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

[The Horvatian One]

Grizzlies will return to Vancouver before MLB even touches my home town.

I don't even live there no more and God forbid Baseball is the most boring sport in the entire world. I'm a complete bandwagon fan and so are most of the Jays fans before they got Price and what's his face.

It just gives 'fans' a reason to go out and drink. The Jays store was completely empty before their moves.

 

[The Horvatian One]

And you don't see Portland in the sights for any future MLB team. Vancouver is a big, beautiful city, but it's sure as hell not sports city.

I believe you're completely wrong. The NBA Canadian Tour come will be sold out. If we didn't have a goof of a GM named Stu Jackson plus having to deal with the Supersonics, we could very well still have a team.

Our drafting was horrendous. We drafted a player who went to the public and said he did NOT want to play here with the 2nd OVERALL pick.

 

[Rocko604]

I believe you're completely wrong. The NBA Canadian Tour come will be sold out. If we didn't have a goof of a GM named Stu Jackson plus having to deal with the Supersonics, we could very well still have a team.

Our drafting was horrendous. We drafted a player who went to the public and said he did NOT want to play here with the 2nd OVERALL pick.

The NBA Tour will be sold out because we're an event town moreso than a sports town. It's a one-off. Plus, it's the Raptors. Like the Jays, they're branding themselves as Canada's team, and with them making the playoffs (plus possibly the Leafs not making the playoffs) it's helped raise their profile. Doesn't hurt they're also playing the Clippers so the crowd will likely get to see Griffin, Paul and Jordan.

If the Jazz and Hornets played in Vancouver, I'd bet dollars to donuts it would not sell out.

 

[Forever27]

I think you are right.
At the time of the lockout...
The team had the best record in the NL...
And was poised to make a run in the post-season.

When baseball finally returned the next season...
The fans all stayed away...
To express their anger.
However...
For a team like Montreal...
Which was never popular to begin with...
That was the nail in the coffin...
And it never recovered.

How much...

do you love...

...

the ellipses... ?

 

[PG Canuck]

I believe you're completely wrong. The NBA Canadian Tour come will be sold out. If we didn't have a goof of a GM named Stu Jackson plus having to deal with the Supersonics, we could very well still have a team.

Our drafting was horrendous. We drafted a player who went to the public and said he did NOT want to play here with the 2nd OVERALL pick.

Is this suppose to convince me? Like what the previous poster said, it's an event that people will check out. It literally has no effect whatsoever about how the city of Vancouver can support a franchise. At all.

I don't care about who didn't want to play here or whatever, a sports city supports regardless. Vancouver is not that city, especially for a sport that isn't overly popular like hockey, and even then, Vancouver is meh.

 

[PG Canuck]

Grizzlies will return to Vancouver before MLB even touches my home town.

I don't even live there no more and God forbid Baseball is the most boring sport in the entire world. I'm a complete bandwagon fan and so are most of the Jays fans before they got Price and what's his face.

It just gives 'fans' a reason to go out and drink. The Jays store was completely empty before their moves.

Not really, but okay.

 

[nameless1]

How much...

do you love...

...

the ellipses... ?

Greatest creation known to man...
After ice-cream.

 

[WhiteCurse]

Im okay with having a team in Seattle, just as easy togo there as it is Van

 

[Frank Garrett]

Im okay with having a team in Seattle, just as easy togo there as it is Van

Not if you live in Vancouver.

 

[nutbar]

I don't think it's outside the realm of possibility that Vancouver gets an NBA team again one day.

 

[IntangiBo]

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?

81 home games. Yawn.

 

[CherryToke]

I've always wanted an MLB team here. but now that the Blue Jays are so good I would just rather enjoy them since I've been a fan of them for 20+ years.. not sure I could do that anymore if there was a Vancouver team. every time the Jays roll into town and destroyed us, Toronto trolls would be out in full force. unless we get a good team relocated here.. Like the Rays. that would be better

 

[Just A Bit Outside]

Canadians are perfect for this market. Limited to the summer months, cheap tickets and have a great little stadium in an easily accessible location.

A MLB would have a hard time getting enough people to commit to attend 81 games especially in direct competition with Lions and Whitecaps.

Vancouver will get another basketball team before it gets a MLB team.

 

[nutbar]

Canadians are perfect for this market. Limited to the summer months, cheap tickets and have a great little stadium in an easily accessible location.

A MLB would have a hard time getting enough people to commit to attend 81 games especially in direct competition with Lions and Whitecaps.

Vancouver will get another basketball team before it gets a MLB team.

