Role of the state

[yul_love_mtl]

Don't worry baseball will be back in Montreal. People need to realize it will take some time but that's fine. One could argue the expos were doomed from the start. Look at Minneapolis-St Paul, they lost their hockey team (nearly lost their baseball team too) because the team wasn't prospering. A few years later they've got a team and have the best fan base out of the American hockey teams. Several people say that the owner of the NorthStars did the best thing for the market by shipping the team out. Who knows 20 years from know baseball may be back in DOWNTOWN Montreal and that franchise may be considered one of the most successful in MLB. I for one regret having kept the expos for so long. Had we got rid of them, we'd be closer to an MLB team. There's deep roots in the city, that won't go away. Like I've said, when I become a Billionaire, I will make sure Montreal is back in the majors.

 

Baseball has failed :

 

in Washington 3 times

in New York (dodgers, giants)

in Milwaukee

in Kansas City

in Seattle

etc.

 

Now tell me which of those cities doesn't have a team?

 

BTW Baseball will also fail in Miami, just like hockey.

[peekay]

LOL Believer fever!!!

There will be no more land left in the downtown area!

[Habsfan]

Don't worry baseball will be back in Montreal. People need to realize it will take some time but that's fine. One could argue the expos were doomed from the start. Look at Minneapolis-St Paul, they lost their hockey team (nearly lost their baseball team too) because the team wasn't prospering. A few years later they've got a team and have the best fan base out of the American hockey teams. Several people say that the owner of the NorthStars did the best thing for the market by shipping the team out. Who knows 20 years from know baseball may be back in DOWNTOWN Montreal and that franchise may be considered one of the most successful in MLB. I for one regret having kept the expos for so long. Had we got rid of them, we'd be closer to an MLB team. There's deep roots in the city, that won't go away. Like I've said, when I become a Billionaire, I will make sure Montreal is back in the majors.

 

Baseball has failed :

 

in Washington 3 times

in New York (dodgers, giants)

in Milwaukee

in Kansas City

in Seattle

etc.

 

Now tell me which of those cities doesn't have a team?

 

BTW Baseball will also fail in Miami, just like hockey.

 

The big difference is that Montreal is in Canada whereas all the cities you mentionned are in the USA.

 

AS long as Selig is at the head of MLB, you can bet that Baseball won't be back in this city!

 

Also, unless some really filthy stinking rich Billionnaire decides to build a Baseball stadium in this city, nobody will. Certainly not a billionnaire from this province! It would have to be somebody from outside the province.

 

The Expos leaving broke my heart, but i'm a realist by nature and I don't think we'll be seeing MLB Baseball in Montreal anytime soon. There are talks that Montreal may get a CAN-AM team soon. I for one am not interested, and I'm sure most Montrealers feel the same. Once you've tasted major league Baseball, minor leagues just don't cut it anymore.

 

As long as there are people who have to wait 10 hours to see a doctor in our emergency rooms, you can bet your next paycheck that the Provincial gov't will not help out!

 

Just for the hell of it...what would it cost to bring Baseball back to this city? What is the average purchase price of an MLB team?

 

I checked out Forbes and came up with an average price for a MLB team(2007) and it would be in the neighborhood of 350 to 400 million$.

 

Once you've purchased a team, you've got to build a ball park. And the latest figures for new ball parks vary between 400million$ and 900 million$(The new Yankee stadium).

 

Let's say that we would build a cozy little stadium close to downtown. Approx 40,000 seats and at a cost of 350 million$.

 

WE are looking at a start-up cost of 750 million$. Then you'd have to think that you would be spending approx 75 million$ per year in salaries(just to keep the team competitive). Nobody in this province has that kind of cash...actually, i should re-phrase that. Nobody in this province is willing to spend that kind of money!

[yul_love_mtl]

^ yes it'd definitely cost a lot of money. Like I said I'm not keeping my head under water for this to happen. I may be optimistic but I'm also realistic. That means I know there's quite a few things which need to happen. All I'm saying is the landscape of this province could be different 10 years from now. People (like you and me) are still bitter about what happened to the expos and there's enough blame to go around. This is exactly why I really think CAN-AM is a STUPID idea, really it's an insult. I'd rather watch local minor baseball.

 

Well anyways, it's a moot point. If MLB is back in Montreal, great. If not we can think about all the memories (good and bad) and how we let one get away. Montreal, Bud, Loria, MLB, we all blew it! The expos were the coolest team and there will never be a team as near and dear to my heart!