Does New Orleans Have a Baseball Team?

Eric DawsonByEric Dawson Sports

Does New Orleans have a baseball team? No. New Orleans currently has no Major League Baseball team or affiliated minor league club. Its last affiliated team, the New Orleans Baby Cakes, played at the Shrine on Airline in Metairie through September 2, 2019, then relocated to Wichita as the Wichita Wind Surge.

Baseball still has deep roots in the city. The New Orleans Pelicans played professionally from 1887 to 1957 and won 12 league pennants, while the Zephyrs and Baby Cakes brought Triple-A baseball back from 1993 through 2019. MLB is considering expansion, and New Orleans remains a potential future market.

Does New Orleans Have a Baseball Team Today?

Its last local affiliated franchise was the New Orleans Baby Cakes, which played its final game on September 2, 2019.

Afterward, the franchise moved to Wichita, Kansas, and became the Wichita Wind Surge. That move left Louisiana without an affiliated minor league club for the first time since 1967. Consequently, the city does not currently field an affiliated club at any level of the minor league system.

From 2017 through 2019, the Baby Cakes were the final name used by a franchise that had represented New Orleans since 1993. During those three seasons, the team competed at the Triple-A level in the Pacific Coast League. Miami Marlins affiliation ran from 2009 through 2019, covering the Baby Cakes era as well as the club’s preceding identity.

Before the Baby Cakes name arrived, the same franchise was known as the New Orleans Zephyrs. Located in the metropolitan area, the Zephyrs began after a Denver franchise relocated to New Orleans in 1993.

Over their run, they held affiliations with the Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Washington Nationals, New York Mets, and Miami Marlins. By 1998, the club had won the Triple-A championship, adding a modern high point to New Orleans minor league baseball. Earlier, the franchise also won a title in 2001.

Across the city’s longer baseball team history, the Zephyrs and Baby Cakes followed the earlier New Orleans Pelicans, who played professionally until 1957. Among the Pelicans’ many ballparks were Pelican Park, Heinemann Park, Pelican Stadium, and City Park Stadium.

Its final game at Pelican Stadium occurred in 1957. For the present-day question, though, those historic clubs do not change the answer: no locally based affiliated team is playing.

While the absence of a current club can make the local baseball picture seem quiet, the 2019 finale is the clearest dividing line between past and present. Regional college baseball, including LSU and Tulane, attracts significant attention alongside the city’s NFL and NBA teams.

Supporting a Triple-A schedule of 75 games, or an AA schedule of 69 games, could be challenging amid those existing sports commitments. Professional baseball’s next chapter would require a franchise to move or be established, with a potential club described as most suitable at the AA level in the Southern League or Texas League. Any return would also bring stadium considerations, including possible work at the Shrine on Airline or a new downtown location.

New Orleans Minor League Baseball Through the Years

Professional baseball in New Orleans reaches back to the nineteenth century, when the Pelicans grew from an amateur organization founded in 1865 into a professional club in 1887. Their long run made the Pelicans the foundation of the city’s minor league baseball history and established a tradition that continued across changing leagues, affiliations, ballparks, and generations of fans.

Beginning in 1887, the Pelicans competed in leagues that included the Southern League and Southern Association, remaining a professional presence until 1957. Across that span, the club won 12 pennants: 1887, 1889, 1896, 1905, 1910, 1911, 1915, 1918, 1923, 1926, 1927, and 1934.

Among the notable players connected to the club was Shoeless Joe Jackson, who helped lead Pelicans teams to pennants and later batted .408 for the Cleveland Naps in 1911. Meanwhile, affiliations linked the franchise at different times with Cardinals, Yankees, Pirates, Red Sox, Dodgers, and Indians. Local crowds saw the club move through several homes while its league connections evolved, a pattern that would recur in later decades.

Ballparks changed with the era, from Sportsman’s Park, Crescent City Base Ball Park, Athletic Park, Pelican Park, and Heinemann Park to Pelican Stadium and City Park Stadium.

Decades later, a new franchise arrived from Denver in 1993 as the New Orleans Zephyrs, bringing Triple-A baseball to the city in Pacific Coast League. In 1998, the Zephyrs won the Triple-A championship. Each venue marked a distinct period in a club history that stretched across generations.

The Zephyrs and their successor shared a Metairie ballpark. Beyond that, the franchise had several major league affiliations.

After the 2017 name change, the club retained its affiliation. That franchise also counted titles during its broader history. Miami served as affiliate during that period.

Relocation to Wichita followed the 2019 season, but the story of Louisiana professional baseball teams is broader than a single name or era. Earlier Pelicans teams and later Zephyrs showed how the city repeatedly supported organized professional baseball across very different periods.

