Salt Lake City remains a leading contender to land a Major League Baseball expansion franchise, anchored by an advanced potential bid that sports insiders describe as the closest scenario to a turnkey operation. According to ESPN baseball insider Jeff Passan, the Utah capital boasts distinct advantages for a major league team despite operating in a smaller media market than rival bidding cities.
The city’s pursuit of a franchise centers on three significant factors: a strong ownership group, locked-in stadium funding, and a ready-to-build site. Miller Company. The organization unveiled architectural renderings for the Power District on Feb. 15, 2024. The nearly 100-acre site sits adjacent to the Utah State Fairpark and the Jordan River on Salt Lake City’s west side.
State lawmakers have backed the effort with financial commitments. Utah secured a $900 million funding mechanism through a rental car tax increase to cover half of the estimated stadium construction costs. Larry H. Miller Company CEO Steve Starks noted in a public statement reported by the Deseret News that local and national enthusiasm underscores the state’s readiness for major league sports.
“For generations, Utahns have embraced baseball — cheering on the Salt Lake Bees at home and traveling to iconic ballparks to see their favorite major league teams,” Starks said in the statement.
Public Sentiment and Sports Preferences in Utah
Public polling indicates strong local backing for professional baseball. A Deseret News and Hinckley Institute of Politics poll found that 43% of registered voters in Utah prefer Major League Baseball as the next pro sport to join the state’s landscape. The NFL followed closely at 35% in the same survey.
Support for baseball spans multiple demographics, according to the survey data. More than half of baby boomers and nearly half of millennials favor bringing an MLB team to Salt Lake City, while retired residents registered the highest demographic approval at 57%. A separate March 2026 Deseret News and Hinckley Institute poll showed that nearly 7 in 10 Utahns would welcome a big league team to the Beehive State.
The state already hosts two major professional sports organizations from the traditional Big Four leagues: the NBA’s Utah Jazz and the NHL’s Utah Mammoth.
Evaluating Salt Lake City’s NFL Viability
While football ranks second behind baseball in voter preference, analysts point to distinct structural hurdles that keep an NFL franchise from matching baseball’s progress in Utah. Salt Lake City meets growth, fan passion, and infrastructure benchmarks, but falls short in two key areas prioritized by the NFL: a deep corporate base capable of generating luxury revenue and a viable path toward a 65,000-seat stadium.
Unlike the organized corporate push behind Big League Utah, a professional football team has remained a speculative proposal for decades without a formalized ownership bid or dedicated stadium funding mechanism.