Yeah they did I didn't phrase that properly, I meant baseball/MLB would go back home. As it is the city of Tampa who doesn't support the Rays very well is not going to let this happen anyways.
MLB 2019
- Thread starter Memento
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So by back home do you mean an MLB team in Montreal? If so that wasn't ever a good home from what I remember.
Nevermind. Actually you're acting like Tampa Bay is? Tampa and Miami have attendance numbers that are worse than some minor league cities put out.
They were in the top half of attendance a number of times, despite playing in a crappy stadium not really designed for baseball - poor sightlines, etc. They peaked in 1983 with an attendance of 2.32 million when NL average was just under 1.8 million.
They started declining a bit for various reasons, then sold to a new owner who refused to invest in the team and eventually started selling off all the decent players, at which point attendance cratered.
Not a great city for baseball - there really aren't any great relocation options unless you shoehorn a third team into the New York area or the LA area - but not the worst, and it's remembered as bad mainly because of a horrible owner trying to make money without investment.
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I don't care where they play. My point is Montreal didn't support MLB before. Why would a split season make any difference?
Top half of the league in attendance when fielding an excellent team is not a good venue for MLB. Mexico City and Havana are obvious markets well within the window of travel teams can reasonably do and the sport is supported all year long.
Ticket prices tend to be lower there - especially Havana (there are other reasons to avoid Havana) and tv revenue is likely to be tiny compared to most major league teams.
TV revenue won't be on par in Montreal either. Neither will ticket prices. Not to mention only a half season at that.
Be a lot better than in Cuba or Mexico City. AND with half a season in Tampa Bay, and half in Montreal, they likely would have two season long tv contracts, growing the revenue. I suspect that in the end they would move to Montreal. That is the international city that seems to make the most sense - ticket prices would be comparable to the US, TV would be fairly close, travel is easier, safer city, etc. Vegas might have made sense, but I don't think it is ready to support the NFL AND MLB. Other cities in the US would be iffy, and likely would cannibalize from other franchises. I've heard Portland mentioned, but I don't think it's realistic, and would hit the Mariners' broadcast revenue. Fact is, while Montreal wasn't the best city for a major league team - until they had a horrendously bad owner, it was competitive in attendance.
I don't see it. I'm a Cardinals fan and watched many games from Montreal each season. Mexico City and Havana would have the support and the climate.
Per capita HOUSEHOLD income in Mexico City was $2718 in 2016. There would be support, but ticket prices would need to be a fraction of prices in the US or Canada. TV revenue would also be small - again, lower income levels means less revenue for the sports teams.
Look, when Montreal had a MLB team they supported it reasonably well until they got a new owner who looted the franchise, sold off or traded all the decent players, and relied on revenue sharing. Mexico City would be worse off - even with great attendance they wouldn't make the revenue of a poorly attended team in the US or Canada, and there's little reason to think that there would be great attendance over 81 games a year. When push comes to shove, the owners wouldn't approve a move to Mexico City, since they know it would be a basket case that they would be supporting with shared revenue, without getting money back. Montreal at least is plausible.
In terms of viability, what would make the most sense is either northern New Jersey or Brooklyn, but the Yankees and Mets would fight those tooth and nail.
Mexico City has a population of 9 million. Its metropolitan area has just over 21 million. There would be enough financial support. Far better than many MLB cities today.
At that average household income level? Doubtful. Amazingly unrealistic, actually. Mexico city is big, but much of it is very poor. And the most popular sport by far is soccer - and ticket prices for that are low - good tickets for Mexico City soccer matches average around 200 pesos, except for elite games. That's about $10-11. In the doubtful circumstance they could sustainably sell 3 million tickets a year - that would pay for 1 top contract, or a couple of mid-range ones. And of course, most tickets are less than that. TV rights are much lower, too. They would be a basket case. Even with late Expo attendance Montreal would make more money - and a well run Montreal team would make many times what Mexico City would in the long run. Don't confuse attendance at once a year two-game series with what can be sustained - if that were realistic, then there would be a NFL division in Britain.
So for MLB to succeed, they would need very good attendance despite ticket prices being very expensive by local standards, especially for 81 home games, not an occasional novelty event. Not realistic in the least. Montreal would be more realistic. Brooklyn, if it could be forced through, would be even more realistic.
Only like 16 weeks until Yankees/Dodgers World Series.
Gonna be great!
Gonna be great!
Actually the baseball commissioner has recently named both Mexico City and Montreal as possible future expansion sites. Charlotte is mentioned too.
https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/...b-commissioner-would-like-to-get-to-32-teams/
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Expansion talk always name unrealistic spots so that areas they actually want to expand to feel pressured to ante up more. The per capita income around Mexico City is just too damn low to support even a below average revenue MLB team. And teams aren't going to want all of Mexican TV revenue to go to them as local broadcasting, AND give them a cut of US TV revenue too, plus all the other revenue sharing.
I don't know guys, what is up with all these people who are getting beaned by foul balls? When someone was hit in the 70's, it was very unique and pretty rare. I can't help but think that these people are doing other things than watching the game. Playing with cell phones maybe?