Which city is next?

If you add Vancouver, BC to the list, I'll vote for it.

Another city might be the Portland, Oregon area.

Vancouver or Portland would need one of those high dollar retractable roof stadiums, too many rain-outs, otherwise. I'd like to see San Antonio or Raleigh-Durham get a franchise, but am afraid the corporate support is not there anymore. Oklahoma City was once on a roll & looked promising. Believe the local fan support for the RedHawks dropped off quite a bit with their change last season to Astro's ownership.

Cleveland. Currently, they only have a minor league team.

Queens, NY, for the same reason as above

How about San Juan, Puerto Rico? I bet they'd have a pretty crazy fan base.

I forgot about Puerto Rico. It's a more logical choice than Tokyo or Mexico City. The problem with San Juan and many of the cities on the list, do they have the corporate base to support luxury boxes, the driving force behind stadiums?

I missed the largest metro area without a team. It's ranked 13th with a population of 4.2M ... Riverside-San Bernadino-Ontario.

Other population information on metro areas in the poll ...

Columbus, Charlotte and Indianapolis are within 100K in population around the 1.8M mark. Las Vegas is larger at 1.9M

Portland has a 2.2M population. I wasn't sure they would be a choice relative to their proximity to Seattle and refusal to build a basketball arena. I didn't include Vancouver due to it's proximity to Seattle.

quote:

Originally posted by Three Bagger:

"Another city might be the Portland, Oregon area."

Agreed. When the Expos moved to D.C. and became the Nationals, Portland made a strong push and was a legitimate contender. The Mariners consider Portland (and Vancouver) part of their "territory" and would probably strongly object, but then again so did Peter Angelos and the Orioles when the Nats moved to D.C. and they still found a way to get it done.

I also agree with Krakatoa that Vancouver, B.C. is a viable option - probably more so than Portland in some ways (a bigger town). And I disagree that a roof is a must. There will definitely be some rainouts in April, and some in May, but the weather in the northwest is very nice for the most part in the northwest from about mid-May most of the way through October. And the rain here is more "misty" than the kind of rain many of you experience. I think a lot of games would end up being played, even if not under ideal conditions.

Of course, if there is the money and the stomach for a retractable-roofed stadium, I can say they are AWESOME.

I voted for Raleigh-Durham from the list, but there are many good choices. I just see that area as one that has grown pretty rapidly, and has a long history of support for professional (and college) baseball.....

What about Edmonton or Calgary? I don't know much about those places, but that's a vast prairieland out there that might really dig having their own ballclub.

I like the Puerto Rico idea. Would a team in Honolulu draw?

For a long time there was a AAA team in Honolulu, the Islanders. When the cost of jet fuel rose i became cost prohibitive to have a team there.

I voted for New Orleans as it appears to be the market most able to support a team of the ones listed. Vegas is an interesting choice, but with baseball's history of gambling issues, I would think they will wait until other options exaust.

Buffalo is just too cold unless they can build a dome.

Indianapolis is an interesting and viable choice, as is Orlando (FL might be getting watered down for TV revenue with the Marlins and Rays both doing better), Sacramento and Raligh-Durham (or some other NC locale).

I don't see Tokyo as viable because of the travel, although if MLB is willing to have odd numbers of teams in their leagues, than anything is possible.

Mexico City and Puerto Rico are probably the next most viable options for international expansion. I also wonder about Santo Domingo in the DR or other Latin American locations. The travel isn't "that bad" to go to the Carribean. Lots of kids are coming from there. Do they have the infrastructure and ability to generate the necessary revenue to support a team? I'm not an economist so I don't know, but I wouldn't want to be a road team playing there. I see the Carribean as more viable than Montreal (been there / done that, didn't work out).

quote:

Originally posted by J H:
Queens, NY, for the same reason as above

Hahahahaha Good one!

If I owned the Rays I would move them to Orlando. I'd want to cash in on making my team part of the Disney experience. Plus being more in the middle of the northern part of the state might make the team more assessible to more potential fans. Picture a stadium like SkyDome/Rogers Centre with hotel suites built right into the outfield.

Charlotte would be my choice for starting a team or a big move. It's a growing area with a financial corporate base. Someone has to lease the suites. That's where the money is.

Norfolk, VA was a finalist for the relocating Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals). None of the others you mentioned were even on the list.

most of these cities in the USA have minor league teams there

I have often wondered why San Antonio does not have an MLB team. I'm sure there is a reason.
Nontheless: Over 2 million in the metropolitan area, only one big league franchise (Spurs), substantial Hispanic population, good baseball country, good weather as long as you can handle 100+. Could also draw people from San Marcos and Austin if a stadium was built on the north side of town, heck, it's not hard to get downtown there.

Two thoughts; first I saw some market research that concluded that currently the best place to add a new MLB team is NYC. Second, what about Las Vegas?

quote:

Originally posted by 3rdgenerationnation:
Two thoughts; first I saw some market research that concluded that currently the best place to add a new MLB team is NYC. Second, what about Las Vegas?

The NHL has three teams in NY. What about Riverside-San Bernadino? It's the same situation? Huge population. I think MLB has issues with Las Vegas and gambling.

With the number of teams already in MLB and the cost of operating a team, I believe corporate base and community income become as much of an issue as population. Otherwise El Paso-Juarez would be a choice.

quote:

Originally posted by redbird5:
Norfolk, VA was a finalist for the relocating Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals). None of the others you mentioned were even on the list.

I noticed the Tidewater area was just below the the population of Columbus, Charlotte and Indianapolis. For the most part I thought of cities with other professional sports teams.

After letting in the military on free and discounted passes would there be enough paying customers for a Tidewater team? Is there any kind of corporate base?

We need a major league team in Houston!

quote:

Originally posted by TPM:
...FWIW, Martinez told DK that the best place he ever played was in Montreal, go figure a latin loving that city. He said that fans were the best, any reason why things went bad there, management?

Management and lack of interest from the fans. While the city is/was great, people did not come to the games.


***oops...Sorry TPM. I tried to reply with quotes but instead, I edited your post. I sincerely apologize. I need sleep. redbird5***

Charlotte would be OK, Durham area would put the Bulls out of Business, and we can't have that.

Why not on the Field of Dreams site (which I know was just sold)? Build high speed 'fan trains' going out 50 miles in every cardinal direction to bring 'em in.......and call them the Iowa Black Sox.

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:
I noticed the Tidewater area was just below the the population of Columbus, Charlotte and Indianapolis. For the most part I thought of cities with other professional sports teams.

After letting in the military on free and discounted passes would there be enough paying customers for a Tidewater team? Is there any kind of corporate base?

I was part of the group trying to get the Expos here. We had very good backing in the last campaign and we were creative in our ticket packages. Richmond is more of a corporate base but the interest from those in Richmond was great.

Our population swells during the summer months with tourists and, based on our projections, we can capture some of those dollars.

The Hampton Roads area, which consists of 7 cities (Norfolk, Va Beach, Chesapeake, etc) is a top 40 media market and can support an MLB team.