Round Rock making a major league pitch

ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) - Round Rock might be pitching for the big leagues in the near future, as city officials have thrown out the idea for a Major League Baseball team.

Still early in the process, City Manager Steve Norwood said it is a strong possibility but could be anywhere between seven and ten years away.

“At this point, we're going to move forward, until someone tells us no,” Norwood said.

Self-branded the “Sports Capital of Texas,” Round Rock already has a minor league team – the Express.

“We get our rush right before the games start,” said Tara Cotten, a stylist at Sports Clips a few blocks away from the team's ballpark – the Dell Diamond. “The employees come to get their haircuts here.”

Norwood said there are many details still up in the air – like where an MLB team might play, as the Dell Diamond might be too small.

Norwood said the city paid for its $7.35 million portion of the venue through a hotel occupancy tax, but he did not know where the money would come from for a new park. Opened in 2000, the Dell Diamond is owned by the city, which gave the Express a 38-year lease.

Both Norwood and Express General Manager George King said there was likely no chance of both a minor league and major league team in the Austin area.

“The Express has territorial rights, so they can't co-exist,” King said. “This is home for us. I don't know if the market is ready for Major League Baseball.”

There a lot of moving parts to bring the big leagues to the area that are totally out of the hands of Round Rock leaders.

First there would either have to be expansion or a team looking to move. The last expansion was 1998 when the Tampa Bay Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks joined the big leagues, as for a team up and moving, the last time that happened was when the Expos left Montreal for Washington D.C. in 2005

Then there is the issue of the Rangers who are owned in part by Nolan Ryan, while the Ryan-Sanders group owns the Round Rock Express.

In 2012, the Express was the top attendance-drawing team in the minor leagues with more than 595,000 fans, according to Minor League Baseball attendance records. The next season begins April 5.

“We are excited people are talking about baseball in general and how it plays into Round Rock,” King said. “But for now, this is just speculation, and there are still a lot of pieces of the puzzle that must come together.”

The first step for Norwood is a meeting with RSR Sports, which owns the team. The entity is made up of Baseball Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, Don Sanders and Ryan's son, Reid, who founded the team.

King said it was too early for the group to weigh in on the idea but added, “Who's to say they wouldn't be involved?”

Texas already has two major league teams of its own – the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers, for which the elder Ryan serves as president and principle owner. Norwood said the Austin area is more accessible to the majority of Texans because of its central location.

At some point, Norwood said his office plans examine the feasibility of such a project, then eventually discuss the idea with Major League Baseball.

“Oh, it probably wouldn't be a new team,” he said. “If it did occur, it would be something that would be a franchise moving.”

KXAN Sports Director Roger Wallace contributed to this report.