Doc - I take it you've never been to Yankee Stadium? No major hotel chains around Stadium and long subway or train ride to Stadium.
Yankee Stadium is an unusual and very limited exception to the general rule Doc mentioned. From Manhattan Yankee Stadium is easily accessible via Grand Central Station and the 125th Street Station. It’s not that far. I take the train from CT and it’s no big deal. The Yankees are a historically well established franchise that caters mostly to a fan base in Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island and points north and west (Westchester County, CT and NJ) whereas the New York Mets dominant fan base is Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island. Also, historically, Italian Americans in all boroughs are Yankees fans because the franchise embraced and developed iconic Italian American hero Joe DiMaggio. He was the first Italian MLB star. Go to the San Gennaro Festival in Manhattan and you will only see Yankees kiosks and no Mets kiosks. It’s because The Yankees are the team of NYC Italians mostly due to Joe D.
MLB did at one point lobby for a stadium on the west side of Manhattan but the Yankees’ ownership ponied up the dough and kept the team in the Bronx. I don’t believe any team starting anew would be able to pull off what the Yankees do with location and no hotels around the stadium. But like I said fans are to a significant extent coming from populous areas just west and north and the train service has improved in the last 10 years since the new Stadium was built. Many fans do not have a problem leaving work early to take the train and this is because of a lifetime allegiance. New teams do not have this.