The city of Charlotte could help pay for a new Charlotte Knights baseball stadium uptown, according to City Council member James Mitchell, chairman of the city's economic development committee.

Mitchell said talks between the team and the city are preliminary. But Mitchell said his committee could discuss helping the Knights at its Feb. 16 meeting or on March 1.

"If there are nine innings in a baseball game, we are in the first," Mitchell said.

Mecklenburg County has tentatively approved spending $8 million on a new stadium in Third Ward. Mitchell said there have been talks about the city chipping in between $6 million and $11 million.

The city is awaiting results of a comprehensive study of the Charlotte region's professional, college and amateur sports market. That study, conducted by UNC Charlotte economist John Connaughton and paid for by the Charlotte Sports Commission, will look at the economic impact from different teams and events.

Mitchell said that could help the city better understand what an uptown stadium would produce in terms of new jobs and tax revenue.

"It will help us vet the process further," Mitchell said.

The Knights play in Fort Mill, in a stadium the team considers outdated. The AAA team wants to move to an 8-acre Third Ward site but has struggled in raising money for the stadium.

In addition, attorney Jerry Reese has filed at least five lawsuits challenging the stadium in court. All have been dismissed.

Last summer, Mecklenburg County commissioners gave the Knights an extension on its land lease for the stadium. The team is supposed to begin construction by October and have two sponsors lined up by March.

The city built the Time Warner Cable Arena and NASCAR Hall of Fame but has so far been on the sidelines as the Knights and Mecklenburg County work to bring baseball uptown.

City involvement in the project could be politically difficult after disappointing attendance at the NASCAR hall. The city paid for the $200 million hall, but first-year attendance numbers were one-third of what was projected.

Charlotte Deputy City Manager Ron Kimble said, "Nothing can happen unless or until the council says it can be discussed. That is up to them, not staff."

Knights general manager Dan Rajkowski couldn't be reached by the Observer on Tuesday.