Portland Baseball?

[Sully151]

This would be pretty rad if it came into fruition. Bicycle tailgating FTW

 

https://www.oregonlive.com/expo/news/g66l-2019/02/da0f1251059262/qa-diamond-project-president-reveals-more-details-on-baseball-stadium-ticket-prices-bond.html?fbclid=IwAR2-rcWbxiLn6dgDMxHhBDp0NnR2dB5psEwiLGjYmdnvoGIWQXZQKEE5MGc

[wopphil]

There are a number of current MLB teams located in markets much smaller than Portland, so the population might be enough to support a team. 

[Angelsjunky]

I really hope so. I lived in Portland for ten years and still consider my home city in many ways. A Portland team (the Swallows?) would instantly become my 2nd favorite.

[floplag]

I personally think there are other markets MLB will look at before it goes there, but thats just my 2 cents. 

[wopphil]

26 minutes ago, floplag said:

I personally think there are other markets MLB will look at before it goes there, but thats just my 2 cents. 

Such as?

[ScottT]

A Portland team would be my 8th favorite in MLB.

Population wise it doesn't seem like a good move, but they support their current teams very well

[floplag]

1 hour ago, wopphil said:

Such as?

Well, Vegas, Charlotte, Montreal, Monterrey, even Santo Domingo or San Juan.  Vancouver wouldnt surprise me.
I think they are looking at international sites more than domestic, with the exception of Vegas which has shown it will support with the NHL. 

[Jay]

In Monterrey, Santo Domingo, and San Juan, how much can you charge for an MLB ticket?

 

[floplag]

8 minutes ago, Jay said:

In Monterrey, Santo Domingo, and San Juan, how much can you charge for an MLB ticket?

 

They seem to be able to afford soccer games well enough based on what i see from televised Mexican league games on BEIN sports. 
The others, i dont know, but its relative in those markets and the exhibitions they have done were successful. 
You make a good point i just think they are looking outside the box. 

[wopphil]

14 minutes ago, Jay said:

In Monterrey, Santo Domingo, and San Juan, how much can you charge for an MLB ticket?

 

64 pesos.

[Tank]

5 hours ago, Angelsjunky said:

I really hope so. I lived in Portland for ten years and still consider my home city in many ways. A Portland team (the Swallows?) would instantly become my 2nd favorite.

Based on recent events they could easily call them the Portland Measles.

[Second Base]

I heard there are serious doubts as to whether Portland would support an MLB franchise. The culture of the city isn't rooted in its nightlife or entertainment as much as it is centered around the city's individuality. They're very counter-culture and a minor league club fits that city persona and they support it. But a big money major league ball club, maybe not. 

MLB is wanting to expand internationally, so I think you'd sooner see Montreal get a team.

The A's have a plan for a new stadium and site that has those fans and owners excited for resolution. The Ray's newest stadium plans seemed promising at first, but it's more likely they'll move north of the border to Montreal in the next five years.

Portland wont get a major league team until expansion occurs, and in such a volatile environment between players and owners, and attendance down league wide, that probably isn't in the plans for another decade. And who knows which cities will be battling Portland for expansion at that time. Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic would be suitors. Charlotte and San Antonio too, and each of those options are more baseball centered to be sure.

Not only that, but they'd be a small market team. Even in the best possible situation, they'd be a smaller mid-market team. Why would MLB want another team with another owner incapable of spending the necessary money to field a winner? They've already got enough of that on their hands with over 1/3 of the league tanking in an effort to win in 5 years. And that's perpetually where this franchise would be at. They'd be battling the Mariners for fans with Seattle outspending them by 100 million every year.

I just don't see it happening. Beautiful city. Great minor league environment. But maybe not ready for a professional team.

[Angelsjunky]

Don't forget that Portland has the NBA Trailblazers, who do just fine as far as I know. I'm guessing that a lot of Portlanders would enjoy going to see a baseball game in an ironic sense. Especially if the team embraced the "Portland Weird" persona. Possible names:

Portland Swallows 

Portland Lumberjacks

Portland Queers

Portland Booknerds

Portland Lattes

Portland Microbrews

Portland Hipsters

Portland Voodoo

Portland Strippers

[Pujols4MVP]

1 hour ago, Angelsjunky said:

Don't forget that Portland has the NBA Trailblazers, who do just fine as far as I know. I'm guessing that a lot of Portlanders would enjoy going to see a baseball game in an ironic sense. Especially if the team embraced the "Portland Weird" persona. Possible names:

Portland Swallows 

Portland Lumberjacks

Portland Queers

Portland Booknerds

Portland Lattes

Portland Microbrews

Portland Hipsters

Portland Voodoo

Portland Strippers

Lumberjacks ! All the men in attendence at the games will be dressed like Lumberjack Hipsters.

[Docwaukee]

It's hard for me to imagine mlb adding a team in a small market with a stadium capacity of 32k.   

plus, an expansion draft would suck if it happened right when we were getting good.  

