OT: So why hasn't Vancouver made a play for an MLB team?

[Melrose Munch]

http://montrealgazette.com/sports/mayor-coderre-montreal-will-have-baseball-again

Montreal is dying for a baseball team. Why isn't vancouver going for one at all? Big enough for one more team and far from the jays, a rivalry ready to go with the Mariners as well, even BC place can fit a ball park. So why not?

Click to read more...

 

[Icebreakers]

I dont know a lot of people that actually care about baseball in Van, and i mean serious fans, not the ones that go to a game sunday afternoon with friends/family for leisure.

 

[nameless1]

http://montrealgazette.com/sports/mayor-coderre-montreal-will-have-baseball-again

Montreal is dying for a baseball team. Why isn't vancouver going for one at all? Big enough for one more team and far from the jays, a rivalry ready to go with the Mariners as well, even BC place can fit a ball park. So why not?

I have seen this thread before.


Here is the short answer:
Population.
Vancouver itself has only just a tad over 600,000 people...
Which is too small to sustain a baseball team.
It is 2.4 million for Greater Vancouver...
But that also includes places like Langley...
Pitt Meadows...
And Maple Ridge.
People there are unlikely to travel to Vancouver...
Just for a baseball game.

One has to just look at Montreal...
Around 2004...
When the Expos left.
Montreal has 1.5 million people in 2003...
And over 3 million in the metropolitan area...
But it still struggled.

Baseball culture is also not ingrained into Canadian culture.
No one ever says that baseball is our favourite pasttime...
Like they do in the States.

Sure...
There will be a rivalry with Seattle...
But how many games can there be against just one team?
At most...
The teams play about 20 games against one another...
But what about the other 142 game?
Plus...
That only happens if Vancouver is assigned to the AL.
If it is in the NL...
There will be a lot less game.

I would love a team in Vancouver...
But it should not be considered...
Until perhaps in another 20 years.

 

[Love]

I dont know a lot of people that actually care about baseball in Van, and i mean serious fans, not the ones that go to a game sunday afternoon with friends/family for leisure.

Ehhh I don't know.

Maybe I'm biased, but it seems like BC produces as much MLB talent as the rest of Canada combined... Our weather is certainly best in Canada for it out of any major city for baseball.

Larry Walker
Justin Morneau
Jason Bay
Jeff Francis
Brett Lawrie
Adam Loewen

All from BC off the top of my head. I think people here care about baseball (I don't, but that's just me )

TBH I won't care about the MLB unless their was a team here. I would definitely watch at that point. I would go to games too, as they would be much cheaper than Canucks and even Lions tickets (not that I care about the Lions) which are a joke now when it comes to pricing. Whitecaps are affordable and entertaining as hell IMO.

 

[Love]

I have seen this thread before.


Here is the short answer:
Population.
Vancouver itself has only just a tad over 600,000 people...
Which is too small to sustain a baseball team.
It is 2.4 million for Greater Vancouver...
But that also includes places like Langley...
Pitt Meadows...
And Maple Ridge.
People there are unlikely to travel to Vancouver...
Just for a baseball game.

Vancouver Metro has nearly 1 million more people than Milwuakee Metro and they have a baseball team.

I'm not saying it's the same situation but ultimately population is not the problem. At least, there are likely other issues that are more pressing.

 

[nameless1]

Vancouver Metro has nearly 1 million more people than Milwuakee Metro and they have a baseball team.

I'm not saying it's the same situation but ultimately population is not the problem. At least, there are likely other issues that are more pressing.

How many of those million people are fans though?

Milwaukee averages 32,349 people this season.
That is 12th in the league...
And it is considered to be a small-to-mid market team.
Even when that team sucks...
It still draws more than the Blue Jays.
When it is in the playoff hunt...
The attendance quickly get into the top 10.

Plain and simple...
Americans like baseball more than Canadians.
That is the difference.

