Baseball's New Commissioner: "A return to Montreal is possible."
- Thread starter rumpleforeskiin
- Start date
Tiga, I agree. Though Montreal is a major league city in just about any sense, that does not mean that it must have a major league baseball team. It would be great to see major league baseball return to Montreal with a beautiful downtown stadium with a moveable roof and all the amenities. But the costs of acquiring a team and building such a stadium (even if a good site could be found) are prohibitive. And the political and financial situation of the city and the province means that there is no support for spending public money on the project.
But just because Montreal is a major league city does not mean it can't have minor league baseball. After all, Montreal already supports two minor league sports teams-the Alouettes of the CFL and the Impact of the MSL. Please don't try to argue that those two teams are "major league." The CFL and the MSL are definitely minor league when compared to their big brothers, the NFL in American football and the big European leagues in soccer (football).
Nevertheless, Montrealers and visitors to the city enjoy going to Alouettes and Impact games and they support both franchises pretty well, especially when they put decent teams on the field. I've been to an Alouettes game. It's a really fun thing to do on a summer or fall night. And a lot cheaper than going to an NFL game.
A minor league baseball franchise at the AA or AAA level could be established (or should I say reestablisheed given the proud history of minor league ball in Montreal) for a fraction of the cost of a major league team. It might even be possible to get the public to support spending a little public money on the project.
Right now Montreal is a baseball wilderness and I think it will remain so for the foreseeable future. The money, whether from private or public sources, is just not there. But finding the money to build a nice minor league stadium somewhere near a metro stop and not far from downtown is a realistic possibility.
Ramener le baseball des ligues mineures à Montréal!
Average attendance of MLS is already ahead of the NHL and the NBA. Still a minor league compared to American football or baseball but look out in 10 years.
The wise choice was to get an MLS team in Montreal as this is the one that will be of importance as the league will grow and other league decline.
Cheers,
The wise choice was to get an MLS team in Montreal as this is the one that will be of importance as the league will grow and other league decline.
Cheers,
A baseball movie I enjoyed and a good story of what it Is to have minor league sports in a city such as Portland: The Battered Bastards of Baseball.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RA76b5Hhvxg
The story of Bing Russell who bought the team for 500$, who absolutly loved the game and what it means to deal with MLB (dont see why we would again get in bed with those guys)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RA76b5Hhvxg
The story of Bing Russell who bought the team for 500$, who absolutly loved the game and what it means to deal with MLB (dont see why we would again get in bed with those guys)
The MLS is not more successful than the NBA. There are almost 2.5 more games. The ticket prices are very high. The NBA TV ratings are very good. Just look at how many NBA players make $20 million/year.
I don't know Jalimon, I was told the NBA are so successful they will be as big as the NFL in ten years.
NBA players are making sick amount of money. I read stats which say that LeBron James makes like $90 million annually with endorsements and Steph Curry is second with around $80 million. NBA China has doubled in value the last few years and the endorsement income from the Chinese market is what is partly driving up the revenue. I watch all sports but baseball and basketball are my two favorites.
Go Raptors!!!! :smile:
On another note, how about those Blue Jays?? They've surprised the hell out of me this season and only the Red Sox have been better!
Nice seeing the Grandyman hitting a grandslam yesterday when the Jays destroyed the Royals...again!
Jays are indeed looking quite good, while the slipping Yankees are looking more like a .500 club every day. Super lineup 1-6, but three dead spots at the bottom and as for the rotation, yuck. Severino and what?
And as for the Sox, sure its been a struggle playing without their starting middle infield, but once Bogaerts and Pedroia are back this team will start rolling.
As for the Expos, Montreal is a major league city and nothing but. Never a minor league club in this town.
Then it will be nothing!
I guess you're not a baseball fan but a MLB fan!
I enjoy watching even Little League Ball.
I had more fun this year going to see Rockets than Habs games, even if they both suck.
I guess you're not a baseball fan but a MLB fan!
I enjoy watching even Little League Ball.
I had more fun this year going to see Rockets than Habs games, even if they both suck.
Actually, my misinformed friend, I've lived most of my life in a town with minor league ball and have been for years a season ticket holder at both the AA and short season a level. On top of that, I coached both Little League and Babe Ruth League for nearly 10 years.
The problem with a minor league team in Montreal is that it will be a trap. Should we accept a minor league team, that's all we will ever get.
