Is a new baseball park once again on Evansville’s wish list, 22 years after a previous effort was tagged out? It appears so.
In addition to hosting the Frontier League’s Otters baseball team since 1995, Evansville is positioning itself as a potential home to a minor league affiliate of a team in Nashville. The Tennessee capital is a leading candidate for a Major League Baseball expansion franchise — a decision Commissioner Rob Manfred says he wants finalized when his term ends in early 2029. Nashville already has picked the name the Stars, and Evansville baseball legend Don Mattingly — who serves as bench coach with the Toronto Blue Jays — was named in 2023 as a Stars Consultant.
Considering it takes 2-3 years for an MLB expansion to conclude, local leaders are ahead of the curve. To get a funding mechanism rolling for a ballpark, elected officials and business leaders have asked the Indiana General Assembly to raise the amount of annual taxes that can be captured by the Evansville Professional Sports and Convention Development Area.
The original version of Rep. Tim O’Brien’s legislation increased the development area’s cap from $1.2 million to $5 million. The version that passed in April grew it to $2 million.
“Music City Baseball continues to express interest in Evansville as a potential affiliate site,” says Evansville Regional Economic Partnership President and CEO Lloyd Winnecke. He adds that local leaders are exploring that possibility by “contemplating construction of a Downtown multi-use sports and entertainment venue. It’s too early to identify an exact location, financing structure, or team ownership.”
If MLB approves a new team in Nashville, it may be several years before Evansville residents see the ripple effect. The last MLB expansion added the Arizona Diamondbacks and Florida’s Tampa Bay Rays in March 1995. The teams played their first games three seasons later.
