OT: All-Purpose Expos Return Topic (Part II)

HuGo Sham

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Apr 7, 2010
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I'm pretty sure they would. The day David Thomson wanted a team in Winnipeg, he was going to eventually get it. He's around the 25th richest in the world worth 35B or so, no other owner in the NHL is closed of that. The Jets franchise is on solid ground just because of him.
i don't agree. peladeau has very deep pockets as well. Has everything to do with the market. it was a perfect storm for winnipeg - the thrashers had to get the f*** out, winnipeg had an arena that was ready - albeit small and with limited luxury boxes - and the dollar was on par. bettman asked the winnipeg community to show their commitment by buying season tickets right off the hop before NHLsaid yes ( i believe)..btw i'm happy winnipeg has a team,
 

kgboomer

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i don't agree. peladeau has very deep pockets as well. Has everything to do with the market. it was a perfect storm for winnipeg - the thrashers had to get the **** out, winnipeg had an arena that was ready - albeit small and with limited luxury boxes - and the dollar was on par. bettman asked the winnipeg community to show their commitment by buying season tickets right off the hop before NHLsaid yes ( i believe)..btw i'm happy winnipeg has a team,
You can't compared Péladeau with Thomson. Péladeau folded like a cheap tent when he tried to buy the CH, it was the moment he saw Thomson was supporting the Molson group. He knew right then it was over.
 

Tighthead

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One of the TSN insiders was saying a while ago that PKP is persona non grata in the NHL fraternity.
 

Tighthead

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PKP worst move was to get involved in politics with the Parti Québecois.

And that is precisely why.

It may also be that like Balsillie, he acted in a presumptuous manner. Bronfman is playing the role perfectly with MLB right now. Respectful and cautious.
 
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1909

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And that is precisely why.

It may also be that like Balsillie, he acted in a presumptuous manner. Bronfman is playing the role perfectly with MLB right now. Respectful and cautious.

PKP's right hand man in the process, Dion, kept a very low profile though with NHL heads. And TVA Sport, one of PKP's media jewels, is paying big bucks to broadcast NHL games.
 

kgboomer

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PKP's right hand man in the process, Dion, kept a very low profile though with NHL heads. And TVA Sport, one of PKP's media jewels, is paying big bucks to broadcast NHL games.
They do but they're not paying the NHL. They're paying Rogers directly, they're the one who won the broadcasting rights. TVA Sports needed the NHL a lot more than the NHL needed them.
 

donghabs98

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The return of baseball to Montreal: How sameness and drastic...

If anyone has a subscription to the Athletic, I'd highly recommend checking out this article. It's very encouraging because there is truly a sense that progress is being made.

The article also makes a good point that the fact there isnt a grand spectacle for the exhibition series anymore is not a negative indication. It shows that Montrealers are being normalized with baseball again and considering the Jays arent good, the Brewers are not a team that draws people in and the series is on a Monday and Tuesday, getting over 24 000 is a good sign.
 
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LeHab

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Have listened to the TVA broadcast with Brulotte and Doucet. It just feels like it did in the early 2000s, the way Doucet calls the game, it's so laid back.

What was of greater interest were their guests from inning to inning, which included Bronfman, Arsenault (Marlins) Larry Walker and El Presidente. Dennis Martinez said that he is very close to certain key individuals in MLB and he's hearing that a team is coming to Montreal and it's close. I hope he's right.

What I enjoyed about the broadcast were the exchanges with the guests. They purposely delayed calling the plays or not call them at all when there was more minor stuff in favor of getting an Expos-focused perspective. They mentioned how Vlad Guerrero Jr. will be on the DL til May 15th. And how there are 4 players on the Jays who are the sons of former major leaguers -- Bichette, Biggio, Guerrero Jr. and Clemens.

Also, an Expos connection in the Brewers's lineup -- had not realized that Travis Shaw is the son of one-time Expos reliever, Jeff Shaw.

The worst part of the broadcast has to be Derek Aucoin whose wooden tongue is only outmatched by his incessant cliches.

It just feels like summer is coming when you take in a ballgame. Yeah, summer is coming to Toronto. Our baseball summers will have to wait.

Don't watch much of TVA Sports but Brulotte and Doucet are by far the best on that network. Don't have TVA sports 2 for tonight but may catch one of replays on TVA Sports. Aucoin doesn't fit there, would complement well Morisette & cie. Also enjoyed how they made the broadcast all about the Expos with guests and little attention to the actual game on field.

Jays also have Grudzielanek, nephew of Mark.
 
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Runner77

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MLB Player Poll:

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Runner77

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Will the Expos ever return to the city?
A source told ESPN’s Buster Olney it’s possible.

