Les Athlétisme de Montréal or The Vegas Aces?

teddywingman

Looks like Zach Galifianakis
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2009
11,168
a basement on the hill
There needs to be an AL East team in Montreal, whether it's the Rays or another team and the Rays move somewhere else.

It makes no sense that this hasn't already happened.
 

Humphrey

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 3, 2010
3,163
A lot of interesting 4 team divisions could be created if there were 32 teams. For example, you have in the NL the Giants, Dodgers, Padres and Diamondbacks, sort of the Pac 12 of MLB. But wherever you add or move someone, there'd always be a team or two far away from everybody.
 

canderson

Mr. Brightside
SoSH Member
Jul 16, 2005
39,433
Harrisburg, Pa.
What!? Tell me everything.

In a near coincidence, one of the two names the MLS ownerships registered was "Austin Athletic" before deciding on Austin FC.
Nothing new but they’ve had plans for a while in coordination with CenTex counties and SA. Last I heard it would be around Buda to get th SA crowd.
 

Petey Bienel

New Member
Feb 8, 2020
47
Arlington, VA
The difficulty is that Oakland isn't exactly teeming with open space, and the A's are pretty well fenced-in by the Giants' territory rights. It's hard to come up with a big area in Oakland that can house a stadium but is affordable and either has nice development around it or could be developed nicely. Five years ago, the A's had narrowed their search down to basically the only three options in the area: a new stadium near the Coliseum, a stadium at Laney College/Peralta Community College, or the Howard Terminal port area. The Coliseum is in a crappy area with not a lot of development potential, and Laney College students/faculty/administration basically revolted and caused the Peralta trustees to get cold feet on the whole thing. So Howard it is. It's the best of a bunch of not-very-good options. The A's are basically getting NIMBY'd out of Oakland, and their threat to leave is an attempt to force the issue that if they're going to stay, they're going to have to be in *someone's* backyard.
How would places a bit further up on the east side of the bay like Berkeley or even Richmond be as sites? Is there north-south transportation in Oakland? Would that draw from Sacramento, too? While the Howard Terminal site sounds like it'd be difficult due to the active port and some contamination, I would think there might be brownfields in some of the industrial areas. I'd also think they might look to shut down some of the refining or chemical plants up around Richmond if its not inaccessible.
 

YTF

Member
SoSH Member
There needs to be an AL East team in Montreal, whether it's the Rays or another team and the Rays move somewhere else.

It makes no sense that this hasn't already happened.
I know it's been 45 years but Montreal was in financial dire straights after the '76 Olympics. My wife and I happened to be in Montreal once when they were hosting the Sox. We took a tour of Olympic Stadium and surrounding area and at one point we stopped to watch a group of no more than twenty five people outside (including press) who were commemorating the twenty fifth anniversary of the Montreal Games. We were surprised there was such a small turnout and our guide told us that there was a lot of resentment from locals about the games being held there because of the financial albatross they had become for the city. I'm not sure how much of that lingers today, but I'm guessing any team looking to relocate there is going to want public assistance when it comes to building a new stadium.
 

teddywingman

Looks like Zach Galifianakis
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2009
11,168
a basement on the hill
I know it's been 45 years but Montreal was in financial dire straights after the '76 Olympics. My wife and I happened to be in Montreal once when they were hosting the Sox. We took a tour of Olympic Stadium and surrounding area and at one point we stopped to watch a group of no more than twenty five people outside (including press) who were commemorating the twenty fifth anniversary of the Montreal Games. We were surprised there was such a small turnout and our guide told us that there was a lot of resentment from locals about the games being held there because of the financial albatross they had become for the city. I'm not sure how much of that lingers today, but I'm guessing any team looking to relocate there is going to want public assistance when it comes to building a new stadium.
I'm sure that will be the case. My thinking (pre covid and hopefully post covid) is that the amount of Sox and Yankees fans that would travel to Montreal 19 games per year is exponentially higher than it was back then. Ticket prices at Fenway and The Bidet being what they are now, a family might afford a weekend in Montreal for a comparably reasonable value. On top of that you'd have fans/tourists from Toronto.

