The Baltimore Orioles are in the midst of their best season in years, but some drama off the field is somewhat overshadowing it.
Team owner John Angelos has a vision for Oriole Park at Camden Yards that goes beyond a stadium for baseball games. He wants to expand the land around the ballpark into a development of sorts in prime city real estate, and potentially move the stadium to a different location, following a similar blueprint to the Atlanta Braves.
While that’s all well and good, it's a bit greedy considering what he’s already been offered by the state to renovate Camden Yards.
In 2022, then-governor Larry Hogan authorized a $1.2 billion grant to the Orioles and Baltimore Ravens to improve their respective stadiums (provided they sign a lease agreement keeping the stadiums where they are), which would all be funded by taxpayers. However, Angelos wants a lot more, so the Orioles have not signed a lease for where they will play after this season.
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Not only is this an obscene amount of money to ask from Maryland citizens, it’s also far more than what Angelos would need. Camden Yards is already one of the most beautiful ballparks in the country that is modern - yet nostalgic - in many senses, and it doesn’t need over half a billion dollars' worth of updates. Furthermore, the vision that Angelos has in place for this super-complex isn’t feasible; the area around the stadium is already highly concentrated, and there is no other place to put a professional ballpark.
Ken Rosenthal of “The Athletic” wrote about the physical complexities that make a project similar to what the Braves have in place impossible in Baltimore: "The necessary land for such a project around Camden Yards, however, does not exist. The ballpark sits in the middle of Baltimore, while Truist was built in a suburb 10 miles outside of Atlanta….Building an office complex, entertainment district or even a sole apartment building at Camden Yards would appear impractical."
Everyone seems to be saying the same thing: what Angelos wants can’t happen. But because he is greedy, he’s going to stall for as long as he can until he can get what he wants.
Money apparently can’t buy you common sense.
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