The Florida Marlins will visit Portland, Oregon Monday as they look for a new home.
Upon hearing of Florida’s relocation interest a month ago, baseball proponents in Portland sent the team a copy of the presentation they made to Major League Baseball during the Expos’ relocation process.
Outlined in those materials is a finance plan that has a much greater gap than the Marlins face in Florida but one that proponents hope will serve as a starting point for serious negotiations down the road, with the Marlins, the Oakland Athletics or some other franchise.
I’ve been to one game in Portland. It was on a Monday night, and the game was very poorly attended. The current stadium was recently renovated, and some nice astethics, and was easy to reach by public transportation. The game was very exciting, but despite all that only a handful of people showed.
There are a lot of minor league cities that do better than Portland. Why not put a team in Louisville, KY? They’ve had great attendance for years.
As someone who may be moving to Louisville in the next year, I heartily endorse such a move.
Nashville may be another good place for a major league team.
I’ve always wanted a team called the Louisville Sluggers…
I still think contraction is going to be an option, especially if the Nationals or Twins don’t get their stadium act in gear. Remember, per the CBA they don’t need the MLBPA approval and they can say they’re contracting two teams without naming them at the time.
Nate, I don’t think it’ll actually happen, instead it’ll be used for leverage. Remember, the rest of the owners would have to buy out these teams, and I don’t think the odds are that high that Angelos, Pohlad, the McCourts, and other similar owners will want to spend the money to do so.
AAA attendance means nothing, in regards to major league league attendance. The AAA team in Denver never drew at all, and the Rockies set records. Vegas is by far the best option, and I doubt their minor league team draws at all either.
NYC is where they should go. Putting 3-4 teams there will even out the advantage the Yankees have.
You know Miami is a fairly sizeable city with a large South American population that should love baseball. They should look at relocating there.
Contraction will never happen as much as I really believe there are 4 to 5 teams too many in MLB. It’s important for the Nats to get a stadium built so that MLB can sell the team for more money. If the team is well run it will be profitable with or without a stadium. By contracting two teams the owners would be flushing nearly a billion dollars down the drain. That just doesn’t happen. It’s a bluff and it’s always been a bluff.
Just like Portland is a bluff. The only way the Marlins would move is if a city pays for a nice new stadium that drives up the Marlins’ price and then Loria sells the team.
how about los angeles? they need 3 teams
AAA team in Denver never drew at all
Are you sure about that? This link shows Denver Bears attendance varying from 300K to 550K. According to minor league stats presented here, that would put them in the middle of the International League and in the upper half of the Pacific Coast League.
I’ve always wondered why the Marlins don’t draw more. Before the Marlins were bron I always considered Miami to be the obvious choice for an expansion or relocated team. You’d think the demographics of the area would be great for baseball. Maybe for the Marlins it really is just the crummy stadium. Plus, I dunno how I’d feel about the team selling off its World Series winners, even if it did make economic sense.
I’ve gotta think Portland isn’t gonna happen. The only thing they have in their favor is their population and the fact that there’s only one major pro sports team there now. But I have a hard time thinking that Portlanders would support a major league team and a harder time thinking they’d get a publicly funded stadium.
Las Vegas or a number of Southern cities like Nashville, Louisville, Charlotte, or Norfolk would make more sense. How do the Jazz or the AAA team in Salt Lake City draw in Utah?
Hmm, I just looked at those minor league attendance figures. What are the South Georgia Waves doing to drive customers away? Interesting that Las Vegas, so often touted as a prime spot for an MLB team, is toward the bottom of its league.
Also, it’s odd how in North Carolina, Charlotte is outsold not only by Durham, but also by Class-A Wilmington.
I lived in Portland from 90-93, the Beavers games weren’t well attended then, either. Portlanders tend to be the outdoorsy active types, less likely to sit at a game (except the wet winter, when they’ll go to TrailBlazer games). I just don’t think Portland has a population to sustain a major league team, especially with Seattle not that far away, though a good marketing campaign might work. I’m really surprised that baseball has basically failed in Florida.
I think Mexico is the way to go. Mexico has produced quality mlb players. i remember monterrey was touted as a possible location for the expos. it would also help the international appeal of mlb. the only thing i dont know about is how much money a stadium in mexico would make…
if not mexico my 2nd choice would be san jaun, PR. They have a great (although small) stadium there and the place went nuts when the expos played games there a few years ago. baseball is huge in PR. think Cuba huge. There are also a lot of very rich (and a lot of poor) people in the san juan area so charging more for tix would offset some of the cost of not getting as many people into the stadium.