 

[Tryamkin]

David Price said it himself. There is a whole nation cheering for the Blue Jays. Now when/if there is more canadian teams added to the MLB, the population of Canada will choose a team and the fans per team get halved. I would love a baseball team in Vancouver but I don't see it happening anytime soon. Montreal will get one before us.

 

[Hollywood Burrows]

OP: have you ever been here? There's way better **** to do in Vancouver in the summer than sit and watch a bunch of fat americans stumble around a field that could be better used for a game of ultimate.

 

[sticknrink]

I just moved to Toronto from living in London for about 7 years for work.

Seriously, Toronto and Montreal are massive, massive cities compared to Vancouver. You can pretty much see central Vancouver in a day; the same can't be said for Toronto or Montreal. Toronto also has big corporate financial $$$$, Montreal has government capital industry $$$$. Plus, Montreal has a very vibrant arts-social culture (and even then Montreal lost their team.)

What does Vancouver have? Expensive houses. (LOL)

Travel and live in other cities for awhile and you'll realise how much of a small-town Vancouver really is.

 

[nameless1]

OP: have you ever been here? There's way better **** to do in Vancouver in the summer than sit and watch a bunch of fat americans stumble around a field that could be better used for a game of ultimate.

Now you are being unfair.
Baseball is a lot more athletic now.
A lot of the guys are very much in shape.
Honestly...
Only Prince Fielder really fit your description nowadays...
And that is 1 out of 750 players in the big leagues.

 

[BobbyJazzLegs]

hahahahah oh boy. no chance.

 

[kurt]

OP: have you ever been here? There's way better **** to do in Vancouver in the summer than sit and watch a bunch of fat americans stumble around a field that could be better used for a game of ultimate.

... it sounds like you're criticizing the CFL.

 

[vancityluongo]

Vancouver Metro has nearly 1 million more people than Milwuakee Metro and they have a baseball team.

I'm not saying it's the same situation but ultimately population is not the problem. At least, there are likely other issues that are more pressing.

That's like saying because Winnipeg can support an NHL team, San Antonio can too.

Vancouver might be fine on population, and being the only team in Western Canada might draw some people from out of town in the summer (I caught a couple Jays games the last time I was in Toronto despite a million other things to do). Still, Montreal is definitely ahead of Vancouver on the cue at the very least.

 

[Verviticus]

Vancouver Metro has nearly 1 million more people than Milwuakee Metro and they have a baseball team.

I'm not saying it's the same situation but ultimately population is not the problem. At least, there are likely other issues that are more pressing.

well, people in milwaukee like miserable garbage sports

 

[Canadian Canuck]

I'd still have to cheer for the Jays <3

 

[Hammer79]

I have seen this thread before.


Here is the short answer:
Population.
Vancouver itself has only just a tad over 600,000 people...
Which is too small to sustain a baseball team.
It is 2.4 million for Greater Vancouver...
But that also includes places like Langley...
Pitt Meadows...
And Maple Ridge.
People there are unlikely to travel to Vancouver...
Just for a baseball game.

One has to just look at Montreal...
Around 2004...
When the Expos left.
Montreal has 1.5 million people in 2003...
And over 3 million in the metropolitan area...
But it still struggled.

Baseball culture is also not ingrained into Canadian culture.
No one ever says that baseball is our favourite pasttime...
Like they do in the States.

Sure...
There will be a rivalry with Seattle...
But how many games can there be against just one team?
At most...
The teams play about 20 games against one another...
But what about the other 142 game?
Plus...
That only happens if Vancouver is assigned to the AL.
If it is in the NL...
There will be a lot less game.

I would love a team in Vancouver...
But it should not be considered...
Until perhaps in another 20 years.

^This is a good answer.

There is also the money factor. Top MLB players make $20M-$30M per year. Look at the Blue Jays and their $130M payroll. Look at the Dodgers on top with a $300M payroll! http://www.spotrac.com/mlb/payroll/

When you look at average attendance, we'd have to be around 30K fans per game really, so 30K * 81 home games at prices comparable to the NHL. Vancouver might be bigger than some American cities with MLB teams, but you have to look at home many are fans of the game. There's a reason the NHL didn't take in Atlanta despite being a big city.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/attendance

I think that the diehard MLB fans in Vancouver just drive to Seattle. From MLB's perspective, turning a Vancouver based Mariners fan into a MLB Van fan is a net zero gain.