Together, those clubs form the historical backdrop for conversations about baseball teams near New Orleans and a possible future return. That continuity remains central to the city’s baseball memory. Their records also preserve separate eras of local professional competition.

How the Zephyrs Became the Baby Cakes

The 2017 rebrand preserved the franchise. It played home games there. Over that stretch, the franchise became the central modern chapter in New Orleans minor league baseball.

Beyond that, the club had several affiliations. Among them, Miami’s affiliation lasted throughout that span.

Championship success came before the Baby Cakes identity, including the 1998 title. Those results remain a major part of New Orleans Zephyrs history because the club competed at Triple-A’s top level. The 1998 championship was a Pacific Coast League title.

Year Or Period Franchise Milestone Details
1993 Move to New Orleans The franchise relocated from Denver and joined the Pacific Coast League.
1997-2019 Metairie home The Shrine on Airline hosted the Zephyrs and Baby Cakes.
1998 Triple-A championship The Zephyrs won the Pacific Coast League championship.
2001 Franchise title The club won another title.
2017-2019 Baby Cakes era The franchise played under its final New Orleans identity.
September 2, 2019 Final game The Baby Cakes played their last game before the move to Wichita.

The 2017 Rebrand

Rebranding in 2017 gave the Zephyrs a distinctly different public identity while preserving the same franchise lineage. Beginning that season, the Baby Cakes name appeared on the club that had already spent decades building a following in the region. While the name changed, the team’s league level, Metairie ballpark, and Miami Marlins affiliation remained part of the operation. Rather than signaling a new Louisiana professional baseball team, the rebrand marked the final phase of an existing Triple-A club.

After the 2019 season, the franchise relocated to Wichita, Kansas, in 2020 and became the Wichita Wind Surge. Wichita inherited the club’s place after the Baby Cakes’ final game on September 2, 2019. September’s departure ended the franchise’s run at the Shrine on Airline, where it had played since 1997.

For fans, they were one franchise. Any account of the team’s history therefore runs from its 1993 arrival through its championships, rebrand, and eventual move to Wichita. Meanwhile, Minor League Baseball’s 2021 restructuring cut 120 teams across four divisions, with 43 teams losing affiliations. Together, the relocation and restructuring reshaped the path for affiliated baseball in the New Orleans area.

What Happened to Baseball in New Orleans?

Affiliated minor league baseball left Louisiana when New Orleans’ final franchise relocated to Wichita in 2020. Following its last season in 2019, the departure ended the state’s run of affiliated minor league clubs, which had continued since 1967. That change left New Orleans without a professional team connected to an MLB organization, despite the city’s long new orleans baseball team history.

A Smaller Affiliated System

Under the reorganization, 43 clubs lost their affiliations, including the former New Orleans franchise’s Triple-A status after its move to Wichita. Rather than simply replacing every lost affiliate, MLB created a smaller structure tied more directly to its major league organizations.

Consequently, Louisiana’s path back into affiliated baseball became more complicated than finding a new owner or reviving a previous club. New teams would need a place in the reorganized system, either through an existing organization moving or through a new club being established. As a result, conversations about louisiana professional baseball teams now overlap with MLB expansion, minor league alignment, stadium requirements, and the available markets for clubs.

New Orleans also faces competition for sports attention from the Saints and the NBA’s Pelicans, while LSU and Tulane baseball carry strong regional interest. That schedule could be challenging in that environment. Still, a Double-A club in the Southern League or Texas League has been identified as the most regionally and economically suitable level for a potential return.

What a Return Could Require

Any return would depend on an organization choosing the market or on expansion creating additional minor league opportunities. Meanwhile, readers looking for baseball teams near New Orleans are seeing the effect of a broader national restructuring, not just the end of one local franchise.

Baseball Teams Near New Orleans and Louisiana’s Sports Market

Professional baseball does not currently have a team based in New Orleans, so fans cannot follow an MLB or affiliated minor league club in their home city. For people looking for a local club, the local picture is defined by that absence rather than by a current Louisiana professional baseball schedule. The answer is the same for both major league and affiliated minor league baseball.

Beyond baseball, New Orleans has two established major professional franchises: the NFL’s Saints and the NBA’s Pelicans. Saints season tickets are sold out for the 73,112-seat capacity, and the team has a waiting list of more than 100,000 fans. Their support illustrates the depth of the city’s sports audience, which also turns out for marquee events. New Orleans has hosted 11 Super Bowls as well as the Final Four, College Football Championship, WrestleMania, and the Sugar Bowl.

College baseball also occupies meaningful space in the regional sports calendar. LSU and Tulane draw significant attention, giving area fans high-profile baseball options even without a locally based affiliated club. Meanwhile, that interest creates both an opportunity and a competitive reality for any new professional operation.

