Las Vegas Interested in MLB

[Centrum Hockey]

Orioles' radio station apologizes for publicizing rumor team might move
The rumor was debunked but its interesting because there are several other teams in bad ballpark situations
Baltimore is not one of them.

Click to read more...

 

[StreetHawk]

Orioles' radio station apologizes for publicizing rumor team might move
The rumor was debunked but its interesting because there are several other teams in bad ballpark situations
Baltimore is not one of them.

Two main ones are Oakland and TB.

MLB won’t expand until those 2 teams get their situations resolved.

Hearing cities like LV, Portland, Nashville, Charlotte, SA, Montreal as possibilities. But that’s a long way off.

 

[Centrum Hockey]

Two main ones are Oakland and TB.

MLB won’t expand until those 2 teams get their situations resolved.

Hearing cities like LV, Portland, Nashville, Charlotte, SA, Montreal as possibilities. But that’s a long way off.

If Peter Angelos sells the Orioles to Vegas Camden yards would be perfect solution for the rays or a's

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Vegas has been rumored as a landing spot for years. The thing I always say is that it's about about the venue, the first major market that begins building, or finalizes a funding agreement to build, a new MLB-capable ballpark will become the overwhelming front runner for an expansion or relocation team. Be that Vegas or Sacramento or Vancouver or Portland or Albuquerque or San Antonio or Oklahoma City or Nashville or somewhere in the Carolinas or Montreal or some place else entirely.

That being said, they already have a now-established NHL team and are about to get an NFL team in a year, so a completely open market is now going to be already pretty congested, so a big appeal for it is now out the window.

 

[LadyStanley]

MLB to LV was debunked last year (around news of MiLB 51s changing name to the Aviators, moving across the valley and changing affiliation).

With no (baseball) stadium in the region, unless someone is willing to spend a few billion, doubt it'll happen

 

[Mightygoose]

In terms of a relocation spot, does Vegas have a temporary venue to use while a MLB caliber stadium in built?

Can the new one the Aviators use be stop gap place?

Orioles relocation rumours are new to me. Though the lease is up after the 2021 season (3 and 6 years before Oakland and Tampa Bay respecivley). But unless a new building plan in Vegas happens quick, they're better off in expansion discussion when the time comes.

 

[PCSPounder]

MLB Expansion: Examining 6 Possible Locations To Add Teams

This is a cursory analysis of 6 markets based on recent Rob Manfred comments, but it demonstrates who has ownership potential and who has issues. What I'm thinking... this is mostly fodder for trying to get Oakland and Tampa settled. Only Montreal sounds solid enough to really generate momentum... and they'll simply be fallback if Tampa can't replace the Ybor City plan. You need at least 3 markets for the competition MLB will want. I see one.

(NOTE: The rumor is that Portland is about to fall back to square one. Seems the chosen ballpark/development site will not be supported by city transportation improvements.)

For No Fun Shogun, a thought: I do not think MLB even WANTS markets to provisionally build a park before they make an expansion or relocation call. Anyone who starts now is making bad assumptions for what technology holds in 5 years time. MLB already made the mistake of rewarding St. Petersburg for a stadium that, in hindsight, should never have been built for baseball.

 

[Centrum Hockey]

In terms of a relocation spot, does Vegas have a temporary venue to use while a MLB caliber stadium in built?

Can the new one the Aviators use be stop gap place?

Orioles relocation rumours are new to me. Though the lease is up after the 2021 season (3 and 6 years before Oakland and Tampa Bay respecivley). But unless a new building plan in Vegas happens quick, they're better off in expansion discussion when the time comes.

Could Oakland or Tampa break their lease early if MLB did a ownership or team swap with a team like Miami or Baltimore or the White Sox

 

[LadyStanley]

Examining Las Vegas As A Possible City For MLB Expansion

Part of a series of articles on various cities. Nothing earth shattering nor new.

In terms of a relocation spot, does Vegas have a temporary venue to use while a MLB caliber stadium in built?

Can the new one the Aviators use be stop gap place?

Aviators stadium seats 10k. Open air.

Old UNLV Sam Boyd stadium way on east of valley? Not sure if it's staying around after new NFL/UNLV stadium is opened. Fully exposed to elements (120'F weather in summer possible, not to mention thunderstorms).

Ideal location might be on/near Strip. Or Downtown. There is some undeveloped space on edge of airport (west), but under flight path for western departures.

 

[GindyDraws]

I think the opportunity for MLB to move to Las Vegas has closed, since the NHL got in first and the NFL is going to get in next year. Major League Baseball attendance is reliant on getting consistent attendance for up to 81 games (I say up to considering that a few games have the potential to be forfeit for the team each season playing in Mexico or Japan or even the United Kingdom), and given how blistering hot the days can get for day games, not to mention how chilly the nights can get early in the season, given Las Vegas is a desert climate, that'd require yet another climate controlled venue, which would be more expensive than building an open-air venue.

Ideally, Portland and Charlotte would be frontrunners for relocation in the States.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

For No Fun Shogun, a thought: I do not think MLB even WANTS markets to provisionally build a park before they make an expansion or relocation call. Anyone who starts now is making bad assumptions for what technology holds in 5 years time. MLB already made the mistake of rewarding St. Petersburg for a stadium that, in hindsight, should never have been built for baseball.

