Montreal Expos, what's next? UPDATE 3/25 - Stephen Bronfman says “I think we’re close.”

Mightygoose

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Nov 5, 2012
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Would love to hear a translation when some can chime in.

Curious that Garber and Bronfsmam have been in the media allot as of late. Not common for people working behind the scenes.

Perhaps an opportunity for a team will be coming soon? Though I can't see anything imminent
 

Bjorn Le

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May 17, 2010
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Have they sorted out the financing yet?

Not public. They make it sound like money is not an issue, however.

Would love to hear a translation when some can chime in.

Curious that Garber and Bronfsmam have been in the media allot as of late. Not common for people working behind the scenes.

Perhaps an opportunity for a team will be coming soon? Though I can't see anything imminent

It probably means that they're pretty far along in the process. This isn't a new development at all let's not forget. Warren Cromartie has been referring to a behind the scenes group for years now, and information has come out a few times a year since the Jays started doing their exhibition games. I suspect Garber and Bronfman made first contact with the MLB in 2013 or 2014.
 

KevFu

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May 22, 2009
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Well, everyone said "They can't expansion until the Oakland and Tampa stadium situations are resolved."

And of course, they needed a 32nd team to join with Montreal.

Well, the Rays are looking into Ybor district in Tampa, where they can move to in 2027 when their lease is up.
And the A's have offered to buy the Coliseum site, and build a new park there after the Raiders and Warriors leave.

And Portland investors have put in bids to buy a stadium site.
 
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Bjorn Le

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Well, everyone said "They can't expansion until the Oakland and Tampa stadium situations are resolved."

And of course, they needed a 32nd team to join with Montreal.

Well, the Rays are looking into Ybor district in Tampa, where they can move to in 2027 when their lease is up.
And the A's have offered to buy the Coliseum site, and build a new park there after the Raiders and Warriors leave.

And Portland investors have put in bids to buy a stadium site.

The Rays stadium situation is far from resolved. The Ybor district is a pipe dream, as Sternberg still doesn't have any money, and voters are unlikely to support a tax bill to fund one (there are many projects needing investment in the Tampa Area, and a stadium won't be high on the lists of many). I don't see it happening barring a miracle.
 

Marcobruin

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Mtl has solid financial backing in mr.bronfman and garber. The city is longing to have mlb back..
Mtl lost baseball because of greedy owners and total mistreatment of the fans..i think the fans needed some healing time now the baseball passion
Is back .
 

Harry22

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Mar 28, 2005
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Can’t go too much in detail but I do work for a firm in Montreal that is active in bringing back the Expos.

The group has already had talks with potential tv partners including Bell Media, Quebecor and even YouTube. The group has a list of potential sites and already architects working on the project.

All of this is done because they feel the day MLB will call will be sooner rather than later.
 
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Harry22

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The Rays stadium situation is far from resolved. The Ybor district is a pipe dream, as Sternberg still doesn't have any money, and voters are unlikely to support a tax bill to fund one (there are many projects needing investment in the Tampa Area, and a stadium won't be high on the lists of many). I don't see it happening barring a miracle.

I believe If Sternberg does not have any resolution shortly, he will either sell to the Bronfman group or join them. That’s my personal opinion.
 
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BKIslandersFan

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Can’t go too much in detail but I do work for a form in Montreal that is active in bringing back the Expos.

The group has already had talks with potential tv partners including Bell Media, Quebecor and even YouTube. The group has a list of potential sites and already architects working on the project.

All of this is done because they feel the day MLB will call will be sooner rather than later.
If privately funded, how much do you think the stadium would cost? Its Montreal (on account that is more sparsely populated), so I can't imagine the real estate price is anywhere as bad as New York or even Toronto.

Or is there any chance they just do to Olympic Stadium what Seattle will be doing to KeyArena?
 
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Harry22

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If privately funded, how much do you think the stadium would cost? Its Montreal (on account that is more sparsely populated), so I can't imagine the real estate price is anywhere as bad as New York or even Toronto.

Or is there any chance they just do to Olympic Stadium what Seattle will be doing to KeyArena?

Stadium would cost I would say around 650 to 800M$. It would be modelled around Target Field in Minnesota. Around 35-40K seats and no roof. That’s what I know. No way they work with Olympic Stadium. Hard NO.

The funding will be creative, I can tell you that. I don’t know the details but personally I think one of the big media groups in Quebec will pay up front for naming rights of the new stadium and a share of the team. Obviously Bronfman and Garber will put in a lot but I have a feeling some sort of public help will happen as well.
 
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Marcobruin

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Can’t go too much in detail but I do work for a firm in Montreal that is active in bringing back the Expos.

The group has already had talks with potential tv partners including Bell Media, Quebecor and even YouTube. The group has a list of potential sites and already architects working on the project.

All of this is done because they feel the day MLB will call will be sooner rather than later.

Since you seem quite directly or indirectly implicated...How soon?
 

Harry22

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Mar 28, 2005
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Since you seem quite directly or indirectly implicated...How soon?

I don't know really, it's in MLB's hands now. What I know is a lot of MLB owners, including the big ones (Boston, NYY) are getting tired of giving a lot of money in revenue sharing to Tampa and Oakland and are putting pressure on Manfred to make the situation end sooner rather than later.
 

razor ray

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I don't know really, it's in MLB's hands now. What I know is a lot of MLB owners, including the big ones (Boston, NYY) are getting tired of giving a lot of money in revenue sharing to Tampa and Oakland and are putting pressure on Manfred to make the situation end sooner rather than later.