I would like to see Vancouver get a AAA team again but I don't know if that's possible without a new minor league stadium.

Oh well at least we're not Edmonton or Calgary in the baseball dept.

 

[Rocko604]

I would like to see Vancouver get a AAA team again but I don't know if that's possible without a new minor league stadium.

Oh well at least we're not Edmonton or Calgary in the baseball dept.

We'd need an upgraded Nat Bailey with club seating, suites and expanded press box, 10,000 capacity and most importantly, a franchise to purchase and relocate. Our climate for AAA is fine, works in Tacoma, would work here.

I do like single-A ball though. Green and raw pros can make for an exciting game and he short season easily makes it a summer "to-do" in Vancouver.

 

[RingWraith]

A beautiful ball park downtown where they wanted to build the Whitecaps Waterfront Stadium above the rail tracks. The stands could go right to the water a la SF Giants stadium. That would be a wicked destination for AAA baseball.

The MLB as much as I would love it in Van, I just don't think is viable at the moment. Maybe in 20 years when the dollar has recovered, the metro population is over 3 million and the tech sector has grown enough to make the city wealthier. Maybe then Van will be financially viable.

 

[F A N]

Is this suppose to convince me? Like what the previous poster said, it's an event that people will check out. It literally has no effect whatsoever about how the city of Vancouver can support a franchise. At all.

I don't care about who didn't want to play here or whatever, a sports city supports regardless. Vancouver is not that city, especially for a sport that isn't overly popular like hockey, and even then, Vancouver is meh.

I agree with you that Vancouver isn't really a sports city in the sense that people would go to games no matter what. The problem is that many people don't have the disposable income to regularly go to games just as a regular night out. If the team isn't winning a lot of people would rather spend the money elsewhere. But Vancouver does have enough population and money to support multiple sports franchises but only if they are winning and it's "cool" to attend. When the Grizzlies first started and the Canucks were a bad team, the Grizzlies drew more fans or about equal to what the Canucks drew. This city is full of people who go to games when it's cool to go. The Canucks probably have 11-13K die hard fans who can afford to and will be season ticket holders regardless. The people who filled the stadiums during the Canucks' Cup run? Most of them don't care about the Canucks when they are losing.

In terms of the MLB, I don't think Vancouver can support a team. You need payroll of over $100M US to realistically compete in the MLB, and even then that requires being smart with money. The Blue Jays are like middle of the pack in payroll and money is an issue for the team. Most years, the Yankees and Red Sox like double their payroll.

 

[Melrose Munch]

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/which-locations-make-the-most-sense-for-mlb-expansion-022816

There are many factors to consider in adding two new teams, one of which would be the dramatic reshaping of Major League Baseball. Seemingly every year, Yahoo, ESPN, and a host of other baseball centric websites propose their own way to realign the various divisions. While they're mainly fun pieces designed to get readers talking, expanding MLB from 30 to 32 teams would make realignment inevitable.


MLB considering Vancouver for expansion.

 

[Rocko604]

Not going to happen. No potential local owner who would want to bring a team to Vancouver that's rich enough to build their own stadium. Given our dollar, no owner outside of Canada would bother. Furthermore, since the only suitable land for a stadium will not be given up by the Ports Canada (see Whitecaps Waterfront Stadium), it all but shuts the door.

I'm a big baseball fan, but I'd rather see us get a Triple-A team at an expanded Nat Bailey, but that's a pipe dream too.

 

[Hammer79]

They need to bring some exhibition games to Vancouver or even a 3 game series between the Mariners and Blue Jays. Test the market out. I want to believe this is a possibility but I'm skeptical.

 

[Index]

We need a MLB team and a NBA team!!

 

[Tobi Wan Kenobi]

If there were a faster way to get people from the Valley to Vancouver than it'd work but I don't see how It'd survive. We need that Elon Musk Hyperloop.

 

[ginner classic]

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?

Playing baseball is fun. Watching baseball is painful.

 

[RingWraith]

They need to bring some exhibition games to Vancouver or even a 3 game series between the Mariners and Blue Jays. Test the market out. I want to believe this is a possibility but I'm skeptical.

They've done exhibition games at BC Place before... but things are a bit trickier now. The stadium now has one of the largest suspended jumbo trons in North America. And it's low. A routine fly ball would cream it.

 

[nameless1]

This again?
Just let it go.
Vancouver will not get a team...
Until baseball becomes part of the cultural fabric of Canada...
Or the population drastically increases...
Whichever comes first.

There are just too many things that works against the Vancouver market.