The Rays have been given permission to explore splitting home games between TB & MTL

[Orgfiller]

I figured this was a significant enough development that it warranted its own thread.

 

Um, this seems like a huge development:

 

[Pendleton]

Neat, I would go

[Bobthe4th]

Finally, the first step in the relocation of the Rays!

[DigitalRock]

In that dump of a stadium in Montreal? Wouldn't the extra travel be an issue?

[BTS]

I’m rock hard right now

[DigitalRock]

I’m rock hard right now

 

I bet that makes Spanky excited.

[Jonn]

f*** yea! Montreal is getting a team back.

 

Last time professional spots had 2-city team was the New Orleans/OKC Hornets which ultimately resulted in Oklahoma City getting an NBA Franchise.

 

Big day for Canadian Baseball and Montreal.

[Bobthe4th]

Just a bit of tempering expectations, the article says it won’t happen until 2023 at the earliest and it’s only being “explored as an option” right now.

[Slade]

f*** yea! Montreal is getting a team back.

 

Last time professional spots had 2-city team was the New Orleans/OKC Hornets which ultimately resulted in Oklahoma City getting an NBA Franchise.

 

Big day for Canadian Baseball and Montreal.

 

 

Lol we'll see about that, this is just permission to look into it. This could all just be leverage to get a new Stadium in TB.

 

Either way it's good news for Montreal as it would put them at the forefront of Expansion or relocation.

[AdamGreenwood]

They're building a new stadium.

The other important thing is that Montreal is 1st on the list to get a new team.

And once a team loses half its games, it's only a matter of time, before they lose their team all together.

 

Can you imagine going to Tampa games in the first half of the season, and then not getting to see them in September during the playoff hunt?

[Barkerfan23]

Snell, Glasnow, and Franco for Vlad

 

They will need Vlad to be successful.

[xposbrad]

Being in Montreal, I love this idea. Tampa has an amazing front office. Wow, if they had a 130m payroll, they would be cleaning up.

[Slade]

They're building a new stadium.

The other important thing is that Montreal is 1st on the list to get a new team.

And once a team loses half its games, it's only a matter of time, before they lose their team all together.

 

Can you imagine going to Tampa games in the first half of the season, and then not getting to see them in September during the playoff hunt?

 

 

Those 14,000 people are going to be pissed.

[LGBJ29]

Great start for MTL but this means all their players would need to find homes in 2 countries. An entire team getting accustomed to call a new city/country home midway through the season is less than ideal

[P2F]

Being in Montreal, I love this idea. Tampa has an amazing front office. Wow, if they had a 130m payroll, they would be cleaning up.

 

If it gets you off this board, where do I sign?

[BTS]

If it gets you off this board, where do I sign?

 

lol, this is probably the rudest thing you've ever said on this forum

[Deadpool]

Toronto and Montreal IN THE SAME DIVISION could become one of the best rivalries in baseball, just saying...

[P2F]

lol, this is probably the rudest thing you've ever said on this forum

 

Well, after years of this poster contributing consistent negative value, I'm done waiting for the regression. It's not coming.

[Spanky99]

I bet that makes Spanky excited.

 

Uhmm... trip in traffic, retard.

[BlueRocky]

Toronto and Montreal IN THE SAME DIVISION could become one of the best rivalries in baseball, just saying...

 

Move the Yankees to AL Central while we’re at it. Swap them with Detroit or Kansas City or whatever.

[Sorrow]

As someone who lives in Ottawa I would so go to any Jays vs Montreal games on a Sunday in Montreal. I would also just go in general.

[Brownie19]

If it gets you off this board, where do I sign?

 

[TheHurl]

The current MOU allows for them to play 10 days outside of the Trop. Mayor of St. Pete's (who the Rays have the Iron clad lease with) has already started talking about "new stadium in St. Pete's or lawsuit" This is a leverage move IMO. The concept of a split city seems insane and full of issues. I just don't see it happening the way it is being proposed.

 

I loved my Expos. I also went to more games than most people that live in Montreal. They just don't deserve to get a team. They will f*** it up again

[KevinGregg]

The current MOU allows for them to play 10 days outside of the Trop. Mayor of St. Pete's (who the Rays have the Iron clad lease with) has already started talking about "new stadium in St. Pete's or lawsuit" This is a leverage move IMO. The concept of a split city seems insane and full of issues. I just don't see it happening the way it is being proposed.