Fair point, but stadium design has gotten a lot better since the late 80's. Camden Yards ushered in a great era of retro-styled ballparks that teams ever since have mostly adopted as their design philosophy versus back in the day them just building monstrous barns that nobody ever liked and it wasn't until the new era of stadiums came around and immediately made them obsolete. So there is a bit more future proofing there compared to the mistakes that a place like TB made.

That being said, the funding aspect is almost assuredly the bigger deal when it comes to a team attracting attention.

 

[Mightygoose]

Could Oakland or Tampa break their lease early if MLB did a ownership or team swap with a team like Miami or Baltimore or the White Sox

Possibly,

But if either one could break their lease early, would it not be cleaner just for team X to move to Portland, Montreal etc...?

Miami would be the most expensive to break if it could be done at all. With the O's up in 2021, I think that's where the rumour spawned from

 

[PCSPounder]

Possibly,

But if either one could break their lease early, would it not be cleaner just for team X to move to Portland, Montreal etc...?

Miami would be the most expensive to break if it could be done at all. With the O's up in 2021, I think that's where the rumour spawned from

What is the Athletics' motivation for moving to a market with a fraction of the number of TV sets?

Doesn't mean the Athletics have no motivation to make a threat, just that it's a bluff that can be called (and probably is).

 

[Mightygoose]

What is the Athletics' motivation for moving to a market with a fraction of the number of TV sets?

Doesn't mean the Athletics have no motivation to make a threat, just that it's a bluff that can be called (and probably is).

I think if the A's move (or the Rays for that matter) it would be through a sale to the local group in the new market. In that case the new owners wouldn't care too much for the Bay area market - the other owners (Except the Giants) might.

My understanding the A's are losing their their full portion of revenue sharing over the corse of this CBA since their TV market is too large...that might be motivation by itself.

 

[PCSPounder]

Fair point, but stadium design has gotten a lot better since the late 80's. Camden Yards ushered in a great era of retro-styled ballparks that teams ever since have mostly adopted as their design philosophy versus back in the day them just building monstrous barns that nobody ever liked and it wasn't until the new era of stadiums came around and immediately made them obsolete. So there is a bit more future proofing there compared to the mistakes that a place like TB made.

The good stadium designs are so specialized that they don't convert so easily... and should be IMO. You can't just start on a baseball stadium and, 67% of the way through, suddenly decide it's going to have to accommodate MLS instead.

(BTW... anyone who mentions Yankee Stadium realizes it's New Fracking York, right? People sell some interesting souls to be in mega-markets, while citizens of said markets make it very tough for even, say, an Islanders arena at Belmont Park to get done. Clear as mud, right?)

On the other hand... when Lew Wolff wanted to move the Athletics to San Jose, he was promising a 35,000-seat ballpark. Portland's proposal consistently mentioned 32,000 seats. At some point, MLB is going to breach the 30K floor, and it's economically supportable to consider the possibility that the Aviators ballpark COULD be a stopgap solution if, by a massive accident of inglorious proportions, Vegas ended up with MLB. I'm sure some expansion is possible at Summerlin for an "interim" solution to a "what if Oakland suffers a tsunami and the A's have to move now" scenario.

 

[Centrum Hockey]

Possibly,

But if either one could break their lease early, would it not be cleaner just for team X to move to Portland, Montreal etc...?

Miami would be the most expensive to break if it could be done at all. With the O's up in 2021, I think that's where the rumour spawned from

They could never leave marlins park empty mlb would be sued into the ground

 

[KevFu]

MLB is going to have 32 teams in the not too distant future. I'm talking like, within 15 years or so.

MLB to LV was debunked last year

With no (baseball) stadium in the region, unless someone is willing to spend a few billion, doubt it'll happen

Vegas has something other cities doesn't: Massive casino companies with ties to sports via sportsbooks, and just an amazing amount of potential advertising revenue. The whole city's economy is driven around entertainment.

Vegas, while probably not the ideal destination for MLB, has the fewest hurdles of any expansion market because building a non-downtown MLB stadium would be so much easier for an owner than anywhere else when it's a casino company just building it on their own.

For No Fun Shogun, a thought: I do not think MLB even WANTS markets to provisionally build a park before they make an expansion or relocation call. Anyone who starts now is making bad assumptions for what technology holds in 5 years time. MLB already made the mistake of rewarding St. Petersburg for a stadium that, in hindsight, should never have been built for baseball.

MLB had no intentions of expanding into Tampa. They awarded that team because Tampa:
- built that stadium to lure the White Sox, who used them as leverage to get a new stadium deal.
- lost out on expansion to the Marlins and Rockies
- bought the San Francisco Giants to move them and MLB vetoed the sale and relocation]

And the Florida politicians brought Congressional hearings against MLB's anti-trust exemption as retribution.

MLB quickly convened an expansion committee, loaded it with Tampa-friendly voices, found a 30th owner in Arizona, and pulled the trigger to get Congress off their backs

 

[PCSPounder]

MLB is going to have 32 teams in the not too distant future. I'm talking like, within 15 years or so.

