Mayor Ted Wheeler Sounds Off On MLB to PDX

750 The Game Staff

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler joined John Canzano (Afternoons 3-6 p.m.) on 750 The Game to express his support of bringing Major League Baseball to Portland and the city’s passing of a resolution to support the Portland Diamond Project’s acquisition of Zidell Yards.

“This is part of a bigger theme,” Wheeler said. “We’ve had a lot of significant successes lately moving big projects forward, we just got the WNBA franchise. What I’d like people to take away from this is, yes, we went through a difficult and challenging period of several years, but we’re definitely bouncing back.

“When it comes to MLB, we are the largest unserved market in the United States. Just from an economic perspective, this makes a ton of sense.”

It means we are committing to bringing a Major League franchise to Portland. It means that we are going to work as a city institution to support the Portland Diamond Project’s acquisition of the Zidell Yards. That we will continue to have all of our bureaus coordinate and consolidate their efforts around MLB to make sure that it happens, so that’s everything from permits to infrastructural investments to evaluating other potential properties that might be associated ultimately with a larger package around this particular deal. So I see this as more than a gesture I see this as a firm commitment on the part of the city of Portland that we are moving forward on trying to attract an MLB franchise.”

You can listen to the entire interview below.