Vegas also finished 3rd-to-last in average attendance among all AAA clubs this season (4,640). The only teams worse: the Gwinnett Braves (4,281) and the Natstown-affiliated Syracuse Chiefs (3,743).
Gwinnett ain't going anywhere, considering the parent Braves moved them from Richmond just 5 years ago and they're only 31 miles apart (a distance that will decrease further once Atlanta moves north to Marietta).
As for Syracuse, the stadium there was built in 1997, and last December the Nationals renewed their player development contract with the Chiefs through 2018. I have no idea if PDCs typically allow for the relocation of an affiliate to a new city.
Other than a population base and low taxes (which only matter when you, y'know,
actually have revenue to protect from taxation), I have no idea what the infatuation is with Vegas. The only reason the Mets are there is because Jeff Wilpon idiotically fucked the Mets out of their spot in Norfolk VA.
Getting the Mets to Hartford without changing the inherent structure of the IL and PCL would require numerous dominoes to fall simultaneously. A current PCL-affiliated MLB club would need to take over the Vegas slot, while a current IL-affiliated club would need to ditch its current city and move to CT. And, unless the contracts allowed them, the moves would need to coincide with expiration of existing PDCs. If no other MLB team is going to affiliate with Vegas, the IL would likely have to convey one of its existing westernmost franchises (Louisville? Indianapolis?) to the PCL, and I can't see the ownership of either of those minor league clubs agreeing to it based on travel & expenses alone.
While it seems a perishable thought today, the most likely MLB club to have its AAA affiliate in Hartford is...
(drum roll...)
The Red Sox (/climactic cymbal crash)
As much as we all love McCoy for its affordability, proximity and its family-friendly atmosphere, the fact remains that it's the oldest current AAA stadium by miles (built in 1942). The next oldest facility? Cheney Stadium in Tacoma WA (1960), where the Rainiers are affiliated with the Mariners just 25 miles away. McCoy is more than four decades older than the next in line (and which FNL aptly describes above): Cashman Field in Las Vegas (1983).
A new stadium with corporate-friendly facilities and commensurate revenue opportunities would no doubt be attractive to whoever ends up owning the PawSox -- and, in turn, to Red Sox ownership. Ben Mondor's widow Madeleine is now 82 (Ben was 85 when he passed in 2010), and they had no children. The PawSox' two top front-office figures, Mike Tamburro & Lou Schwechheimer, have both been with the PawSox for 35 years. They won't keep working forever, and at some point the franchise will change hands.
Though it's apparently in decent financial health (
Forbes ranked it the
15th most valuable minor league club in the nation in 2012), and attendance is still strong (7.367 per game this year; 9th among 14 IL teams, 13th in AAA), its net operating revenue in 2012 (again, per Forbes) was only in the high-six figures. Compare that with the other franchises in the Forbes' Top 20:
$9.7M - Sacramento CA
$5.4M - Lehigh Valley PA
$5.2M - Round Rock TX
$4.9M - Memphis TN
$4.8M - Columbus OH
$4.8M - Dayton OH
$4.6M - Frisco TX
$4.3M - Albuquerque NM
$4.3M - Louisville KY
$4.3M - Reno NV
$3.6M - Toledo OH
$2.8M - Buffalo NY
$2.8M - Salt Lake City UT
$2.8M - Fresno CA
$2.7M - Corpus Christi TX
$2.3M - Indianapolis IN
$1.7M - Des Moines IA
$0.8M - Pawtucket RI
$0.6M - Durham NC
$0.6M - Omaha NE
Only two teams on the list had lower revenues than the PawSox in 2012, and Omaha (25% owned by Warren Buffett) had just finished building a new $38M self-financed stadium. As an FYI, 17 of the 20 were AAA franchises. Corpus Christi (co-owned by Nolan Ryan and his son, who also co-own Round Rock) and Frisco are both in the AA Texas League, while Dayton is the Reds' low Class A (yes, LOW A) affiliate in the Midwest League. Yet look at the net coin those lower-level teams are taking in.
Of the 13 AAA teams not on that list from 2 years ago, two moved into new stadiums this season (Charlotte NC and El Paso TX, which relocated from Tucson AZ after leaving Portland OR three years earlier) while a third will open its new ballpark next spring (Nashville TN). Charlotte led all of AAA in attendance this year (9,686/game) while El Paso was 10th (7,901). Nashville drew just 4,909 in their final year at venerable Herschel Greer Stadium.
It's also worth pointing out that in 2011, leading up to those Forbes rankings, the
PawSox were in the Top 25 among all minor league teams in merchandising sales (FWIW, they also
made the list in 2012, but
not in 2013.) That generates revenue which isn't necessarily stadium-dependent, and only highlights how McCoy itself isn't generating enough cash -- even with solid attendance and merchandise sales.
There is clearly an opportunity for enhanced riches. And Hartford would still be plenty close enough to Boston (100 driving miles). I won't be surprised one bit if this happens.