Oregon governor signs law to bond for pro baseball stadium

Portland Diamond Project

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek signed into law a bill that would place a tax on athletes to support $800 million of bonds with the aim of attracting a Major League Baseball team to Portland.

The law signed by Kotek Thursday will set up a funding mechanism capturing the income tax from players on the home team and visiting team, as well as team employees, to pay for the bonds.

It would fund a $1.8 billion stadium at Zidell Yards, on Portland's south waterfront.

Senate Bill 110, the law introduced by Sen. Mark Meek, D-Gladstone, quintuples the size of a bond plan originally proposed in 2003 to $800 million from $150 million.

"None of the professional sports leagues have moved beyond 32 teams," Meek said in testimony before the bill passed. "This might be our last opportunity in decades to bring a professional franchise here."

Major League Baseball has 30 teams, including two, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Athletics in Sacramento, California, playing in temporary minor league facilities.

"This is an exciting moment for Oregon," Craig Cheek, president and founder of the Portland Diamond Project, said in a statement. "Gov. Kotek's signature is the stamp of approval that the state is ready and excited for Major League Baseball."

The Portland Diamond Project is a lobbying group created to promote MLB in Portland.

"It's been a long road, but we are excited for the next phase of this project," Cheek said. "No rest until opening day."

The measure passed with some guardrails added through an amendment.

The amended bill stipulates that the Major League Baseball franchise must enter into a revenue sharing agreement with the state.

The agreement would obligate the franchise to pay the state 1% of gross revenue derived from all baseball-related activities by Feb. 15 each year, perform an audit insuring the amount is correct and stipulate that the agreement would survive and continue after any ownership changes or team relocation. Any money realized from team activities would be deposited in the general fund.

The project is also dependent on Major League Baseball selecting Oregon for an expansion team, or moving a team from another city. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has said before his current term is over in January 2029, he would like to see the league expand by two teams to 32.

Other cities in the running include Salt Lake City, Charlotte and Nashville.