Williams’ new magic act: Bring Major League Baseball to town
Orlando Magic cofounder Pat Williams is pursuing bringing Major League Baseball to Orlando, a source confirmed to the Orlando Sentinel.
Williams and his associates will hold a press conference at 11 a.m. Wednesday to discuss their plans.
The news release touting the press conference stated it is being held, “because Orlando has been ready for this for a long time.”
When Williams, 79, retired from the Magic in April after more than 50 years in professional sports, he said he still had many endeavors he wanted to pursue.
“Even though I’m retiring from basketball, I’m not retiring from life,” Williams said.
While Williams is known for helping bring the NBA to Orlando, baseball was always his first love. He was a college catcher at Wake Forest and played minorleague baseball for two years. His first job as a sports executive was as general manager for the Philadelphia Phillies’ minor-league affiliate in Spartanburg, S.C.
This wouldn’t be the first time Williams tried to bring big-league baseball to Orlando. In 1990, he recruited billionaire Amway cofounder Rich DeVos to lead Orlando’s effort to get a Major League Baseball expansion team in Orlando. When that effort failed, DeVos instead bought the Magic from the team’s original ownership group.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer long has backed bringing Major League Baseball to the city.
The Tampa Bay Rays long have been seen as a potential fit, but the franchise has shown no previous interest in exploring relocation to Orlando.
The Rays are considering splitting home games between Montreal and Tampa.