OT: Thoughts on 2 cities sharing a sports team?

[nelsonmuntz]

Baseball is 5-10 years away from contraction. I suspect the Players Union would be willing to try two cities sharing a team vs. Plan B.

Tampa Bay is drawing smaller crowds than UConn football. Anyone in that front office or the MLB office not thinking outside the box is the one with bad ideas. Splitting cities is not a terrible idea, because it cuts the supply of tickets in half in each city, while adding a second metro area population to the demand side.

The dodgiest part of the equation is getting a city to build a new stadium for a franchise on life support. I don't see why either Tampa Bay or Montreal would do that.

 

[UconnU]

I’m not sure Tampa is a pro sports city. I went to a Bucs Saints game a while back and there were probably as many Saints fans as Bucs fans. The guy directly in front of me was wearing a Chase Daniel Saints jersey which still cracks me up when I think about it

Confusing to me that the area can’t support pro teams. That’s a pretty densely populated large area. 4.2 million people live in Tampa-St. Pete metro then 80 miles away you have another 2.5 million in the Orlando metro. And they’re like the type of people you would want too. Upper middle class, retirees. People with time and money. Strange. Maybe it’s just because many of the people are transplants and already have other favorite teams?

 

[Robertelamin]

St Pete is right by Tampa Bay. Could be a solid choice as a third. Tampa/St Pete/Montreal.

They already play in St Pete so maybe Tampa is the third.

 

[Fishy]

Governor Rowland always called Waterbury the center of the universe. I feel like the center of the universe deserves a third of a MLB team.

Air Canada flies directly from Bradley to Montreal.

This is a no brainer.

 

[Chin Diesel]

They already play in St Pete so maybe Tampa is the third.

Why would a team called Tampa Bay play in St. Pete? Makes no sense.

 

[Fishy]

Why would a team called Tampa Bay play in St. Pete? Makes no sense.

The Tampetetreal Rays.

Unlock your mind.

 

[David 76]

Why would a team from NY play in Jersey?

 

[CCSUblue]

Why would a team called Tampa Bay play in St. Pete? Makes no sense.

Thats like asking why would two football teams called "New York" play in New Jersey. Or why would a team from San Francisco play in Santa Clara.

Lots of professional franchises play in smaller cities next to or near their namesake because the real estate is cheaper.

If the Ray's were going to get a new stadium in Florida they should be looking at Lakeland or some where else between Tampa and Orlando.

 

[Danzz]

Thats like asking why would two football teams called "New York" play in New Jersey. Or why would a team from San Francisco play in Santa Clara.

Lots of professional franchises play in smaller cities next to or near their namesake because the real estate is cheaper.

If the Ray's were going to get a new stadium in Florida they should be looking at Lakeland or some where else between Tampa and Orlando.

The Marlins don't draw well either. The Rays should look at markets in other states: Charlotte NC etc,

 

[GridironGR8]

Just move the team to Montreal. With a new 35,000 seat stadium and sharing an AL division with the Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays, I really don't believe attendance will be a huge problem.

 

[CCSUblue]

The Marlins don't draw well either. The Rays should look at markets in other states: Charlotte NC etc,

Agreed, Florida is terrible for baseball and the team should be moved to a better market. But if they are going to stay, being between Tampa and Orlando would be beneficial. And as for Miami, if they built in Lauderdale, I believe attendance would be higher. Would make it easier for fans from West Palm to get to games. These Florida teams need to do a better job of positioning themselves at the center of population centers, or between them as opposed to at a pole.

 

[businesslawyer]

Why would a team called Tampa Bay play in St. Pete? Makes no sense.

Do I need to explain the difference between a city and a body of water that various municipalities border on? This isn't so difficult.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Just move the team to Montreal. With a new 35,000 seat stadium and sharing an AL division with the Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays, I really don't believe attendance will be a huge problem.

Move them to Montreal and rename the team Seasoning.

 

[Guapo]

Yeah this is weird and I assume this is just a negotiation tactic. Whichever city offers the better stadium deal will get the team.

 

[Adios]

I'd say Rays are using this as leverage to either get a new stadium in the Tampa area or be let out of the lease and move elsewhere. Make sure to get a stadium with marble pillars all around it.

 

[Guapo]

Yeah this is weird and I assume this is just a negotiation tactic. Whichever city offers the better stadium deal will get the team.

I'd say Rays are using this as leverage to either get a new stadium in the Tampa area or be let out of the lease and move elsewhere. Make sure to get a stadium with marble pillars all around it.

#greatminds

 

[jayfromfla]

Confusing to me that the area can’t support pro teams. That’s a pretty densely populated large area. 4.2 million people live in Tampa-St. Pete metro then 80 miles away you have another 2.5 million in the Orlando metro. And they’re like the type of people you would want too. Upper middle class, retirees. People with time and money. Strange. Maybe it’s just because many of the people are transplants and already have other favorite teams?

because the summer months population is less than 1/4 of the winter months. only Yankees and red sox draw more than 20000 here.

 

[Dogdeacon]

I guess I'm in the minority in thinking this is interesting out of the box thinking. No one wants to go to a game in FLA in the summer or Canada in the 'spring', so this fixes two obvious problems. Playoffs though might be where the rubber meets the road to highlight why it is a half-baked idea.

