What's Left?

When Major League Baseball reorganized the minor leagues in 2020, one change was minimum facility standards, with a 2025 deadline for compliance. Most teams were able to upgrade their existing stadiums but the new requirements contributed to a flurry of new ballparks starting in 2025. "Starting" because the compliance deadline has proven to be flexible.

Nine new stadiums opened in 2025 and 2026 but we visited just one; The Ballpark at America First Square, the new home of the Pacific Coast League Salt Lake Bees. The other eight, arranged by league, high to low and then alphabetically, are:

RICHMOND FLYING SQUIRRELS (San Francisco Giants)

Eastern League 

CHATTANOOGA LOOKOUTS (Cincinnati Reds)

Southern League

COLUMBUS CLINGSTONES (Atlanta Braves)

Southern League

KNOXVILLE SMOKIES (Chicago Cubs)

Southern League

HUB CITY SPARTANBURGERS (Texas Rangers)

Carolina League

WILSON WARBIRDS (Milwaukee Brewers)

Carolina League

The black pin is the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers.
The red pins are Knoxville, Spartanburg, and Columbus.
The orange pins are Chattanooga, Wilson, and Richmond.

ONTARIO TOWER BUZZERS (Los Angeles Dodgers)

California League

HILLSBORO HOPS (Arizona Diamondbacks)

Northwest League

Elsewhere and Further Ahead

Imperial War Museum image used through IWM Non-Commercial License.

With the Everett Aquasox pushing the opening of their hoped-for ballpark out one year, no new stadiums will open in 2027. The San Antonio Missions, who have been dragging their feet since forever, have also lost a year.

2028

Everett, Washington, continues to move forward with plans for an "outdoor event center" that will serve as the new home field for the EVERETT AQUASOX (Seattle Mariners, Northwest League), minor league soccer, and other purposes. The city has selected a site, begun site prep', and designated a design-build firm for construction. However, the project isn't fully funded, the cost estimate is probably optimistic, and there are other unanswered questions,

The history of the A’s plans to build a new stadium and associated development on the Oakland waterfront, then alternatively in Las Vegas, is sordid. However, once the LAS VEGAS ATHLETICS actually broke ground, they have stayed on track to play their first season in Nevada in 2028.

 

webcam view; September 27, 5:44 PDT

2029

When the SAN ANTONIO MISSIONS were sold in fall 2022 to a consortium that included seasoned baseball executives and a local real estate developer, it seemed like a breakthrough (Ballpark Digest) in the years-long hand-wringing over a new stadium. Another two years would pass uneventfully, with MLB then threatening to relocate the Texas League team. Negotiations between the city and the team have been fraught and plans to begin construction in summer 2026 are delayed until the following year.

Hillsborough County and the Tampa City Council voted in late-August to approve public funding for the TAMPA BAY RAYS new stadium; $796M and $80M, respectively. The team's lease at The Trop' expires in 2028 and the Rays' goal for now is to have the new ballpark completed in time for the 2029 season.

2030

Also in August, the Kansas City city council approved a $600M commitment towards the KANSAS CITY ROYALS plan for a new stadium and now de rigueur additional development in the Crown Center neighborhood.

UNDETERMINED

At the end of the 2024 season, the general manager of the EUGENE EMERALDS said he was speaking with municipalities in Idaho and southern and central Oregon. On November 2, 2025 in southwest Oregon, Medford voters narrowly (52 percent in favor) approved a two-percent increase in the hotel tax to partially fund a conference center and other development, potentially—key word there—including a baseball stadium. In June 2026, the Medford City Council agreed to pay half of the cost of a study of the financial viability of a stadium at several locations.

BEYOND THE HORIZON

A minority owner of the CHICAGO WHITE SOX, who is poised to purchase a majority stake, has proposed building a new ballpark across the Chicago River from the stadium under construction for the Chicago Fire soccer team. Additional mixed-use development? You had to ask?

northeasterly bird's eye view

The LOS ANGELES ANGELS OF ANAHEIM were sold in the summer to a real estate developer who owns several other sports franchises. The Halos play in the fourth oldest stadium in Major League Baseball, which has been poorly maintained.

Finally, the commissioner of baseball, Fred-somebody, supports expanding the MLB to 32 teams. He has stated repeatedly that expansion will not occur until plans for the Rays and the A's are "settled," a term of art. Nevertheless, there are potentially two more major league stadiums coming sometime in the 2030s and, correspondingly, eight minor league ballparks, potentially some of which were purged during the pandemic, and that brings this survey back to where it started.