Looks like some of you may be getting your wish....(from the Nashville Business Journal)
Sports, media power player aims to bring Major League Baseball to Nashville
Jan 14, 2019, 2:19pm CST Updated: Jan 14, 2019, 2:41pm CST
ALEXANDRA WYMAN
The boxer Sugar Ray Leonard, left, shakes hands with John Loar at a 2007 event in Los Angeles where Loar and others announced their Red Bird Cinema venture.
A new-to-Nashville businessman, who cites high-powered connections in sports and business, is spearheading an effort to bring a Major League Baseball team to Nashville.
Music City Equity Group, formed by John Loar, is emerging in the wake of the mid-2018 revelation by the league's commissioner, Rob Manfred, that Nashville is on the league's short-list of potential expansion cities. While Major League Baseball hasn't announced a specific timetable for when it might add two teams to its ranks, Manfred's mention of Nashville as a possibility underscores how high of a national profile Nashville has achieved.
That said, the prospect of Major League Baseball raises questions about who would pay to build a stadium, where it would be located and whether the market can support a fourth professional sports franchise (even with the region's surging growth). Nashville is already home to the National Football League's Tennessee Titans, the National Hockey League's Nashville Predators and a forthcoming Major League Soccer team.
All that is to-be-determined, and it could be several years or more before a new Major League Baseball franchise debuts. Loar is already working to build a coalition to pursue a team, the first known effort like it in Nashville.
"This will be a marathon," Loar said in an exclusive interview. "I don’t think I’m the only person looking at this market, or talking about this market. … To me, it’s fascinating. You've got to be intrigued by what’s happened here in the last five years."
Here's how Loar describes his effort on his LinkedIn page:
Music City Equity Group (MCEG) is an organization of business, sports, music and community leaders, as well as an investment syndicate. MCEG is focused on bringing a future Major League Baseball franchise to the City of Nashville incorporated within the development of a mixed-use master plan, multi-themed family sports and entertainment neighborhood.
In his resume and on his LinkedIn page, Loar lists himself as an adviser to a number of high-profile people, in addition to orchestrating notable business ventures. Examples include:
In November, Loar met with Mayor David Briley to talk about his efforts. Thomas Mulgrew, a spokesman for Briley, described the session as an "introductory, informational meeting." Mulgrew added: "Since then, there has been no additional outreach or further conversation. Our focus remains on our No. 1 priority: getting our [Major League Soccer] team ready."
Rich Riebeling is one of the people advising Loar. Riebeling recently retired from Metro after 11 years as the most powerful government staffer, serving as finance director under Mayor Karl Dean and chief operating officer under Mayor Megan Barry and Briley.
Riebeling and Loar said they didn't have a formal business relationship per se. "We've met periodically to share ideas. I've advised him on who he should meet with and talk to," Riebeling said. He declined further comment.
Loar, who was based in California, moved to Nashville last summer to be closer to his daughter, who is attending the University of Kentucky. Since then, Loar said he's met with public officials, community leaders and executives in the music industry.
Although Loar describes himself as the head of a group, in an interview, he said he's self-funding his analysis and there are no formal agreements with any potential investors. Loar said he hasn't yet talked with Major League Baseball's Manfred about his efforts.
"I just wanted to spend time furthering my research on the Nashville market," Loar said. "It’s really just on my own dime. Nobody’s paying me to do this."
Financing and location are two top questions in game-playing where a possible baseball stadium would go. The east bank of the Cumberland River immediately jumps to mind, including the 105-acre River North development site, adjacent to the Topgolf entertainment complex. The stadium might also fit on some of the parking lots surrounding Nissan Stadium, where the Titans play.
Nashville's minor-league franchise, the Nashville Sounds, moved from the Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood to Germantown in 2015. A report done for Metro when it weighed that move identified the East Bank as an option, as well as property on Charlotte Avenue now home to the Capitol View mixed-use development.
Metro spent $91 million building First Tennessee Park for the Sounds. The ballpark contains 10,000 seats, and the Sounds have said it can't be expanded.
Nashville's forthcoming MLS stadium, at The Fairgrounds Nashville, will cost $275 million. The team's ownership, led by billionaire John Ingram, is contributing $25 million cash and agreed to cover the bulk of debt payments from Metro-issued bonds that will finance the rest of the construction.
Loar said he doesn't think it's feasible in any city to get public financing for a stadium "in the world we live in today." Loar said the most logical thing would be making a stadium part of a broader mixed-use development. The newest Major League Baseball stadium is in Atlanta, which opened in 2017. The stadium cost $684 million to build, not counting a surrounding $400 million mixed-use development named The Battery Atlanta.
"Assuming this opportunity comes together in the future, it requires a grassroots effort and a groundswell of local involvement," Loar said. "That's my vision."
Sports, media power player aims to bring Major League Baseball to Nashville
Jan 14, 2019, 2:19pm CST Updated: Jan 14, 2019, 2:41pm CST
ALEXANDRA WYMAN
The boxer Sugar Ray Leonard, left, shakes hands with John Loar at a 2007 event in Los Angeles where Loar and others announced their Red Bird Cinema venture.