There's so much energy in Portland and nationally into this topic about the perception of something happening sooner (rather specifically the end of the lease in St. Petersburg) that I kind of knowingly chuckled to that. That "energy" is misbegotten. And you might be an optimist, Kev.

If it happens then, or prior, it's because (1) both Oakland and Tampa got stadiums lined up locally, (2) Montreal made more progress, and (3) gosh darn it, they want another international market to accompany Montreal.

I know, not as much interest in public funding for a ballpark or even stable currency in the places MLB could likely go. Plus we don't know where television is headed. But it's probably headed to the kind of setup that could advantage a Ciudad de Mexico.

Or MLB doesn't have to expand. The problem with expansion within USA is that franchises still want serious compensation for the loss of TV markets, never mind the fate of TV.

 

[Djp]

Vegas has been rumored as a landing spot for years. The thing I always say is that it's about about the venue, the first major market that begins building, or finalizes a funding agreement to build, a new MLB-capable ballpark will become the overwhelming front runner for an expansion or relocation team. Be that Vegas or Sacramento or Vancouver or Portland or Albuquerque or San Antonio or Oklahoma City or Nashville or somewhere in the Carolinas or Montreal or some place else entirely.

That being said, they already have a now-established NHL team and are about to get an NFL team in a year, so a completely open market is now going to be already pretty congested, so a big appeal for it is now out the window.

Not exactly true...

Buffalo AAA stadium was a predecessor to Camden yards. Same designers. No upper deck.

Buffalo would have added the upper deck if they got a team.

No city will build a baseball excuse stadium with 45000 capacity with a mlb commitment.

Omaha built a new stadium because of long term commitment by NCAA

Vegas can’t support 3 pro teams

Thry don’t have the population nor the large income base.

The only cities for baseball are cities without major sports teams,,,Louisville, Richmond, Norfolk, Austin, Omaha, Albuquerque

 

[LadyStanley]

I think the opportunity for MLB to move to Las Vegas has closed, since the NHL got in first and the NFL is going to get in next year. Major League Baseball attendance is reliant on getting consistent attendance for up to 81 games (I say up to considering that a few games have the potential to be forfeit for the team each season playing in Mexico or Japan or even the United Kingdom), and given how blistering hot the days can get for day games, not to mention how chilly the nights can get early in the season, given Las Vegas is a desert climate, that'd require yet another climate controlled venue, which would be more expensive than building an open-air venue.

Ideally, Portland and Charlotte would be frontrunners for relocation in the States.

I don't know that the Raiders/UNLV stadium could host baseball games. (The plan is to "roll out the grass" similar to the Cardinals stadium between weekend games.)

On the other hand... when Lew Wolff wanted to move the Athletics to San Jose, he was promising a 35,000-seat ballpark. Portland's proposal consistently mentioned 32,000 seats. At some point, MLB is going to breach the 30K floor, and it's economically supportable to consider the possibility that the Aviators ballpark COULD be a stopgap solution if, by a massive accident of inglorious proportions, Vegas ended up with MLB. I'm sure some expansion is possible at Summerlin for an "interim" solution to a "what if Oakland suffers a tsunami and the A's have to move now" scenario.

Not that I can see. North is VGK practice facility. West is main road. South is condo development. East is parking lots?

 

[IU Hawks fan]

I don't know that the Raiders/UNLV stadium could host baseball games. (The plan is to "roll out the grass" similar to the Cardinals stadium between weekend games.)

It definitely can't, there's not enough floor space. Unless you want it to be like 180 feet to right field.

 

[tony d]

MLB expansion is coming. Vegas, to me, would be a great candidate for a MLB team.

 

[PCSPounder]

Not that I can see. North is VGK practice facility. West is main road. South is condo development. East is parking lots?

An interim facility- I said INTERIM- by my guess, only needs to increase capacity by about 8,000 IF that's really 10,000 seats. Having just seen one roof removed at Providence Park for a three-tier 4,000-seat expansion in VERY limited footprint for perhaps $85 million, I'm just saying you lack a little imagination. Expanding this might not cost that much, BTW.

However, I'm of the mind with those who say Vegas really doesn't have a chance here. You need a TV region three times what Vegas could possibly offer.

 

[BattleBorn]

Vegas isn't getting baseball.

I realize this isn't the Business of Baseball board, but the business outlook for a Las Vegas based baseball team is pretty poor in a league where market size really matters and there's a massive amount of games and ticket inventory to sell.

Get the Las Vegas Valley population up to 3,000,000 (from the current 2.1something) and perhaps it becomes a potential thing that might someday happen. As it is now, Las Vegas has almost 100,000 less homes than Milwaukee (the smallest market) and also doesn't have a state like Wisconsin from which to draw peripheral fans. It's just not a real thing that will happen.

 

[rabinsurance]

I had some clients of mine, who are pretty large gamblers, tell me that Caesars has had an agreement to sell the Rio to a group that plans to build a MLB stadium on that site. I suppose that could be plausible, but also something to digest with a grain of salt.