Given the recent stadium snafus in Fremont and (maybe) in Miami, I've been musing about what, if any, relocation options teams have. The first cities that usually spring to mind are Portland, Las Vegas, and Charlotte, but I'll admit that the only reason they spring to mind is because I've heard other people mention Portland, Las Vegas, and Charlotte and I'm prone to parroting stuff other people say when I'm too lazy to think about it. Caw, caw, Craigy wants a cracker.
The Biz of Baseball's Maury Brown is no mere parrot, however, and he has ranked the top 10 markets for relocation and expansion, including the methodology, data, and pros and cons of all ten cities listed.
My initial thought: wow, there really aren't any good options, are there? Even if you set aside all of the territorial rights business -- which disqualifies many of the cities as viable options on Maury's list -- just about every one of the cities presents a less than ideal market for Major League Baseball.
On the one hand that's bad because, hey, this stuff is fun to talk about, and it would be more fun if there were some legitimate relocation targets. On the other hand, the relative dearth of good options should force current host cities to hold a firm line when teams come around with their hat in hand looking for upgrades or replacements for their current digs, right?
Dreaming of course.
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you know i was about to fire off a response without reading maury's post saying that people often overlook the notion o tripling up in the nyc metro area, simply because it is usually 3 or 4 or 10 times bigger than other markets with franchises. but of course, as you pointed out, maury is no dope. excellent post on the biz of baseball, thats good stuff.
also - since the markets are inreasingly thought of as regional, i think the south is under-represented. besides florida and texas, it,s pretty much just the braves. considering how much baseball is played in the south and the success other leagues have had expanding into college football territory. charlotte and the hampton roads area got mentioned but what about raleigh-durham, nashville, memphis, new orleans or even an alabama or mississippi team? you may be losig more coporate sponsors as you go down that list i hastily put together but surely the carolinas as a whole have enough money to support a mlb team?
It's makes you wonder how many markets that teams are in now are bad as well. Obviously, Miami, Oakland, and Tampa (even though people showed up the other night) aren't particularly good. I mean, you need essentially 28 really good cities for this. Louisville's the 16th largest city, and I doubt it's any good.
I live in Virginia Beach. I'd love a team in Norfolk, but the Nats going to DC killed this area's chances I think.
For what its worth, there are 3 other Fortune 1000 companies here (Smithfield Foods, Dollar Tree, and Amerigroup). Smithfield I think had tentatively agreed to sponsor a stadium back when we were trying for the Expos. (talk about pork barrel spending . . . .) I actually think this area would do well with an NBA team, though.
As I said over there, Boston!
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