I hardly think players renting apartments or tax concerns are the biggest or insurmountable issues and even if they are problems why on earth would fans that aren't in one of the two cities care? More than half of professional athletes live in two different places, guess what - if you PAY more you can rent anything for any damn time period you want. From an outsider perspective this is simply more interesting to me than an irrelevant one city team - even if it fails it'd be entertaining 'content' to see them try.

 

[HooperScooper]

I was listening to a sports radio talk show this morning and they had John Taylor from SI (national baseball writer) on to discuss this and he brought up some good points about this being a logistical nightmare for players and team employees that I never thought of.

You'd be asking team employees to have 2 places to live, in 2 different countries, and for most team employees this would be cost prohibitive. Then you'd be asking players to have 2 different places to live and it would make it very difficult on players who have families. Plus it would probably be a big negative on trying to get free agents to sign with the team.

It's just a dumb idea. The only reason it's even being discussed is that the Rays have an agreement with the city of St. Petersburg to play in Tropicana field through the 2028 season. This sharing idea is only a way to partially get around that and then after 2028 they could move to the 2nd city.

Tropicana Field is a dump. But it will always have a special place in my heart for 1999.

 

[Pudge]

THE GREAT THING ABOUT SOCIALISM IS ...

Montreal is a wonderful place to be in the Summer. Socialist Montreal municipal and Quebec provincial know how to spend money for parties and festivals. If you haven't gone ... you should. Jazz Festival & Formula One & Laugh Festival ... and on & on.

Point Two? Two Empty stadiums. I have gone to a ballgame in Olympic Stadium - a concrete mausoleum. The worst baseball experience of my life. And a Dome in St Pete ... also bad I am sure.

But, a brand new stadium - with LOTS of Provincial/Govt money (read Graft) - and Montreal is in - IMHO.

I lived in Montreal (with a leg in upstate) from 2005-2008; have done business there since about 1997.

 

[FartMan69]

0% chance of this happening but pretty much 100% chance MLB is throwing this out there to ease the eventual move to Montreal. Tampa or St Pete isn't going to build a stadium for a full time franchise let alone a part time one partly thanks to the Marlins fleecing the city of Miami. Montreal on the other hand will build a stadium and if its an AL east team will draw much better than they did previously.

 

[FartMan69]

Baseball is 5-10 years away from contraction. I suspect the Players Union would be willing to try two cities sharing a team vs. Plan B.

Tampa Bay is drawing smaller crowds than UConn football. Anyone in that front office or the MLB office not thinking outside the box is the one with bad ideas. Splitting cities is not a terrible idea, because it cuts the supply of tickets in half in each city, while adding a second metro area population to the demand side.

The dodgiest part of the equation is getting a city to build a new stadium for a franchise on life support. I don't see why either Tampa Bay or Montreal would do that.

Bold statement seeing how they're already discussing expansion and no major league in the history of leagues has ever contracted. Be less wrong sometime would ya?

 

[Pudge]

I was listening to a sports radio talk show this morning and they had John Taylor from SI (national baseball writer) on to discuss this and he brought up some good points about this being a logistical nightmare for players and team employees that I never thought of.

You'd be asking team employees to have 2 places to live, in 2 different countries, and for most team employees this would be cost prohibitive. Then you'd be asking players to have 2 different places to live and it would make it very difficult on players who have families. Plus it would probably be a big negative on trying to get free agents to sign with the team.

It's just a dumb idea. The only reason it's even being discussed is that the Rays have an agreement with the city of St. Petersburg to play in Tropicana field through the 2028 season. This sharing idea is only a way to partially get around that and then after 2028 they could move to the 2nd city.

Tropicana Field is a dump. But it will always have a special place in my heart for 1999.

Most Montrealers already have multiple places to live. The Professional class

I haven’t met many who didn’t have a City house/condo & a Country place. (Lakes + mountains nearby - often 45 minutes away). And then Florida? There are communities between Miami and West Palm Beach that are stacked with QC. They think this way.

If the Bronfman money marries the Owner of Tampa Rays ... then I can see Montreal building a baseball only Stadium of modern gargantuan features far faster than most anyone else.

 

[dennismenace]

Confusing to me that the area can’t support pro teams. That’s a pretty densely populated large area. 4.2 million people live in Tampa-St. Pete metro then 80 miles away you have another 2.5 million in the Orlando metro. And they’re like the type of people you would want too. Upper middle class, retirees. People with time and money. Strange. Maybe it’s just because many of the people are transplants and already have other favorite teams?

Very Insightful. Lifetime Boston, NY (Yankees and Mets) and God knows where else suddenly change to Ray fans? Hardly. Fla. is football country; looks like this whole experiment including Miami has been a flop for MLB. I wonder how YES and other cities teams like Boston, Chicago etc. are doing on cable in Fla.

 

[ucp990411]

Governor Rowland always called Waterbury the center of the universe. I feel like the center of the universe deserves a third of a MLB team.

Now that is someone worth listening to. Did he mean waterbury, VT? My hometown.