Thread: Rays on the move?

How about the Rays move to Miami and get the new stadium, and the Marlins relocate. I think there's better baseball markets for either team, but the new ballpark in Miami isn't going away. Give them the better team and let another city with real owners run the Marlins.

I have a very interesting idea that might be acceptable for everyone.

1. Tampa moves to Minnesota.
2. Minnesota moves to Montreal. The Pohlad sons also leave and a new owner takes over in MN, the team name Twins would stay here and the Expos are reborn.
3. Miami gets one last chance to keep baseball in Florida with new ownership.

Originally Posted by John Bonnes

I just looked up the biggest TV markets, since that seems to be a major source of revenue. I'm surprised to find Tampa-St. Pete is 13th. That's two ABOVE Mpls-St. Paul.

The biggest one without a team is #19 - Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne. I can't imagine the Marlins would be thrilled with that, but it makes some sense. Orlando could definitely build them a stadium, I would think.

And right after them is Portland, which has a pretty successful AAA team.

I think Portland actually lost their AAA team due to lack of support. I think I recall reading that they turned their ballpark in to a soccer stadium and they sold the team to someone who moved it to the southwest somewhere.

Originally Posted by Teflon

Monterrey, Mexico would seem to be a possibility as their Mexican League team attendance surpasses any American minor league team's. Also, they would virtually become a national team as opposed to a regional team so would have great TV and licensing potential. They already play in a 27,000 seat facility (below) so could put in a few extra outfield seats to easily expand to 33,000 - 35,000 seats.
mi gusto = i =)
Attachment 3130

mi gusto = i like =)

zap north dakota ....after a few more 90 loss seasons zap would have more fans attending then minneapolis

Originally Posted by John Bonnes

I just looked up the biggest TV markets, since that seems to be a major source of revenue. I'm surprised to find Tampa-St. Pete is 13th. That's two ABOVE Mpls-St. Paul.

The biggest one without a team is #19 - Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne. I can't imagine the Marlins would be thrilled with that, but it makes some sense. Orlando could definitely build them a stadium, I would think.

And right after them is Portland, which has a pretty successful AAA team.

It's an interesting list. I think the smallest is Milwaukee at #35. New Orleans is #53. They'd make an interesting choice.

Right after that is Sacramento, who is about to lose a basketball team. (Which, BTW, is one ahead of St. Louis?)

---That is an interesting list, but metro area market and potential viewing audience are not the same thing. Certainly, the Twins viewing audience extends well beyond the Twin Cities metro area.

In Sacramento, the potential viewing audience probably does not extend much beyond that with 2 teams in the SF Bay Area.

In Nashville, they could become more the TN state team, kind of like the Twins in MN. So their potential TV audience includes not only Nashville but the whole state, which has 3 other cities on that list (Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga).

The Orlando thing makes sense, but I have a feeling that if the Rays relocate, it will be out of the state of Florida.

Yeah, if the Rays move, it would seem foolish to have them move to another Florida city. Honestly,ML baseball doesn't belong in Florida. Both Miami and Tampa have proven this. The state is good for spring training and minor league ball but not ML. I would say they should move the Marlins as well but with that new stadium, which was a complete waste of money, moving them is not an option. Montreal would be the most logical choice.

A lot of possibilities although most have issues and drawbacks. My sentimental side likes the Expos. I've always like Portland and NC for potential sports teams also.

Montreal
Vancouver
NC
TN
Portland
SLC
New Orleans
New Jersey
Las Vegas
A 3rd Texas team
OKC
Sacramento

I know this may surprise folks based on my personal team alliance, but I would be all in on the idea of a team in North Carolina. There's a very intense baseball fan base there. Yes, they're typically Braves fans right now, but you'd be surprised how mixed the state is. It's akin to South Dakota - yes, the Twins are most popular, but they don't dominate the market like you would figure based on geography. Plus, to me, the biggest benefit to my team is that messing with their broadcast area may be reason to renegotiate the TV deal for the Braves, widely considered the worst team TV deal in professional sports.

I thought I read that the Rays are obligated to play at Tropicana until 2027.

You would think if they relocate, MLB would first look to keep them in the eastern part of the country unless they want to force some rather awkward division realignment. Can't imagine the highly influencial Yankees and Red Sox would be thrilled with having 17 additional West Coast games that only true night owls will view. I also doubt the Indians or Tigers would sit still while being forced to move to the wealthy and loaded AL West.

Originally Posted by nicksaviking

You would think if they relocate, MLB would first look to keep them in the eastern part of the country unless they want to force some rather awkward division realignment. Can't imagine the highly influencial Yankees and Red Sox would be thrilled with having 17 additional West Coast games that only true night owls will view. I also doubt the Indians or Tigers would sit still while being forced to move to the wealthy and loaded AL West.

---I'm sure everyone would prefer to avoid it, but If there were a division realignment that forced an AL Central team to move to the west, it would not be either of the two in the eastern time zone.

Originally Posted by darin617

I have a very interesting idea that might be acceptable for everyone.

1. Tampa moves to Minnesota.
2. Minnesota moves to Montreal. The Pohlad sons also leave and a new owner takes over in MN, the team name Twins would stay here and the Expos are reborn.
3. Miami gets one last chance to keep baseball in Florida with new ownership.

Can the new owner of the Twins be Mark Cuban? Please!