OT: All-Purpose Expos Return Speculation Topic -- Part Deux

[Scintillating10]

I am truly amazed by this news. Never thought I would see Expos again

 

[1909]

I am truly amazed by this news. Never thought I would see Expos again

Not the Expos ! The Rays .

 

[JianYang]

Stevie Bronfman stated last year “Mtl market is NOT capable of supporting a baseball team for an entire 81-game home schedule, and time sharing with TBay is the only scenario for having MLB in Mtl on a permanent basis”

Yeah I wasn't aware that bronfman said this but it's big news and changes the conversation completely.

Further, the news earlier this year states that the expos plan to build a a smaller scale stadium for this project, which is a real bizarre move in my opinion.

What is the end game then? Tampa cant play split season baseball forever, and what will montreal do with new stadium when they don't have a team to share it with?

Unless the end gane is to actually get a AAA team in Montreal for that stadium, but this whole plan just seems like it takes the idea of the expos coming back full time even further from reality.

 

[1909]

Stevie Bronfman stated last year “Mtl market is NOT capable of supporting a baseball team for an entire 81-game home schedule, and time sharing with TBay is the only scenario for having MLB in Mtl on a permanent basis”

So why build another brand new stadium. Just refurbish the big 'O'. How can you pay for a new stadium with only some 40 home games per season ?

 

[eklund the clown]

My guess is the team will be shared until Montreal builds a new stadium. At that point, the team will relocate permanently.

Totally agree.That is the end game.Tampa has no intention of building a new stadium.They average 9000 fans per game and they have a very good team.What would they draw with a bad team? It may take a bit and Bronfman is saying all the politically correct things but the mayor of Tampa will give in .Can't wait to see it.I really haven't followed MLB since they stole the Expos from us

 

[LeHab]

Further, the news earlier this year states that the expos plan to build a a smaller scale stadium for this project, which is a real bizarre move in my opinion.

What is the end game then? Tampa cant play split season baseball forever, and what will montreal do with new stadium when they don't have a team to share it with?

Unless the end gane is to actually get a AAA team in Montreal for that stadium, but this whole plan just seems like it takes the idea of the expos coming back full time even further from reality.

Plan would be contingent on both cities building new smaller open-air stadiums and a commitment to split ownership & games. Smaller size is preferred to reduce costs. No one is going "if you build it they will come" like Quebec City did.

 

[JianYang]

Plan would be contingent on both cities building new smaller open-air stadiums and a commitment to split ownership & games. Smaller size is preferred to reduce costs. No one is going "if you build it they will come" like Quebec City did.

I wrote my post with the scenario that the double city proposal actually goes through.

 

[LeHab]

I wrote my post with the scenario that the double city proposal actually goes through.

That is the intention. Build two new stadiums for a permanent double city scenario. Why were you saying Tampa can't play split season forever under that scenario?

 

[salbutera]

So why build another brand new stadium. Just refurbish the big 'O'. How can you pay for a new stadium with only some 40 home games per season ?

This whole concept is an illusion. Mtl for MLB like Quebec City for the NHL - a convenient carrot to dangle for leverage

 

[donghabs98]

My take on it is Tampa's ownership has thrown in the towel on that market and this is the best way to move Tampa without breaking their lease. Conversely it gives Montreal time to build a stadium.

 

[Pickles]

There’s no salary cap in baseball, how exactly will a Mtl team compete w NYY, Red Sox, Dodgers etc. to retain and add talent?

TBay is what the Expos were back in the day - despite their on-field success, they are a penniless team, hence why they are considering this arrangement in the first place.

While it's true there is no cap in baseball there is a luxury tax and revenue sharing not to mention revenue from TV so Montreal could be a viable market now. Whether the fans come out in support long term is another matter.

 

[dinodebino]

I don’t believe that split stuff one bit. I’m like @salbutera . Baseball os not in its apex right now in this province, let’s just say that.

 

[salbutera]

While it's true there is no cap in baseball there is a luxury tax and revenue sharing not to mention revenue from TV so Montreal could be a viable market now. Whether the fans come out in support long term is another matter.

What revenue from TV - local Mtl? The Expos were 40th out of a 30-team league for radio + TV revenue from 1990 - 2004, there were a couple of AAA teams in the US who had higher revenue from radio & TV than the Expos did.

I realize Bell / TSN desire content after having lost NHL but they’re not opening up the coffers to Expos without the all important Southern Ontario market access which Blow Jays have exclusive rights on West of Belleville - no small part thanks to Bronfman giving it away back in 1976 in exchange for territorial rights to Quebec + Atlantic Canada

I’m also not sure Mtl is a viable baseball market anymore. Immigration into Mtl over last 25-years has primarily come from la francophonie (Northern Africa, Haiti, sections of Middle East) none of which have an association with the game of baseball.

I grew up playing little league in NDG - we had a 12-team league, Cote de Neiges at Van Horne Park had a 24-team league, Cote St Luc & Hampstead had their own leagues - all the diamonds have been converted to soccer pitches

 

[EveryDay]

I don’t believe that split stuff one bit. I’m like @salbutera . Baseball os not in its apex right now in this province, let’s just say that.

