On April 18, the Oregon Senate passed Senate Bill 110 to delegate $800 million dollars in public funds for the $2 billion baseball stadium. According to the Senate Bill, in order to recoup the money, Oregon will be increasing incremental state personal income tax baseball revenues, or “the personal income tax liabilities shown on Oregon income tax returns filed by members of a professional Major League Baseball team playing in Oregon.”

Lincoln health teacher and baseball coach Jacob Hockett is excited for the opportunity for an MLB team in Portland.

“I’m excited for the potential for a lot of local Portland architecture to go into the design. Some of the current renderings look Northwest, and I think that’s a nice attribute of baseball stadiums,” said Hockett. “There could be a lot of cool opportunities for local restaurants to really fill up that scene down there and make Portland a more desirable and profitable city.”

Some people are concerned about the profitability of a baseball stadium in Portland.

Sophomore and baseball player Wolfe Roberts is concerned that the stadium will not have enough ticket sales.

“I don’t really think we need an MLB team. I think the Mariners in Seattle are close enough,” said Roberts. ”I also don’t think Portland as a city is [big] enough to bring any people that are actually going to enjoy it.”

This expansion for MLB in Portland continues the recent growth of Portland sports, with recent support for a WNBA team and an expanded Thorns training facility.

Hockett shares his ideas for the future of Portland sports. 

“The size of the city of Portland as compared to other major metropolitan [areas], it’s a little smaller … but I’d be interested if the NHL would come here,” said Hockett.