Very interesting and thanks for the posts. A few questions:

Don't you think a roof would be needed for the games early and late in the season?

If it is the A's, would Toronto move to the Central and the As to the East and then the Royals to the West?

Would the Expos logo stay the same?

Thanks in advance I hope this happens!

An interesting read from yesterday:

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred Reveals Two Potential Expansion Cities - Slackie Brown
 

CHRDANHUTCH

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Very interesting and thanks for the posts. A few questions:

Don't you think a roof would be needed for the games early and late in the season?

If it is the A's, would Toronto move to the Central and the As to the East and then the Royals to the West?

Would the Expos logo stay the same?

Thanks in advance I hope this happens!

An interesting read from yesterday:

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred Reveals Two Potential Expansion Cities - Slackie Brown
why would the A's abandon Oakland, ray..... they have the opportunity to own the Coliseum, and you do recall before Ewing Kauffman, the A's had been in Kansas City as well as Philadelphia in the origins of the AL
 

razor ray

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why would the A's abandon Oakland, ray..... they have the opportunity to own the Coliseum, and you do recall before Ewing Kauffman, the A's had been in Kansas City as well as Philadelphia in the origins of the AL

Ok hutch....who is funding the new stadium?
 
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CHRDANHUTCH

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Great...and then who will fund the new stadium?
it's the County dude, what's the technical name of the A's ballpark.... OAKLAND Alameda County Coliseum, IT'S JUST BEEN KNOWN as O.CO Coliseum, AND WHEN Oracle goes away, once the Warriors finally return to San Francisco, I Believe the stadium as presently constructed will include Oracle's footprint in the new coliseum... the Raiders are gone to Vegas once Las Vegas Stadium is completed much as the Rams and Chargers are waiting on their shared stadium in Inglewood
 

razor ray

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it's the County dude, what's the technical name of the A's ballpark.... OAKLAND Alameda County Coliseum, IT'S JUST BEEN KNOWN as O.CO Coliseum, AND WHEN Oracle goes away, once the Warriors finally return to San Francisco, I Believe the stadium as presently constructed will include Oracle's footprint in the new coliseum... the Raiders are gone to Vegas once Las Vegas Stadium is completed much as the Rams and Chargers are waiting on their shared stadium in Inglewood

Great dude....know all that....need $.
 

Harry22

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Mar 28, 2005
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Montreal
Very interesting and thanks for the posts. A few questions:

Don't you think a roof would be needed for the games early and late in the season? No, there will no roof. That is 100% confirmed. They came to that conclusion because the climate is very similar to Minnesota. For example this year, on April 12th in Montreal it was 10 degrees Celsius (50 fahrenheit). Yesterday it was 26 degrees Celsius (79 fahrenheit). Those temperatures are in line with other northern US teams. Like Minnesota and even Boston or New York, there will be challenges for early April games but not more than other northern US teams face every year. The cost of a roof is much more than the cost of rescheduling a few games during the year (that calculation was done with worst case scenarios in mind).

If it is the A's, would Toronto move to the Central and the As to the East and then the Royals to the West? I would not know that. My personal opinion is there will definitely be a big realignment coming soon in the MLB. There will be 32 teams at some point in the next decade and I expect big realignments and new playoff formats.

Would the Expos logo stay the same? Again, I do not know exactly what the logo will be like but I would love for it to be the same. They might modernize it a bit (like the Jays modernized their logo recently).

Thanks in advance I hope this happens!

An interesting read from yesterday:

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred Reveals Two Potential Expansion Cities - Slackie Brown

Answers in bold! I, too, cannot wait for it to happen!
 
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Bjorn Le

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Even in the American media, Montreal is increasingly being talked about as "when", not "if". And despite the recent Tampa proposals, Tampa is increasingly being talked about as being doomed.

Oakland likely finds a solution. It's a shame that solution probably won't be in San Jose but c'est la vie. I'm thinking Tampa to Montreal, and Portland/Monterrey as expansion franchises. Realignment to four eight team divisions (radical realignment):

AL East: Toronto, Boston, Yankees, Mets, Montreal, Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati,
AL South: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Atlanta, Miami, St Louis, Kansas City
NL Central: Cubs, White Sox, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Houston, Texas, Monterrey, Colorado
NL West: Seattle, Portland, Oakland, San Francisco, Angels, Dodgers, Padres, Diamondbacks

This realignment is a pipe dream but I think it's very efficient. For one, no division has teams more than one time zone apart (East has none, South has two, Central has one, West has one). Establishes all geographical and state rivalries in the same division. Problem is it wipes out teams who were traditionally NL ones (most of the traditional AL teams have stayed). Which is why I think it's unlikely but I think it would work.
 

Habs 4 Life

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Mar 30, 2005
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Longoria, 32, was the longest-tenured player in Rays history, spending all 10 of his big league seasons there. He left as the club's leader with 1,435 games, 261 home runs and 892 RBIs.
"Honestly, and this is maybe not something I should say, but my gut tells me that the best decision might be to move the team," Longoria told the Tampa Bay Times on Thursday. "I say that only because I look at the example of the Miami Marlins, and [a new stadium] didn't really solve their attendance issues. So from purely an attendance standpoint, somewhere else might be better.
"It pains me to say that, but players want to play in a place where you have consistent support. It's a selfish thing to say probably as a player, but I don't know, does anyone really want to play in front of 10,000 a night?"


Longoria: Rays better off leaving Tampa Bay
 

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