‘If you build it, they will come’: Utah lawmakers submit resolution to support MLB team
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SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — If you build it, they will come.
At least, that is what Utah lawmakers are saying in a new resolution submitted before the 2024 General Session that would see state legislature commit to supporting efforts to bring a Major League Baseball franchise to Utah.
The resolution outlines a list of reasons why Utah is the perfect place for an MLB team while making references to the 1989 classic baseball film, “Field of Dreams” and the 1993 “Sandlot.”
The lawmakers say that a Major League Baseball team would be an economic and cultural boon in Salt Lake City and the entire state of Utah. The resolution says Utah’s position as the “Crossroads of the West,” with a strong economy and growing population makes Utah perfect for baseball. They even claim heaven isn’t in Iowa as suggested in Field of Dreams – it’s in Utah.
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Salt Lake City has been at the forefront of expansion talks since April when Big League Utah – a coalition of Utah leaders spearheaded by the Larry H. Miller Company – announced a push to bring professional baseball to the Beehive State.
The resolution submitted to Utah legislature said the Miller family’s commitment as a partner to bring MLB to Utah is “unmatched” and the state’s population has been incredibly supportive of its already existing professional teams – the Utah Jazz and Real Salt Lake.
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“Seeing this plan through to fruition will increase revenue and state funds available to support public education and other endeavors in our great state,” the resolution reads in part. “Be it resolved that the Legislature of the state of Utah, with the Governor concurring therein, supports the efforts of Big League Utah in the pursuit of bringing Major League Baseball to the great state of Utah.”
Lawmakers further said there was only one appropriate response to the suggestion that any other city is better prepared than Utah for an MLB team.
“You’re killing me, Smalls!”
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