Expos' failure due to MLB's economic imbalance

[savafan]

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/a.../08/c4230.html

OTTAWA, July 8, 2011 /CNW/ - Montreal has the necessary market conditions in place today to be the home of a Major League Baseball franchise: it is both large enough and wealthy enough, and it has a sound corporate presence. In addition, the strong Canadian dollar would make a Major League Baseball team more competitive with U.S. franchises — in contrast to the weaker loonie that prevailed when the Montreal Expos departed for Washington in 2004.

But Major League Baseball (MLB) has the least level-playing field of the major North American professional sports leagues, which makes the long-term prospects suspect for any franchise to be successful in Montreal, according to The Future of Major League Baseball in Canada (http://www.conferenceboard.ca/report...riefing-6.aspx), The Conference Board of Canada's latest briefing in its Playing in the Big Leagues series.

More:

http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/lo...b=MontrealHome

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/baseball/st...mlb-expos.html

[bucksfan2]

League competitive conditions, however, have changed little since the Expos' demise. Previous publications in this Conference Board series, Competitive Conditions in Pro Sports Leagues and Pro League Competitive Conditions and How the NHL Stacks Up have concluded that the playing field in Major League Baseball is the least-level of the four major North American sports. The lack of a hard cap on player salaries and massive differences in revenue (including attendance, sale of broadcasting rights, merchandise and other income) among franchises make consistent winning very difficult for all but a handful of rich teams.

You don't say!

[KronoRed]

They also have a stadium that makes the Tropicana dome look like a palace.

[CySeymour]

Didn't the Expos also have major attendance problems?

[savafan]

Didn't the Expos also have major attendance problems?

I can't say for certain, but I think that only started after the 1994 strike.

[klw]

I went to a midseason game at the big-O which was sold out. It was versus the Dodgers and the atmosphere was electric. The Expos were in first and didn't have a problem drawing. After the strike, they started selling off players. Attendance dropped. More sell offs. Loria came on and killed whatever love there was of the franchise. It was still a great place to see a game. Almost all 600 people that were there were young kids having a fun night. You could drive up, park under the stadium for $6, buy a bleacher seat for $4 and then move pretty much anywhere in the stadium except for the first few rows around the plate. If you wanted to sit right behind the dugouts you could shell out $25 and sit a couple rows back in an assigned seat. You could use American money and they would give you canadian dollars back. I remember once a friend I was with went for a beer and came back all happy. He said "I gave them $20 American and they gave me this beer, this huge hot dog, and $24 back!" you had to love that exchange rate. I miss not being able to get up to games. Now the closest team is Boston which is 3+ hours drive, then the T for 1/2 hour. The cheapest seat would still be more expensive than my whole day in Montreal.

[Chip R]

I can't say for certain, but I think that only started after the 1994 strike.

With the exception of a few years they were never a huge draw.

[Slyder]

Jeffrey Loria killed baseball in Montreal when he went cheap and begged baseball for a bailout (the Florida Marlins).

[RedsManRick]

Jeffrey Loria killed baseball in Montreal when he went cheap and begged baseball for a bailout (the Florida Marlins).

And when he decided that the best way to fix the lack of money for a new stadium was to tell fans not to attend games. And thought the cure for low attendance was to take the games off of TV.

[KronoRed]

I can't say for certain, but I think that only started after the 1994 strike.

They drew well in the early 80's but even a 94 win season in 93 ranked them 13th in the NL.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/te...N/attend.shtml.

Loria definatly delivered the killing blow but they were in trouble for a long time before, I blame a terrible Mascot.

[cincinnati chili]

Baseball easily could have been viable in Montreal with better ownership, some better luck, and if Selig would have allowed an ownership group to privately finance a stadium (as happened in in San Francisco, much to his dismay). I realize Montreal is a hockey town but it has a huge metro area of 4 million people, plenty of whom would be willing to support a baseball team not run by carpetbaggers. It's also a great place to be outside in the summer time so an open air or retractable dome location is a must.

[redsmetz]

Is the title to the thread a bit of a misnomer? It seems from the excerpt shown that those studying returning baseball to Montreal are suggesting that a future team would struggle with baseball as it is presently structured. Am I misunderstanding the gist of it?

[savafan]

http://montrealbaseballproject.com.i...g/Study_EN.pdf

Feasibility study says Montreal is a viable Major League Baseball market

The Tampa Bay Rays went 92-71, clinched a wild card playoff spot, and finished dead last in baseball in home attendance: http://espn.go.com/mlb/attendance

If you move the Rays to Montreal, create a northeast rivalry with the Yankees and Red Sox, as well as an inter-Canada rivalry with the Blue Jays, and watch the team become one of the best and most profitable in baseball. Seems to make sense.

[BluegrassRedleg]

I thought Montreal fans pretty much said "Screw baseball" for eternity after the strike robbed them of an amazing season. I feel like that team would have had a great chance to win it all.

[KronoRed]

Montreal didn't support their team either with the exception of a 5 year period out of 35, it's not all Bud and Loria's fault they cratered.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vau...7080/index.htm