 

[nameless1]

^This is a good answer.

There is also the money factor. Top MLB players make $20M-$30M per year. Look at the Blue Jays and their $130M payroll. Look at the Dodgers on top with a $300M payroll! http://www.spotrac.com/mlb/payroll/

When you look at average attendance, we'd have to be around 30K fans per game really, so 30K * 81 home games at prices comparable to the NHL. Vancouver might be bigger than some American cities with MLB teams, but you have to look at home many are fans of the game. There's a reason the NHL didn't take in Atlanta despite being a big city.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/attendance

I think that the diehard MLB fans in Vancouver just drive to Seattle. From MLB's perspective, turning a Vancouver based Mariners fan into a MLB Van fan is a net zero gain.

Toronto...
The fourth largest city in North America with 2.8 million people...
Also averages just under 30,000 people...
Which is about 20th in the league.
That is with a $130 million payroll...
And as a potential playoff team.

People here are just not that into baseball...
Unfortunately.
If Toronto barely cuts it...
I doubt Vancouver will survive.
I think it will do even worst than Tampa...
And it has a half-decent team.

 

[PG Canuck]

OP: have you ever been here? There's way better **** to do in Vancouver in the summer than sit and watch a bunch of fat americans stumble around a field that could be better used for a game of ultimate.

Don't talk about the BC Lions that way.

 

[Domecile]

I already own C's season tickets and I would definitely buy them for a MLB team if it ever were to come to Vancouver/BC.

Only problem is there's no stadium for a baseball team. The scoreboard at BC place would be in the way.

 

[WhiteCurse]

OP: have you ever been here? There's way better **** to do in Vancouver in the summer than sit and watch a bunch of fat americans stumble around a field that could be better used for a game of ultimate.

Some one clearly has never been to a game live. Seattle has tones of BC fans that go to alot of the games, never not ran into other BC people. Its great tixs are cheap, get some nice weather and its on, cold beers get tixs where u can talk/yell at the players. Its a great time

 

[Frank Garrett]

OP: have you ever been here? There's way better **** to do in Vancouver in the summer than sit and watch a bunch of fat americans stumble around a field that could be better used for a game of ultimate.

Americans? Not according to Ferrell 7:32...

 

[LeftCoast]

I already own C's season tickets and I would definitely buy them for a MLB team if it ever were to come to Vancouver/BC.

Only problem is there's no stadium for a baseball team. The scoreboard at BC place would be in the way.

It would also require re-doing the seamless Polytan turf installed for the Women`s World Cup which would undoubtedly degrade the field for both soccer and football (base paths, warning tracks, etc,). With enough money, anything is possible, I just don`t see anyone with deep enough pockets that is quite so passionate about baseball and willing to risk $1B (approximate value of an average MLB team) PLUS the cost of upgrades to BC Place ($150 - $200M).

 

[VanJack]

Why is there no MLB team in VanCity?......somebody would have to build a $500m purpose-built baseball stadium and then spend another half billion in expansion fees...just what MLB needs....another small market team surviving on the crumbs from big market teams....sorry, just to easy to drive down the I-5 to watch the Mariners.

 

[Rotting Corpse*]

Toronto...
The fourth largest city in North America with 2.8 million people...
Also averages just under 30,000 people...
Which is about 20th in the league.
That is with a $130 million payroll...
And as a potential playoff team.

People here are just not that into baseball...
Unfortunately.
If Toronto barely cuts it...
I doubt Vancouver will survive.
I think it will do even worst than Tampa...
And it has a half-decent team.

I would be surprised if Vancouver even had 30,000 people who understood baseball.

 

[nameless1]

I would be surprised if Vancouver even had 30,000 people who understood baseball.

I met 3 in all my time here.
3.