some thought to considering relocation, per a report from Molly Beck of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. At issue is the club’s lease on American Family Field, with negotiations over a new funding package for improvements yet to reach an agreement, as detailed by reports from Tom Daykin of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Beck’s report indicates the club could start looking for a new home this fall if a deal isn’t in place by then.

American Family Field is owned by a public agency called the Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball District, who leases the stadium to the Brewers. The current lease runs through 2030 and requires the agency to pay for improvements present in at least 75% of all other MLB stadiums. The district must also replace or repair infrastructure items consistent with the replacement items of the top 25% of all MLB parks.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, proposed a $290 billion spending package earlier in the year as part of a deal that would get the Brewers to sign an extension keeping them in Milwaukee through 2043. When combined with interest and the $70M that the district already has on hand, this would have eventually led to $448M in spending.

That deal was scrapped by Republican lawmakers, who control the legislature. They have been negotiating a separate deal, the full details of which have not been released, though they want local governments to contribute. Local officials don’t seem to be on board, noting that they are facing challenges just covering basic services like police, sanitation and parks. Back in May, the Milwaukee County Board voted 17-0 to support a resolution calling for no county funding on American Family Field improvements. That was signed by Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley in June, but Crowley has reportedly expressed a willingness more recently to find a way to free up local revenue that could be used for stadium renovations. A financing package from the Legislature would also need to pass in the Senate. “We hope to have a finalized proposal in the near future,” said Assembly Speaker Robin Vos. “We do not want the (Brewers) to leave, nor do we think they will.”

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred visited Milwaukee in May and cited the Oakland Athletics, who are in the process of moving to Las Vegas, as a cautionary tale for the Brewers. He said that Oakland government officials “made some unfortunate decisions not to maintain the ballpark in the way that it needed to be maintained” and stressed the importance of officials getting a deal in place for the Brewers.

As mentioned, the current lease runs through 2030, meaning that a deal doesn’t need to be completed immediately. However, moving a franchise from one city to another is a process that takes years to explore and implement, so the club would have to proactively start considering the details of such plans if they thought it was a real possibility. The A’s began pursuing relocation in May 2021, a process that is still playing out more than two years later.

The fact that the Brewers have some willingness to consider relocation plans in the future doesn’t mean they are highly plausible to come together, however. Professional sports franchises often dangle the threat of relocation as a way to try to spur urgency from government officials in funding negotiations. It’s quite rare for a relocation plan to actually come to fruition, despite the impending move of the A’s to Vegas. Since the Washington Senators became the Texas Rangers in 1971, there has only been one instance of an MLB club moving, which was the Montreal Expos becoming the Washington Nationals in 2004.

There are various cities that have been suggested as potential future homes for MLB teams, such as Nashville, Portland and Salt Lake City. The league would eventually like to expand from 30 to 32 teams, but Manfred has repeatedly said that the A’s and Rays have to resolve their respective stadium situations before expansion will be on the table. The A’s moving to Vegas isn’t a done deal but seems quite far along in the process. The Rays don’t have a deal firmly in place either but seem to be making progress toward a resolution for a new stadium. That situation would theoretically become more complicated if the Brewers don’t get a deal in place in the near future. There’s also at least some uncertainty around the Orioles given the standoff in their lease negotiations.

The situation in Milwaukee is less pressing, with a few extra years on the lease. The Orioles lease expires at the end of this year, the Athletics’ lease on their current stadium runs through 2024 while the Rays have a lease that goes through 2027. With the Brewers having a deal in place through 2030, they have more time to figure out a plan to stay in Milwaukee. For now, it seems the expectation of everyone involved is that the club will stay. The Brewers want “Major League Baseball to remain in Wisconsin for the next generation and beyond,” says Rick Schlesinger, president of business operations for the team. Manfred said in May that he thinks “the Brewers are interested in a long-term relationship and an extension of the lease that’ll keep them here.” The possibility of relocation would vanish as soon as a new deal is in place, but it will likely only become more real as time passes without one.