The Diamond Clubhouse opened on Saturday and is expected to stand through next springPORTLAND DIAMOND PROJECT
The group looking to bring MLB to Portland opened a "pop-up retail store downtown as it looks to build credibility on a national stage and win over baseball skeptics at home," according to Elliot Njus of the Portland OREGONIAN. The Portland Diamond Clubhouse, which opened on Saturday, will "serve as a public relations headquarters as well as a merchandise outlet at least through next spring." Inside the store, one wall is "given over to interview space, with 'MLB PDX' spelled out in baseballs as the backdrop." Another wall is "given over to a petition" to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred; the team "hopes to deliver 50,000 signatures supporting a major-league team in Portland by spring training." The Portland Diamond Project "made a splash last week when it announced a preliminary agreement" to build a ballpark on the "site of a Northwest Portland marine cargo terminal owned by the Port of Portland." It also "released renderings of the 32,000-seat stadium it's proposing, complete with a retractable windowed dome and a gondola that would provide an aerial view of the game." Meanwhile, Diamond Project officials will travel to the MLB Winter Meetings this week in Las Vegas in hopes of building "support for a team's relocation to Portland, or else gauge the appetite for a league expansion that includes the city" (Portland OREGONIAN, 12/8).
SIN BOLDLY? In Las Vegas, Betsy Helfand in a front-page piece noted a group in Las Vegas is "working with investors" to build a ballpark and "bring a major-league team" to the city. Chicago businessman Lou Weisbach and White Sox announcer Steve Stone are "among those working" on the effort. Weisbach said that the people he is working with on this effort are "engaged in ongoing conversations with investors and landowners," as well as "local leaders." Meanwhile, Manfred "hasn’t been shy about expansion" during his tenure as commissioner. He has "floated the idea of a 32-team league -- up from the current 30 -- multiple times, mentioning Las Vegas as a 'viable market'" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 12/9).