It would be an entirely different equation than having an NL team, whose closest "rivals" were the Mets, Pirates, and Phillies. Heck, a not insignificant percentage of Sox and MFY fans live closer to Montreal than to Boston and NY.
 
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YTF

Member
SoSH Member
I'm sure that will be the case. My thinking (pre covid and hopefully post covid) is that the amount of Sox and Yankees fans that would travel to Montreal 19 games per year is exponentially higher than it was back then. Ticket prices at Fenway and The Bidet being what they are now, a family might afford a weekend in Montreal for a comparably reasonable value. On top of that you'd have fans/tourists from Toronto.

It would be an entirely different equation than having a NL team, whose closest "rivals" were the Mets, Pirates, and Phillies. Heck, a not insignificant percentage of Sox and MFY fans live closer to Montreal than to Boston and NY.
Though it's been required for a few years now, folks from the states will need a passport to travel to Montreal, but I agree with all of your points.
 

cannonball 1729

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Sep 8, 2005
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The Sticks
How would places a bit further up on the east side of the bay like Berkeley or even Richmond be as sites? Is there north-south transportation in Oakland? Would that draw from Sacramento, too? While the Howard Terminal site sounds like it'd be difficult due to the active port and some contamination, I would think there might be brownfields in some of the industrial areas. I'd also think they might look to shut down some of the refining or chemical plants up around Richmond if its not inaccessible.
Good question. I think the two issues are:

1.) If the A's get too far afield from Oakland, the Giants may invoke their territory rights and tell the A's to pound sand. That's why they're not headed to San Jose. Although the Giants probably wouldn't bother invoking territory rights if the A's head north because...
2.) Most of the population in the Bay Area is south or west of Oakland:



If the A's end up in Richmond or Berkeley, they're over an hour and a half from San Jose and over an hour from Fremont. If that happens, the A's are no longer the closest team to Fremont, and they're a longer drive from San Jose than are the Giants. That's a killer for their attendance (and a boon for the Giants), and even Sacramento's probably not enough to offset that - Sacramento is half the size of San Jose.
 

soxhop411

news aggravator
SoSH Member
Dec 4, 2009
46,277
Sounds like Las Vegas
View: https://mobile.twitter.com/mickakers/status/1398071456613822464

Just wrapped up chatting with A’s President Dave Kaval. Said he’s impressed with what he’s seen over the last week and is excited to return to continue the process. Said the A’s aren’t planning any other trips to other cities
“Athletics president Dave Kaval said Thursday he’s leaving Southern Nevada impressed and excited about returning after meeting with Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman, a trio of Clark County commissioners and a group from Henderson that included City Manager Richard Derrick.
“It was a great first trip,” Kaval said. “Everyone was really welcoming to us. We don’t have all the answers. We’re approaching this and are trying to listen to understand what could work here in Las Vegas for a major league team.”
Kaval and the A’s group, which included owner John Fisher, also met with executives from Caesars Entertainment, Wynn Resorts and MGM Resorts. Kaval met with Golden Knights owner Bill Foley while taking in a Knights playoff game, which drew a lot of attention when he posted an excited tweet about the crowd at T-Mobile Arena
.

https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/baseball/as-leaving-las-vegas-bullish-on-citys-mlb-possibility-2365173/
Much more from his interview at the link above
 

runnels3

Member
SoSH Member
The trip to Vegas was pure bluff. As always this site sheds light on the endless quagmire that is the A's search for a place to play.

https://newballpark.org

But what happens if Howard Terminal gets voted down? That’s a subject that hasn’t been broached much by local or national media. Honestly, who wants to spend much time gazing beyond the edge of a cliff? Given A’s ownership’s recent Vegas trip, Sin City would appear the be in the lead as a candidate for relocation. A’s President Dave Kaval even nixed a planned trip to Portland, desiring to explore Vegas further.