“This spring I had a conversation – and this is not like it was with Rob Manfred the commissioner or some owner – it was a mid-level person in Major League Baseball and it surprised me with such the ease that he had to say next round of expansion, which would take place after they settle the franchise situations with the Rays and the Athletics – two teams looking for new ballparks.

But once they do the next round of expansion, yeah Montreal will be involved. And he said it as if it was a done deal,” Olney said Tuesday morning on First Up with Michael Landsberg and Carlo Colaiacovo.

“He doesn’t have the power to make it happen, but I was really surprised that he said it with that much confidence and that much ease because I thought it would be more of an open question like okay, once we’re there let’s examine these things.

https://www.tsn.ca/source-tells-olney-montreal-expansion-could-happen-1.1279902
 

Dannyhab

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Feb 5, 2010
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A 20 min walk from the REM to the stadium is too much. Hopefully they would extend the REM right to the Peel basin and do this properly this time.
 

LeHab

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A 20 min walk from the REM to the stadium is too much. Hopefully they would extend the REM right to the Peel basin and do this properly this time.

While we still await Bronfman plan, whole project is expected to include a lot more than just the stadium and team for the area. Adding a station and other transportation changes would definitely make sense.
 
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BladeRunner66

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Shouldn't Montréal have a CanAm team to start with? It's high caliber entertaining Baseball + Québec & Trois-Rivières already have a team. They could even have a mini tournament between them for a Canadian cup.
 

Harry22

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Mar 28, 2005
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The NHL salary cap is around....70M$ or so?

You see the salaries in baseball, with players signing contracts for close to half a billion lol. It just seems like so much money. I know Montreal is a pretty big/successful city overall - but i don't see how we'd be able to compete with that.

I just took a quick look at the 2019 payroll per team. League average is 130M$ - Boston is top at 225M$. There are some lower teams (Tampa, Pittsburgh) who are right around 60M. Most of the teams near the bottom of the payroll scale though are teams that were near bottom of standings last year.

It's a lot of money - can Montreal support that? The idea would be to get a team and try to be successful, not aim for the absolute basement to be on life support and then lose the team again in a few years. We'd have to be able to go above ~130M$ yearly payroll i think if we wanted to compete.

Bronfman said pretty clearly this week, that Expos 2.0 will be like Expos 1.0, the best damn scouting team in the majors, the only difference being that this time they will pay to keep their stars.
 
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EXPOS123

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Bronfman said pretty clearly this week, that Expos 2.0 will be like Expos 1.0, the best damn scouting team in the majors, the only difference being that this time they will pay to keep their stars.


Molson and MB should learn to do the same.
 

Le Tricolore

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Shouldn't Montréal have a CanAm team to start with? It's high caliber entertaining Baseball + Québec & Trois-Rivières already have a team. They could even have a mini tournament between them for a Canadian cup.
Personally, I'd have zero interest in going to a minor league baseball game, but I plan on buying partial season tickets if / when we get an MLB team.

I'm sure I'n not alone in this thought process.

Plus, no one is going to build a stadium for a CanAm team, and no one is going to go to Olympic Stadium more than they have to.
 

BladeRunner66

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Personally, I'd have zero interest in going to a minor league baseball game, but I plan on buying partial season tickets if / when we get an MLB team.

I'm sure I'n not alone in this thought process.

Plus, no one is going to build a stadium for a CanAm team, and no one is going to go to Olympic Stadium more than they have to.
I respect your opinion but at least a CanAm team seems much more realistic moneywise than bringing back the Expos. Have you ever seen CanAm? Some players go through CanAm before the big league and they're entertaining to watch.

Note that i'm not against the Expos return, as long as hardly any public money is used and they don't get too many tax advantages for team & stadium. Yeah i understand businesses around the stadium would profit but that'd be mostly a local thing.
 

BladeRunner66

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Another thing, i mean, even if we don't take the financial cost of bringing back MLB into account, how in the hell would the Expos be able to compete?

We'd be at the very best, possible contenders every 10 years or so, we'd have to trade most off our best players as soon as they'd hit the jackpot salarywise.

Now it there was a cap that's be a whole different story but the powers that be, simply don't want that.
 

Runner77

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Personally, I'd have zero interest in going to a minor league baseball game, but I plan on buying partial season tickets if / when we get an MLB team.

I'm sure I'n not alone in this thought process.

Plus, no one is going to build a stadium for a CanAm team, and no one is going to go to Olympic Stadium more than they have to.

I used to attend the odd Lynx game but it was only on account of watching players that could become future Expos.

I can't see the interest for a Can-Am franchise for a city that had an MLB team and where baseball has been played since the 1870s.
 

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