1993 Major League Baseball expansion

The 1993 Major League Baseball expansion resulted in the addition of the Florida Marlins, now known as the Miami Marlins, and Colorado Rockies to Major League Baseball.

Talks of expansion began on August 8, 1985, when the players and the owners agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The basic agreement allowed the National League to expand by two members to match the American League. Details of expansion were hammered out in the 1990 CBA.

Ten cities were considered serious candidates for the two spots: Buffalo, New York; Charlotte, North Carolina; Denver, Colorado; Miami, Florida; Nashville, Tennessee; Orlando, Florida; Phoenix, Arizona; Sacramento, California; Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida; and Washington, D.C. The Florida Suncoast Dome was built in St. Petersburg specifically to lure an existing or expansion MLB franchise.

The National League expansion committee consisted of Pittsburgh Pirates Chairman Doug Danfort, New York Mets president Fred Wilpon and Houston Astros owner John McMullen. On December 18, 1990, the committee eliminated Charlotte, Nashville, Phoenix and Sacramento from consideration to cut the list down to six finalists. With three sites from Florida remaining in contention it became apparent that one would win out while the other spot would go to a non-Florida team.

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