The commish is already out there that Montreal is top of the list for the return of the Expos once the Rays and Athletics get their stadium situations squared away. Just a few years. We've waited this long, we can wait a bit more.
OK you are a baseball fan and you have pro ball in your city. In Montréal we have none, and I don't like the submissive position of waiting for the MLB like they own the game.
Well, you have choices. You can drive to Burlington VT (1hour40) and watch the short season Lake Monsters, formerly the Vermont Expos. You can drive to Quebec and take in the independent league Capitales. There are plenty of amateur games in Montreal. I've seen games close to my home at the field at the east end of Parc Lafontaine. You like Little League? Then you should be happy with the plethora of high school and college games that are played all over the area.
Here's another thing you might want to get a handle on. The DO own the game.
MLB owns all licensing as well. In fact there are companies that make small fortunes as licensees of MLB. One is the company that sells sweatproof cups. I forget their name but they have a license from MLB to sell drinks in those cups and can slap logos on the cups.
The Yankees beer distributor ran afoul of MLB recently. They developed a beer foam with the image of Aaron Judge in it. Not allowed. MLB told the Yankees to tell the distributor to cease and desist immediately. Aaron Judge doesn’t own his image in a Yankees cap. MLB does. And tiga if the Expos come back, you make the team as a relief pitcher after a tryout and popping a few 97 mph fastballs on the radar guns, MLB will own your visage in an Expos cap. In fact, even tiga as a fan in a Expos baseball cap, to the extent that image is worth anything, it’s commercial value is owned by MLB.
Tiga see the below:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/syndic...stanton-beer-foam-art-violates-rules.amp.html
The Yankees beer distributor ran afoul of MLB recently. They developed a beer foam with the image of Aaron Judge in it. Not allowed. MLB told the Yankees to tell the distributor to cease and desist immediately. Aaron Judge doesn’t own his image in a Yankees cap. MLB does. And tiga if the Expos come back, you make the team as a relief pitcher after a tryout and popping a few 97 mph fastballs on the radar guns, MLB will own your visage in an Expos cap. In fact, even tiga as a fan in a Expos baseball cap, to the extent that image is worth anything, it’s commercial value is owned by MLB.
Tiga see the below:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/syndic...stanton-beer-foam-art-violates-rules.amp.html
Well that is just great EB... They are such a fun monopoly!! We should bend over more, because MLB and Jeffrey Loria didn't fuck us up enough. The last ten years of the Expos in this city left a mark...
Do i have to comment on the Olympic stadium saga...
What do you say here: "the DO own the game" did you miss print: the MLB owns the game?
Well they don't own the Capitals in Québec.
The CanAm league is independent and the stadium in Q Is 75 years old, Heck i even played there.
I go to many games in Québec city and love it but that is 300 km down the 20... I even posted on this board about going to games.
Do i have to comment on the Olympic stadium saga...
What do you say here: "the DO own the game" did you miss print: the MLB owns the game?
Well they don't own the Capitals in Québec.
The CanAm league is independent and the stadium in Q Is 75 years old, Heck i even played there.
I go to many games in Québec city and love it but that is 300 km down the 20... I even posted on this board about going to games.
Hey I am not against baseball in Mtl
If Bronfman and his buddies want to spend money and bring back MLB I may be on board because of what convinced Valérie Plante, the new Mtl mairesse.
They presented a project that went much further than baseball, and was a creative undertaking in the Bassin Peel.
Something that is socialy beneficial to the whole community.
https://ici.radio-canada.ca/sports/...e-baseball-montreal-valerie-plante-vieux-port
If Bronfman and his buddies want to spend money and bring back MLB I may be on board because of what convinced Valérie Plante, the new Mtl mairesse.
They presented a project that went much further than baseball, and was a creative undertaking in the Bassin Peel.
Something that is socialy beneficial to the whole community.
https://ici.radio-canada.ca/sports/...e-baseball-montreal-valerie-plante-vieux-port
If you have a better located stadium, and solid/stable team ownership in it for the long haul, baseball would definitely work in Montreal. There just seems to be a lot of obstacles to the first part of it- the Stadium. The time to do it was 20 years ago and that ship seems to have sailed in terms of available real estate.
