ORLANDO, Fla. – The Orlando Dreamers, led by Hall of Famer Barry Larkin, says it is one step closer to bringing an MLB franchise to Central Florida.
The group on Thursday announced that investors have committed additional “significant” financial support, totaling close to $1.5 billion, in letters of intent and verbal commitments.
The news comes after the Orlando Dreamers identified an anchor investor to purchase a team and fund a $1.7 billion domed stadium project on a plot of land next to Aquatica water park in Orange County.
“We are extremely pleased with the recent rapid progress in financing interest towards a prospective MLB team acquisition,” Larkin said in a release. “It is clear that these seasoned investors understand the compelling opportunity represented by our unsurpassed market metrics and proposed state-of-the-art domed stadium, located right in the middle of the Orange County tourist corridor that will welcome approximately 80 million tourists this year.”
The domed stadium would have capacity for 45,000 and sit in the “middle of the tourist corridor” on International Drive.
Watch News 6’s previous coverage below of the Orlando Dreamers announcement.
“We feel the heavy lifting part of team acquisition financing and stadium financing has been accomplished. Finding the right anchor investor in our control ownership group and an attractive financing structure for the team’s portion of stadium construction were clearly the most challenging aspects,” Jim Schnorf, cofounder of the Orlando Dreamers, said in a statement.
Schnorf also said that a funding letter of intent for the stadium “from a major institutional partner” will give more than $1 billion toward construction costs.
What’s the next step?
The Orlando Dreamers said it will now add staff and move its temporary Maitland office to a permanent location in downtown Orlando.
The road to a professional baseball team in Orlando can happen in two ways: MLB can expand its current roster of teams, or an existing team could move to Central Florida.
Last month, the Tampa Bay Rays pulled out of a $1.3 billion ballpark deal in St. Petersburg after principal owner Stuart Sternberg said “a series of events” in October, which included severe damage to Tropicana Field and financing delays, led to what he called “this difficult decision” to withdraw from the project to build a new ballpark.
Orlando Magic co-founder Pat Williams, who is credited with bringing an NBA franchise to Orlando, spoke with News 6’s Justin Warmoth in 2023 about the push to bring baseball to Orlando and how a team could transform Central Florida.
You can watch the full interview below:
