Could pro baseball be coming to Halifax? Expansion plans gain attention

Mainland Commons Baseball Field in Halifax, a possible future location for a Canadian Baseball League expansion team (Paul Hollingsworth/CTV News)

HALIFAX - The Canadian Baseball League (CBL), with all nine teams currently playing in Ontario, is looking to expand and add a new team in Halifax by 2028.

“It’s a great sports market,” said CBL Commissioner Ted Kalnins from his office in Pickering, Ont.

Kalnins wants to recruit a Halifax ownership group to pay the $1 million CBL expansion fee, and cover the costs required to renovate and upgrade a ballpark to league standards. To meet the standards, the ballpark would need new team clubhouses and office facilities.

“This concept has worked in much smaller markets, when it’s run well,” said Kalnins. “Welland, Ont. has a population of roughly 50,000 people and they are getting 3,000 people at a game. So, if it can succeed in that context, surely the league can succeed in Halifax.”

Baseball Nova Scotia Executive Director Brandon Guenette said adding a professional team could spark growth for baseball at the grassroots level.

“It gives kids the opportunity to actually go out and see them play in person,” he said. “That always gives a bump to every sport, so people can witness it and see it upfront with their own eyes, with players playing at a high level.”

According to Halifax-based amateur baseball executive Holly LaPierre, this round of CBL expansion buzz comes at a time when baseball is surging in popularity.

“Baseball is ‘Blue Jays popular’ right now in this province,” said LaPierre, who added that the recent success of the Toronto Blue Jays reaching the 2025 World Series, has helped create a new generation of fans and players in N.S. The latest tally of youth registration numbers for baseball players in the province was close to 9,000.

Lapierre predicted the CBL in Halifax could be a success if the idea is not rushed.

“It would be something they could trial for a couple of summers,” said LaPierre, who would like to see several games played in Halifax to measure fan interest. “But where are they going to play?”

“We want a venue to be a minimum of 2,500 seats,” said Kalnins, when asked what size a ballpark would have to be for Halifax to one day land its own team in the Canadian Baseball League.