Devil Rays moving to Montreal ?

[bullpen45]

a TV station here in Montreal talked yesterday about the possibility that the Tampa Bay Devil Rays could move to Montreal.
apparently the team is losing money , and the owner could be interested in moving them to Montreal ( with a new downtown stadium ) .
With Montreal in the same division as the Yankees,Red Sox and Blue Jays interest would definatly be there and attendance could not be worst then in Tampa Bay .
I thought it mase sense ...
I still don't believe that it will actually happen ( MLB would look foolish to do that ) . But now that the MLB as approved the moving of a team because of low attendance and revenue small maket city ( Pittsburgh,Tampa , Kansas city ) could be in problem .
what do you guys think about all that ?

[gritzblitz56]

Re: Devil Rays moving to Montreal ?

No way will that ever happen. Montreal had its chance, that team had plenty of great players over the years and they couldnt draw flies in what was without a doubt the worst stadium in baseball. The only reason anyone in Montreal is even thinking about baseball right now is because there is no hockey.

Tampa, on the other hand, has the potential to be a great sports town. The Bucs have been competitive for the last several years and the D-rays have lots of good, young players like Huff and Crawford. They also have a very good manager in Lou Pinella. What is killing them financially is that abyssmal dome that they have to play in. They desperately need a new ballpark. I understand the need for a dome in Seattle or Minnesota, but Tampa. WTF?

[NakaNaka]

Re: Devil Rays moving to Montreal ?

Gritz - the original thinking was that it's so damn hot down in Tampa in July that fans wouldn't want to come to the ballpark and sit in 100+ degree weather. What they need is a retractable roof stadium, that seems open (big windows like in some of the other parks) so that when it gets way too hot, they can close the roof. Keep it open for 90% of games.

[gritzblitz56]

Re: Devil Rays moving to Montreal ?

Gritz - the original thinking was that it's so damn hot down in Tampa in July that fans wouldn't want to come to the ballpark and sit in 100+ degree weather. What they need is a retractable roof stadium, that seems open (big windows like in some of the other parks) so that when it gets way too hot, they can close the roof. Keep it open for 90% of games.

Yeah, I know it can get hot, but if Atlanta and Miami can have open air stadiums, why cant Tampa? I gets pretty damn hot in Atlanta in July too. Plus Tampa has an advantage of a breeze coming off of the water. An open air stadium along the bay, like 3com in SF, would be nice.

[mickj]

Re: Devil Rays moving to Montreal ?

a TV station here in Montreal talked yesterday about the possibility that the Tampa Bay Devil Rays could move to Montreal.
apparently the team is losing money , and the owner could be interested in moving them to Montreal ( with a new downtown stadium ) .
With Montreal in the same division as the Yankees,Red Sox and Blue Jays interest would definatly be there and attendance could not be worst then in Tampa Bay .
I thought it mase sense ...
I still don't believe that it will actually happen ( MLB would look foolish to do that ) . But now that the MLB as approved the moving of a team because of low attendance and revenue small maket city ( Pittsburgh,Tampa , Kansas city ) could be in problem .
what do you guys think about all that ?

That's would be odd if they moved to Montreal. I would think Las Vegas would be the next prime candidate for another team to move to.

[glucklich]

Re: Devil Rays moving to Montreal ?

That's would be odd if they moved to Montreal. I would think Las Vegas would be the next prime candidate for another team to move to.

That or San Antonio.

[mvb34]

Re: Devil Rays moving to Montreal ?

That or San Antonio.

MLB would put a team in Mexico City before San Antonio..

[gritzblitz56]

Re: Devil Rays moving to Montreal ?

MLB would put a team in Mexico City before San Antonio..

Whats the difference?

[glucklich]

Re: Devil Rays moving to Montreal ?

MLB would put a team in Mexico City before San Antonio..

Why? I had heard that San Antonio is larger than Dallas. Im not sure if thats true but whether it is or not, there are certainly enough people...and its not just hispanics. Theres an airbase there and a lot of retired military too. Sounds like a good place to me.

http://www.city-data.com/top1.html

http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/848237.html

[gritzblitz56]

Re: Devil Rays moving to Montreal ?

Another thing you have to take into account is per capita income. While Mexico City is very large in terms of population, the vast majority of its citizens are desperately poor. Most barely have enough to buy food, let alone go to a ballgame. It would be almost impossible for a team to survive there financially.

[MK47]

Re: Devil Rays moving to Montreal ?

Tampa isnt even losing money. Their payroll is near 30 million and they get more than 20 million just as freebies from other MLB clubs as part of the revenue sharing plans, figure in the money they make via TV deals and obviously attendance, its actually a rather profitable franchise. According to Forbes, they actually are the 3rd most profitable franchise in baseball. If they are bringing up rumors about a potential move or contraction then you can primarily see it as a pressuring tool to get out of the lease on Tropicana Field and get public financing for a new ballpark.

[3rdAnswer]

Re: Devil Rays moving to Montreal ?

Everybody wants to move everywhere else but Charlotte. We have every team there is to have but a baseball team. I'm getting sick of this.

[SlimKibbles]

Re: Devil Rays moving to Montreal ?

I don't think a move to Montreal is a bad idea, if the ownership is solid and they got a new stadium. Whatever makes MLB even more foolish than they already are, I'm all for it. Montreal actually has a great fan base. From what I read people wanted to like their team, but after years of being screwed by MLB and Expos' owners, I guess people gave up. I don't think Montreal is any different than any other small-market city to be honest, MLB just hosed them more times and the fans basically gave them the one-fingered salute. All you have to do is look at the 1994 Expos. The potential is there for great attendance. I think they did okay in attendance through the 80's. Not sure though. People stopped coming back after they were forced to dismantle their team in '94. I know years of being teased by top prospects coming through the system (i.e. Vlad) only to see them go off to some big market team gets pretty old.

[DGetz]

Re: Devil Rays moving to Montreal ?

I think the only real options would be Charlotte and Potland (OR)

[SPTO]

Re: Devil Rays moving to Montreal ?

This would only work if they can get a new stadium in place as well as stay in the AL East. Montreal always had good attendance against AL East teams when they did interleague games. I bet that this is just wishful thinking on the part of some ppl in Montreal tho.