So Vegas is the ace in hand, while Portland is the ace in the hole. Except they’re not. They’re both bluffs at this point. Kaval’s trip to Vegas was exploratory in nature, with no definitive sites or organized funding instruments at hand. Kaval tweeted from a Golden Knights playoff game, which created blowback from fans. There were meetings with Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman, representatives from Henderson (where the Raiders training facility is located), and Summerlin (where the A’s AAA affiliate Aviators play). The three options provided are far from ideal. Let’s break them down.
 
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nattysez

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Sep 30, 2010
8,435
The A's announced a significant hike in ticket prices this week. This is a team with the third-lowest average attendance in the game (these numbers include Toronto, which I suspect means that Oakland is really above only Miami in terms of attendance) that had a pretty rough season after initially looking promising.

It's hard not to conclude that the team is intentionally driving fans away to support an argument that the team should leave Oakland. It's really despicable, particularly since (i) the owner is a billionaire who could easily afford to put more money into the team and (ii) the A's are Oakland's only remaining pro sports team, so the citizenry would embrace the A's if given a chance.
 

barbed wire Bob

crippled by fear
SoSH Member
The A's announced a significant hike in ticket prices this week. This is a team with the third-lowest average attendance in the game (these numbers include Toronto, which I suspect means that Oakland is really above only Miami in terms of attendance) that had a pretty rough season after initially looking promising.

It's hard not to conclude that the team is intentionally driving fans away to support an argument that the team should leave Oakland. It's really despicable, particularly since (i) the owner is a billionaire who could easily afford to put more money into the team and (ii) the A's are Oakland's only remaining pro sports team, so the citizenry would embrace the A's if given a chance.
Is the owner a former Vegas show girl?
44601
 

EvilEmpire

paying for his sins
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Apr 9, 2007
17,184
Washington
The A's announced a significant hike in ticket prices this week. This is a team with the third-lowest average attendance in the game (these numbers include Toronto, which I suspect means that Oakland is really above only Miami in terms of attendance) that had a pretty rough season after initially looking promising.

It's hard not to conclude that the team is intentionally driving fans away to support an argument that the team should leave Oakland. It's really despicable, particularly since (i) the owner is a billionaire who could easily afford to put more money into the team and (ii) the A's are Oakland's only remaining pro sports team, so the citizenry would embrace the A's if given a chance.
It sounds like the citizenry have been given a chance this year and the A's have the third lowest average attendance in the game. Or as you point out, maybe second. How long has attendance been this bad?

I'm not saying the owner is right to raise rates that much, but damn, that park sucks and has for a very long time. They really need to figure that out or move.
 

Ale Xander

Hamilton
SoSH Member
Oct 31, 2013
72,481
Might be able to get away without a dome but it would have to be night games pretty much exclusively, I think.
Sunset as late as 8PM local. Should be fun. It's still ridiculously hot there at 7 in July. They can't put SNB at 11PM ET so should be fun.

A's should move to Portland, OR. Rays should move to Montreal or NC
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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Jan 10, 2004
24,483
The 718
How would places a bit further up on the east side of the bay like Berkeley or even Richmond be as sites? Is there north-south transportation in Oakland? Would that draw from Sacramento, too? While the Howard Terminal site sounds like it'd be difficult due to the active port and some contamination, I would think there might be brownfields in some of the industrial areas. I'd also think they might look to shut down some of the refining or chemical plants up around Richmond if its not inaccessible.
Those brownfields are going to need remediation in any event if Oakland is going to make productive use of the area. Just a matter of for what/who plays.
 

scottyno

late Bloomer
SoSH Member
Dec 7, 2008
11,305
Putting a stadium where the tropicana is is a fucking terrible idea. Parking would be ridiculous 80 nights a year, traffic would be even worse. Who would want to go to the strip for non game reasons on those nights when you know it's going to be a shit show.

God forbid the times when the As played on the same day as the Knights or the Raiders.

As a local I hardly ever go anyway, so they probably don't care what I think, but I really really hope they put a stadium literally anywhere but on the strip.