Listen Now! Pat Williams breaks down plans to bring Major League Baseball to Orlando
Walt Disney once said: “If you can dream it, you can do it.”
It’s a great mantra to live by.
One person who’s lived by that slogan is Pat Williams.
Many know Pat as the person who helped bring the NBA to Orlando in the 1980s in the form of the Magic.
Now, Pat is on a new mission: to bring Major League Baseball to the City Beautiful.
The proposed name: the Orlando Dreamers.
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Williams first introduced this idea in 2019, but now he’s making a full-court press to make this a reality later in this decade.
How does he plan to do that?
Is it feasible to have a third Major League Baseball team in Florida?
And how much would it cost?
Pat answers these questions and many more on the latest episode of “The *State* of Florida Sports Podcast," powered by the USA Today Network.
After talking to Pat, I can tell you he also lives by another Walt Disney quote: “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”
Pat is a doer, and he has all his ducks in a row.
He’s already filed an application with an Orange County advisory committee that figures out how to spend revenue from tourist-tax collections.
He says Orlando takes in roughly $30 million a month on average in tourist taxes.
“Orlando is the 17th largest media market in North America and is growing like crazy with no end insight,” he says during the podcast. “It’s the largest media market that does not have Major League Baseball, or the NFL for that matter.”
On Tuesday, he unveiled the plan for a $1.75 billion stadium, where almost $1 billion would come from tourist taxes and the rest would come from private investors.
The clear-domed stadium would be a state-of-the-art 45,000 seat indoor facility located on 35.5 acres near Aquatica water park and State Road 528, aka the Beachline.
“It’s in the tourist district, but not that far from downtown Orlando, and not that far from the east side of Tampa,” Pat says. “So we love the location. The major highways of Orlando run right by it. We think it's just the perfect spot.”
Pat also answers the question: When do you think the Dreamers can play their first game?
However, to get that answer, you have to listen to the podcast.
At 83 years of age, Pat could be sipping Mai Tais on a beach somewhere enjoying the retired life. Instead, he wants to bring more magic to the city he loves.
If you love Major Leaguer Baseball and are interested in how bringing a team to the Central Florida area would work, you have to listen to this podcast.
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We can be downloaded wherever you listen to podcasts, or simply type in “The *State* of Florida Sports Podcast” into your favorite search engine. We also can be found on any of the 17 USA TODAY-Network Florida websites.
If you like it, you can check out previous shows, which feature current and former professional athletes and coaches, as well as our stable of journalists who cover beats and write columns, all of whom have a tie to the Sunshine State.
Contact Walters at twalters@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Pat Williams joins podcast to talk proposed Orlando Dreamers MLB team