Because a team would need to earn its own place among established loyalties, its schedule would compete for attendance and attention with NFL, NBA, and college sports. Any prospective club would also face the practical task of supporting a full home schedule.

That level has been identified as suitable for a potential New Orleans club. These leagues could offer a more fitting scale for the market than Triple-A, while still bringing affiliated professional baseball back to the area. Together, the city’s professional sports following and college baseball interest make the market more complex than a simple count of available fans. Rather, a baseball organization would need to build a distinct audience around its own identity, calendar, and venue.

Beyond that, that venue question remains central to any future effort. If professional baseball returns, venue options would remain a consideration, though stadium upgrades could be costly. Such a project would enter a city already accustomed to supporting nationally visible teams and large events.

Existing enthusiasm for a new team shows why baseball remains part of the local conversation. Still, the path back would depend on finding a level, location, and schedule that fit New Orleans’ crowded sports market.

Could Professional Baseball Return to New Orleans?

Professional baseball could return to New Orleans through either a Major League Baseball expansion club or a new affiliated minor league franchise. Neither path is set, but MLB’s consideration of two expansion teams and the prospect of minor league movement or creation keep the city in consideration.

Two Paths Back to Professional Baseball

Expansion represents the highest-profile possibility. As of September 2026, MLB is considering adding two teams, although Nashville, Salt Lake City, and Portland are identified as frontrunners, and each has a Triple-A club plus plans for a new ballpark. New Orleans is regarded as a potential candidate because of its sports culture and infrastructure, rather than as a designated future site. Any MLB outcome would center on expansion decisions and a viable place to play.

Minor league baseball offers another route for the city. Shrine on Airline remains a potential venue. Other locations have also been discussed. Double-A is considered the most suitable fit for the city.

What a Return Would Require

Financial and operational demands would shape either option. Supporting either level means filling a long schedule. Renovations at Shrine on Airline or construction of a new downtown stadium could carry significant costs. Those venue questions sit alongside the challenge of building regular attendance for a professional club over a long season.

Progress toward a return would likely involve several linked developments:

  1. MLB adds expansion teams and selects New Orleans, or an affiliated organization establishes or moves a minor league club to the area.
  2. An ownership group and local partners develop a plan for a professional baseball operation.
  3. A suitable ballpark is upgraded or developed.

Ultimately, New Orleans has more than one route back to Louisiana professional baseball, but each depends on league decisions, a suitable home field, and the resources to support a full professional schedule. Fans and city officials have shown enthusiasm through discussions of possible team names, colors, and traditions, giving any future bid a base of local interest.

This guide does not count a possible expansion club as a current team; the answer depends on who is playing locally now.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does New Orleans Have an MLB Team?

New Orleans does not currently have a Major League Baseball team. The city also has no active affiliated minor league baseball club.

What Was the Last Minor League Baseball Team in New Orleans?

The New Orleans Baby Cakes were the city’s last affiliated minor league team. They played from 2017 through 2019 and were the final incarnation of the franchise previously known as the New Orleans Zephyrs.

Why Did the New Orleans Baby Cakes Leave?

Beyond that, the Baby Cakes played their final game on September 2, 2019, before the franchise relocated to Wichita, Kansas, as the Wichita Wind Surge. Louisiana was left without an affiliated minor league team for the first time since 1967.

Where Did the New Orleans Zephyrs Play?

The New Orleans Zephyrs played at the Shrine on Airline in Metairie, Louisiana. That ballpark was home to both the Zephyrs and Baby Cakes from 1997 through 2019.

Could New Orleans Get an MLB Expansion Team?

Major League Baseball is considering adding two expansion teams, and New Orleans is viewed as a potential candidate. Stadium possibilities include the Shrine on Airline and downtown locations, while funding and upgrades would be key factors.

What Happened to the New Orleans Pelicans Baseball Team?

The New Orleans Pelicans played professional minor league baseball from 1887 until 1957 after beginning as an amateur organization in 1865. Their final game at Pelican Stadium came in 1957, ending a run that included 12 league pennants.

Baseball remains part of the city’s sports history. The Pelicans built a long championship tradition, while the Zephyrs and Baby Cakes brought Triple-A baseball to Metairie for more than two decades. With MLB considering expansion and New Orleans retaining potential ballpark sites, professional baseball could return through a future major league or minor league opportunity.

References

Sources read in September 2026.

Eric Dawson

I'm Eric Dawson, and I write The Money Watch from north Columbus, Ohio. Most of what I cover comes from my own life: renting, a 2014 Honda Fit, parking, computers, food and the bills behind all of it. I spent four years in an apartment-property office and eleven on a distributor's operations desk, reading leases and invoices. Where you need real information, I research the maker's or agency's own page and independent sources and report what they publish. I don't give tax, investment, legal or medical advice.