(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

BY GORDON R. FRIEDMAN | The Oregonian/OregonLive

Mayor Ted Wheeler said Friday the businessmen and celebrities behind a push to bring a Major League Baseball team to Portland are “for real” despite his initial skepticism.

Wheeler said he assembled a team of “high-level national experts” in baseball economics and asked them to evaluate the plan of the investors, who are operating under the name Portland Diamond Project.

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Mayor Ted Wheeler pictured outside Portland City Hall. (Mark Graves/The Oregonian)

What they concluded surprised him.

“About 99 percent of me expected them to say it’s not there, not fully baked, they don’t really have their strategy in place. They don’t have the right team. They don’t have the right investors,’” the mayor said.

“They advised me just the opposite. They said these guys are for real. They know what they’re doing.”

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Russell Wilson and Ciara. (Evan Agostini)

Among Diamond Project's early investors are married duo Russell Wilson, the Super Bowl-winning Seattle Seahawks quarterback, and pop music superstar Ciara.

Retired Nike executive Craig Cheek founded the project, and brought former Trail Blazers announcer Mike Barrett and former state senator Jason Atkinson into the fold early.

Native Portlander and retired MLB star Dale Murphy is a consultant to the project, as is longtime pro scout Larry D’Amato.

The Diamond Project has also engaged lobbyists, architects, real estate agents, attorneys and branding pros to advise them.

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(AP file photo)

Their first big move: an $80 million offer on the Portland Public Schools headquarters building, near the Broadway Bridge. The bid is pending.

Though the Diamond Project has assembled a top-notch team, its investors face an uphill battle before the first pitch of a major league game can be thrown in Portland.

Wheeler has maintained that unlike other cities, Portland will not devise a new funding source to build a stadium or secure a team. He reiterated that commitment Friday, while offering measured support for the project.

Read more: What a Major League Baseball stadium in Portland could look like

“I’m cautiously optimistic,” the mayor said. “If they can pull it off, economically it’d be a tremendous opportunity for this community.”

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And in Portland, where ever-rising levels of homelessness and an affordable housing crunch have some residents reeling, a new baseball team to root for would be “really good for civic pride,” Wheeler said.

Wheeler added: “This is of course all theoretical until you see the money.”

Building baseball stadiums and assembling teams can cost billions. The Diamond Project has so far been mum about its potential big-money backers, be they Wall Street firms or Northwest billionaires.

“It’s like a mystery,” Wheeler said.

-- Gordon R. Friedman

GFriedman@Oregonian.com

503-221-8209

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