You think they didn't do their researches to field the market in the province before going full force to bring a team here?

 

[George Lebay]

What revenue from TV - local Mtl? The Expos were 40th out of a 30-team league for radio + TV revenue from 1990 - 2004, there were a couple of AAA teams in the US who had higher revenue from radio & TV than the Expos did.

I realize Bell / TSN desire content after having lost NHL but they’re not opening up the coffers to Expos without the all important Southern Ontario market access which Blow Jays have exclusive rights on West of Belleville - no small part thanks to Bronfman giving it away back in 1976 in exchange for territorial rights to Quebec + Atlantic Canada

I’m also not sure Mtl is a viable baseball market anymore. Immigration into Mtl over last 25-years has primarily come from la francophonie (Northern Africa, Haiti, sections of Middle East) none of which have an association with the game of baseball.

I grew up playing little league in NDG - we had a 12-team league, Cote de Neiges at Van Horne Park had a 24-team league, Cote St Luc & Hampstead had their own leagues - all the diamonds have been converted to soccer pitches

I’ve heard that soccer has replaced baseball bs since the Manic era yet nobody in the province gives a flying f*** about the mls or the impact/cfm.

 

[salbutera]

I’ve heard that soccer has replaced baseball bs since the Manic era yet nobody in the province gives a flying f*** about the mls or the impact/cfm.

Mtl hasn’t been a sports town for a very long time...it’s only a Mtl Canadiens town with occasional support for one of “events” like Expos weekend of pre-season baseball

 

[George Lebay]

Mtl hasn’t been a sports town for a very long time...it’s only a Mtl Canadiens town with occasional support for one of “events” like Expos weekend of pre-season baseball

Whatever the few impact fans think the Expos are coming back and it’s gonna hit their mls franchise like a train.

 

[smitty10]

Stevie Bronfman stated last year “Mtl market is NOT capable of supporting a baseball team for an entire 81-game home schedule, and time sharing with TBay is the only scenario for having MLB in Mtl on a permanent basis”

Of course that's the current narrative. Tampa needs to partially support this team until they relocate full time. There is no reason that a city with 4.5 million people that had an MLB team for 40 years, can't support a franchise.

If Milwaukee, Minnesota, Baltimore and Kansas City can support teams, why couldn't Montreal?

 

[JianYang]

That is the intention. Build two new stadiums for a permanent double city scenario. Why were you saying Tampa can't play split season forever under that scenario?

The biggest barrier is the player recruitment. I can't imagine players being happy with adding another home base, especially if their family is already living in Tampa with them.

The domino effect of poor team morale can easily bleed into attendance, and generally speaking, I think both areas would be lukewarm to the idea of sharing teams in the first place.

 

[JianYang]

I’ve heard that soccer has replaced baseball bs since the Manic era yet nobody in the province gives a flying f*** about the mls or the impact/cfm.

Baseball is under no threat with mls. MLB is a best on best league in the baseball world while mls is a middling league in the football world. It's apples and oranges.

However, the sports fan is aging, and baseball leads the way with the oldest sports fans, while mls is one of the youngest. MLB needs to do something about that.

 

[salbutera]

Of course that's the current narrative. Tampa needs to partially support this team until they relocate full time. There is no reason that a city with 4.5 million people that had an MLB team for 40 years, can't support a franchise.

If Milwaukee, Minnesota, Baltimore and Kansas City can support teams, why couldn't Montreal?

Simply put - baseball even though it’s become a distant 3rd pro sport here in the US (well behind NFL & NBA), is still part of the fabric of the American heartland (Midwest), it’s not part of the fabric of today’s Mtl demographic.

The demographic of Mtl from 1968-1990 was very different from what it is today.

It’s not simply throwing around that 4.5M population, especially when upwards of 60% either have no background exposure to the sport or were part of a generation that grew up in Mtl but never had any association either playing and / or watching the sport because there was no Expos and there were very few if any little leagues around

 

[1909]

Too little, too late.

 

[George Lebay]

mls is one of the youngest

I am a college teacher and I have never seen any mls gear in any of’ my class nor have I heard any student talk about mls or any of its team in the college..

 

[salbutera]

I am a college teacher and I have never seen any mls gear in any of’ my class nor have I heard any student talk about mls or any of its team in the college..

As Jian posted, MLS is not the major leagues, just like WJC was a major flop as was multiple attempts at Junior hockey.

NBA and NFL could potentially be successful in Mtl, the former drawing on younger demographic and latter due to ability to lure attendance.. limited home games / commitment

 

[JianYang]

I am a college teacher and I have never seen any mls gear in any of’ my class nor have I heard any student talk about mls or any of its team in the college..

I don't live in Montreal, but I'm talking about mls as a whole. I don't know whether the interest level there is representative of the whole league, but by contrast, I live on the west coast, not far from Seattle and Portland which are two of the bigger mls hotbeds.

Seattle averaged 40k attendance per game pre covid which was good for 2nd in the league. Portland was 4th.

Edit: It looks like Montreal was 19th out of 24.