A new-to-Nashville businessman, who cites high-powered connections in sports and business, is spearheading an effort to bring a Major League Baseball team to Nashville.
Music City Equity Group, formed by John Loar, is emerging in the wake of the mid-2018 revelation by the league's commissioner, Rob Manfred, that Nashville is on the league's short-list of potential expansion cities. While Major League Baseball hasn't announced a specific timetable for when it might add two teams to its ranks, Manfred's mention of Nashville as a possibility underscores how high of a national profile Nashville has achieved.
That said, the prospect of Major League Baseball raises questions about who would pay to build a stadium, where it would be located and whether the market can support a fourth professional sports franchise (even with the region's surging growth). Nashville is already home to the National Football League's Tennessee Titans, the National Hockey League's Nashville Predators and a forthcoming Major League Soccer team.
All that is to-be-determined, and it could be several years or more before a new Major League Baseball franchise debuts. Loar is already working to build a coalition to pursue a team, the first known effort like it in Nashville.
"This will be a marathon," Loar said in an exclusive interview. "I don’t think I’m the only person looking at this market, or talking about this market. … To me, it’s fascinating. You've got to be intrigued by what’s happened here in the last five years."
Here's how Loar describes his effort on his LinkedIn page:
Music City Equity Group (MCEG) is an organization of business, sports, music and community leaders, as well as an investment syndicate. MCEG is focused on bringing a future Major League Baseball franchise to the City of Nashville incorporated within the development of a mixed-use master plan, multi-themed family sports and entertainment neighborhood.
In his resume and on his LinkedIn page, Loar lists himself as an adviser to a number of high-profile people, in addition to orchestrating notable business ventures. Examples include:
- longtime adviser to Ron Olson, partner at the law firm Munger Tolles & Olson and a board member of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
- adviser in 2015 and 2016 to Howard Schultz, then-CEO of Starbucks Corp. (Nasdaq: SBUX)
- business affairs adviser for boxer Sugar Ray Leonard for the past 20 years
- co-founder of Red Bird Cinema, a movie-making venture — along with Hall of Fame player and manager Tony LaRussaand actors Billy Bob Thornton and Kevin Pollak.
- adviser to a group that competed to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball franchise in 2012 (that group included billionaire Steve Cohen, LaRussa, Olson and others)
- co-manager of an investor group that bid on the Miami Marlins baseball franchise in 2017 (those in the group included U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney's eldest son and Dave Stewart, a World Series-winner and former general manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks franchise)
In November, Loar met with Mayor David Briley to talk about his efforts. Thomas Mulgrew, a spokesman for Briley, described the session as an "introductory, informational meeting." Mulgrew added: "Since then, there has been no additional outreach or further conversation. Our focus remains on our No. 1 priority: getting our [Major League Soccer] team ready."
Rich Riebeling is one of the people advising Loar. Riebeling recently retired from Metro after 11 years as the most powerful government staffer, serving as finance director under Mayor Karl Dean and chief operating officer under Mayor Megan Barry and Briley.
Riebeling and Loar said they didn't have a formal business relationship per se. "We've met periodically to share ideas. I've advised him on who he should meet with and talk to," Riebeling said. He declined further comment.
Loar, who was based in California, moved to Nashville last summer to be closer to his daughter, who is attending the University of Kentucky. Since then, Loar said he's met with public officials, community leaders and executives in the music industry.
Although Loar describes himself as the head of a group, in an interview, he said he's self-funding his analysis and there are no formal agreements with any potential investors. Loar said he hasn't yet talked with Major League Baseball's Manfred about his efforts.
"I just wanted to spend time furthering my research on the Nashville market," Loar said. "It’s really just on my own dime. Nobody’s paying me to do this."
Financing and location are two top questions in game-playing where a possible baseball stadium would go. The east bank of the Cumberland River immediately jumps to mind, including the 105-acre River North development site, adjacent to the Topgolf entertainment complex. The stadium might also fit on some of the parking lots surrounding Nissan Stadium, where the Titans play.
Nashville's minor-league franchise, the Nashville Sounds, moved from the Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood to Germantown in 2015. A report done for Metro when it weighed that move identified the East Bank as an option, as well as property on Charlotte Avenue now home to the Capitol View mixed-use development.
Metro spent $91 million building First Tennessee Park for the Sounds. The ballpark contains 10,000 seats, and the Sounds have said it can't be expanded.
Nashville's forthcoming MLS stadium, at The Fairgrounds Nashville, will cost $275 million. The team's ownership, led by billionaire John Ingram, is contributing $25 million cash and agreed to cover the bulk of debt payments from Metro-issued bonds that will finance the rest of the construction.
Loar said he doesn't think it's feasible in any city to get public financing for a stadium "in the world we live in today." Loar said the most logical thing would be making a stadium part of a broader mixed-use development. The newest Major League Baseball stadium is in Atlanta, which opened in 2017. The stadium cost $684 million to build, not counting a surrounding $400 million mixed-use development named The Battery Atlanta.
"Assuming this opportunity comes together in the future, it requires a grassroots effort and a groundswell of local involvement," Loar said. "That's my vision."