Rumples, what do you call the Montreal Royals? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal_Royals
The Montreal Royals were a minor league professional baseball team in Montreal, Quebec, from 1897–1917 and 1928–60. A member of the International League, the Royals were the top farm club (Class AAA) of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939; pioneering African-American player Jackie Robinson was a member for the 1946 season. The 1946 Royals were recognized as one of the 100 greatest minor league teams of all time.[SUP][3][/SUP]
Louis, having grown up a Brooklyn Dodger fan, I am quite familiar with the Royals of Delorimier Stadium. In fact, when I cross the Pont Jacques-Cartier and the site of the yard, I genuflect.
Times have changed. Back when there were 16 major league teams, minor league ball was appropriate for our fair city. The problem now is that if we were to accept a minor league team, we would be stuck with it forever.
There are two kinds of cities in North America: major league cities and not-major league cities. Montreal is a major league city. Here's a little quiz for you. What is the larges city in Ohio? No, it's not Cleveland, home of the Indians. No, it's not Cincinnati, home of the Reds. It's Columbus, a minor league town that no one thinks of because they don't have a team.
Rumples, we've discussed this before and you know that I whole-heartedly agree that, all things being equal, it would be better for Montreal to get a major league team than to settle for a minor league team. I would absolutely love to go to an Expos game on a midsummer night at a nice new stadium within easy reach of downtown.
My suggestion of settling for a minor league team is based on my belief that there are too many financial, political and practical problems to overcome in order for the Expos to return. When I think about all the factors that conspire against the return of major league baseball to Montreal, it seems impossible.
However, as the French say, Impossible n'est pas français! Furthermore, like my good friend Rick Blaine, under my cynical shell, I am at heart a sentimentalist.
So let's briefly review the key challenges to overcome in order to bring back the Expos.
First you need a team owner or ownership group with the financial means, business acumen and desire to bring back major league baseball. Montreal might have such a group, i.e. the group of potential investors led by Stephen Bronfman. Bronfman has the famous name but he doesn't have as much of a track record as the more famous members of his Montreal family. Still the Bronfman group is the one seemingly serious group of investors who are committed to the cause of bringing back the Expos. So they probably deserve our support.
Second, you need money, lots of it. Bringing back the Expos would require two huge investments: 1) the cost of acquiring a franchise (either by buying an existing one such as Oakland or Tampa Bay or by paying an expansion fee); and 2) the cost of building a stadium. Either cost by itself is very significant. Combine them and you are talking about a US $1-2B investment. How much money can the potential Bronfman group put together? I have no idea but they give the impression that the money is or will be there. On verra.
Third, you need the support of both fans and businesses. I think the fan support is there though no one knows how deep it is. Is it deep enough to pay the very high ticket prices typically charged by major league teams these days? Is it deep enough to make the fans show up to support a losing team over the course of a long season? Is it deep enough to make some fans show up when the weather sucks for baseball, the way it often does until June rolls around? The modern economics of baseball also demand that businesses support a team by buying season tickets and renting luxury boxes. Would Montreal businesses do their part to support the team? Peut-être, je ne sais pas.
Fourth, you need political support. The city government, led by the mayor, and probably the provincial and federal governments must be on board too. I don't mean they must provide direct financial support for purchasing a team and/or building a stadium. Direct financial support is out of the question. However government officials, starting with the mayor, need to be willing to commit to paying some infrastructure costs (roads, public transport, land, utilities) associated with acquiring a site for and building a stadium. Government officials also need to be willing to battle NIMBY (Not in my back yard) opponents of stadium construction. It's inevitable that such NIMBY opposition will arise as soon an actual site is chosen.
Fifth, you need an appropriate site for a new stadium. The much discussed "Peel Basin" site is not perfect, but as Voltaire said "Le mieux est l'enemmi du bien." When I look at maps of the city and Google street views and review proposed plans, I agree that the Peel Basin is sill a possibility for a new stadium. Here are some interesting drawings of how a stadium could fit into this location: https://urbantoronto.ca/forum/threads/montreal-new-baseball-stadium.20117/page-2
There are other obstacles to bringing back the Expos besides the well-known ones that I have reviewed. All the major challenges have been the same for the last several years and yet no real progress seems to have been made in overcoming them. That's why I would not bet on the return of major league baseball and the Expos to Montreal and I would personally settle for the return of minor league baseball to Montreal.
Nevertheless I would prefer to see the return of major league baseball and the Expos and I hope that it does happen...at least before you, Rumples, and I are no longer of this world.
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