 

I loved my Expos. I also went to more games than most people that live in Montreal. They just don't deserve to get a team. They will f*** it up again

 

Isn't it universally agreed that Loria f***ed the expos? Just don't let him own the new team and it should be fine. Especially with a better stadium in a better location

[Terminator]

Toronto and Montreal IN THE SAME DIVISION could become one of the best rivalries in baseball, just saying...

 

That would be pretty awesome. I think it'd be good for baseball in Canada and I think it would be good for the Jays as well. Not sure the split city is the answer but a full-time team there in the AL East would be awesome.

[TheHurl]

Isn't it universally agreed that Loria f***ed the expos? Just don't let him own the new team and it should be fine. Especially with a better stadium in a better location

 

It was well before that. Loria essentially bought a broken team and lied about how he was going to save it, meanwhile he used all the f***-ups of the previous regimes to plead that it was not salvageable and this was his intentional all along. But the Expos had two huge attendance decline's before Loria came in. One in the mid 80's when they dealt Carter and Dawson, then again after the strike. Even before the strike they were always botton few in attendance. The best team in baseball in 1994 and the second lowest attendance in the NL.

 

Essentially they tried to make the Expos the "French Canadian team" and the Francophone essentially doesn't give a f*** about baseball (generalized statement but close to true). They stopped producing English merchandise, they got rid of the English radio broadcast and TSN was allowed to air the games they wanted and only pay ($5,000 per game which is hilarious now but equally as bad back then) when they aired a game. The French still didn't care and they lost a lot of Anglophone fans, who had the Jays on air more often than the Expos.

[Carlos Danger]

This is just leverage.... Montreal would be a disaster. This is public poker by ownership...

[Boxcar]

It was well before that. Loria essentially bought a broken team and lied about how he was going to save it, meanwhile he used all the f***-ups of the previous regimes to plead that it was not salvageable and this was his intentional all along. But the Expos had two huge attendance decline's before Loria came in. One in the mid 80's when they dealt Carter and Dawson, then again after the strike. Even before the strike they were always botton few in attendance. The best team in baseball in 1994 and the second lowest attendance in the NL.

 

Essentially they tried to make the Expos the "French Canadian team" and the Francophone essentially doesn't give a f*** about baseball (generalized statement but close to true). They stopped producing English merchandise, they got rid of the English radio broadcast and TSN was allowed to air the games they wanted and only pay ($5,000 per game which is hilarious now but equally as bad back then) when they aired a game. The French still didn't care and they lost a lot of Anglophone fans, who had the Jays on air more often than the Expos.

 

Lol @ French Canada

[wk680]

It was well before that. Loria essentially bought a broken team and lied about how he was going to save it, meanwhile he used all the f***-ups of the previous regimes to plead that it was not salvageable and this was his intentional all along. But the Expos had two huge attendance decline's before Loria came in. One in the mid 80's when they dealt Carter and Dawson, then again after the strike. Even before the strike they were always botton few in attendance. The best team in baseball in 1994 and the second lowest attendance in the NL.

 

Essentially they tried to make the Expos the "French Canadian team" and the Francophone essentially doesn't give a f*** about baseball (generalized statement but close to true). They stopped producing English merchandise, they got rid of the English radio broadcast and TSN was allowed to air the games they wanted and only pay ($5,000 per game which is hilarious now but equally as bad back then) when they aired a game. The French still didn't care and they lost a lot of Anglophone fans, who had the Jays on air more often than the Expos.

 

The low attendance for a winning team in '94 reminds me of the current Rays. So if not Montreal, where would it make sense to relocate the team? Will Vancouver ever have a shot, or is it always going to be dogged by the proximity to Seattle (as with Hamilton when they wanted an NHL team)?

[Krylian]

The low attendance for a winning team in '94 reminds me of the current Rays. So if not Montreal, where would it make sense to relocate the team? Will Vancouver ever have a shot, or is it always going to be dogged by the proximity to Seattle (as with Hamilton when they wanted an NHL team)?

 

Would baseball fly in Nashville?