Group led by ex-Jazz owner Gai...

Former Utah Jazz owner Gail Miller is leading a Salt Lake City-based consortium that aims to pursue an MLB expansion franchise in the coming years.

According to ESPN, the organization is dubbed Big League Utah. It is said to include Miller, the Larry H. Miller Company (established by Gail's late husband), a number of local companies, and former MLB players Dale Murphy and Jeremy Guthrie, all of whom live in Utah.

Salt Lake City is one of numerous locations that have thrown their hats into the ring to host an MLB franchise in the future. Nashville, Tennessee, Portland, Oregon, and Charlotte, North Carolina are among the others.

According to Big League Utah, the area is ready for an expansion franchise, and commissioner Rob Manfred stated in July that he "would love to get to 32 teams." However, there is some other business to attend to first. Both the Oakland Athletics and the Tampa Bay Rays have stadium leases that will expire in the next few years (A's in 2024, Rays in 2027). Both desire new stadiums but don't look to be getting them anytime soon. If stadium negotiations aren't concluded, either or both clubs might relocate to a new city.

When all of that is resolved, two-time National League MVP Dale Murphy, who retired and relocated to Utah, feels Salt Lake City is the ideal location for MLB's new franchise.

"It's finally time," Murphy told ESPN. "It is possible. And it'd be a fantastic market. Out here, there's a healthy love of baseball."