[Pujols4MVP]

1 hour ago, Dochalo said:

It's hard for me to imagine mlb adding a team in a small market with a stadium capacity of 32k.   

plus, an expansion draft would suck if it happened right when we were getting good.  

Now that you mention the expansion draft they will probably want to do a Vegas Golden Knights type expansion draft where everyone gets screwed over & the Portland team ends up being better than more than half the league. Hopefully MLB owners are more sane than NHL owners & will vote down any draft that gives Portland too favorable of an expansion draft. It wouldn't be fair to teams who were added in the 1990s that didn't get the expansion draft that Portland may end up getting, so they ought to keep the expansion draft rules the same as when they last added a team.

[Lou]

6 hours ago, Pujols4MVP said:

Lumberjacks ! All the men in attendence at the games will be dressed like Lumberjack Hipsters.

they will regardless of the team's name 

[Broad Street]

Oklahoma City could potentially support a major league team. Yeah, we already have the OKC Dodgers in what may be the prettiest minor league stadium... But with Tinker AFB bringing in over 20,000 more jobs and Amazon building a giant facility, the population is going to skyrocket.

[mulwin444]

13 hours ago, floplag said:

Well, Vegas, Charlotte, Montreal, Monterrey, even Santo Domingo or San Juan.  Vancouver wouldnt surprise me.
I think they are looking at international sites more than domestic, with the exception of Vegas which has shown it will support with the NHL. 

Vegas might be decent as it's a growing and has the Golden Knights and the Raiders are incoming.  Definitely an attractive locale.

Charlotte would be another ideal city but I highly doubt the Orioles and Nationals don't contest that one as well.  The Nationals had to make concessions themselves to the Orioles just to move from Montreal.

I think smaller "big" cities like Portand are only going to be as viable as how much the surrounding communities are willing to support them or how many people an hour or two out are willing to make the trek to the park 81 times a year.

Nashville, with the Titans and Predators, might be another option. 

Vancouver and a relocation to Montreal would be likely option as well...they'd need to be in domes stadiums to make it work though.

[gotbeer]

8 hours ago, Dochalo said:

plus, an expansion draft would suck if it happened right when we were getting good.  

I think the MLB would like expansion before 2050.

[eligrba]

Why would the Mariners agree to having a Portland team? Portland baseball seems unlikely. 

If a team did move to Portland,  it would make sense if the team came from California like most of the new Portland residents interested in baseball. 

[gotbeer]

8 minutes ago, eligrba said:

Why would the Mariners agree to having a Portland team? Portland baseball seems unlikely. 

If a team did move to Portland,  it would make sense if the team came from California like most of the new Portland residents interested in baseball. 

I think this is the biggest hurdle to expansion.  Nationals are the biggest example.  To "infringe" on the Orioles territory, the Nationals and Orioles are still fighting over TV rights and fees.  (going on memory, since I can't find exactly the terms of the infringement deal.  But I think the Nationals are paying the Orioles a good chunk of their tv revenue)  I think Portland, Seattle and both bay area teams would claim "infringement".  Vegas, it's the Dodgers, Angels, Giants, A's, and I think even the Dbacks.  Heck, Oakland can't even move to San Jose without the Giants blocking it due to territory.  I really think that is why the MLB is looking to Mexico and Canada.  

And I think that is one advantage the NHL has over the MLB.  MLB has one Canadian team, where the NHL has 7 teams and less squabling about territory.  (At least in the US.  Canada is a different story)

[Broad Street]

What Canadian cities would they target though? Montreal? They tried that once. Vancouver or Winnipeg? I don't see them really caring about baseball enough to support a second team quite like they would south of the border. That being said, putting a team in Mexico could make it difficult to sign any free agents. Nobody wants to live there.

[floplag]

The funny thing about this though, is that city size really is moot.
Outside of the top 10 cities in the nation, None have a listed population of over a million.  Granted metro areas come into play but if your talking about a combination of population plus also fighting existing rights of other teams, you are forced to look west, and anything east has issues with territory. 
Out west nothing is a clear and obvious favorite, but you have to think Vegas is the clear favorite.  
It really lends itself to internal looks much more than domestic. 

I personally dont think they do expansion anytime soon, not with multiple teams in failing markets.  That has to get fixed before any expansion happens.   Sends the As to Vegas with the Raiders, Send the Rays to Charlotte or Nashville, anything after that goes outside the continental US.    Even Nashville is questionable due to territorial rights but it makes the most sense geographically to maintain alignments of divisions. 

[floplag]

33 minutes ago, Kody Mac said:

What Canadian cities would they target though? Montreal? They tried that once. Vancouver or Winnipeg? I don't see them really caring about baseball enough to support a second team quite like they would south of the border. That being said, putting a team in Mexico could make it difficult to sign any free agents. Nobody wants to live there.

You know thats really not true in the middle/upper classes.  My sisters husband is from there and they plan to go back.  Not everyone is looking for the door.   Just sayin.