Baseball à Montréal

[FrankieFlowerpot]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sport...2646/comments/

[Mr.Wolf]

Aucun bon sens, c'est non.

Le Québec a beaucoup de choses à régler avant d'investir autant d'argent dans un tel projet.
Ces études sont toujours commandées par des Chambres de commerces capitalistes mais, oh comme c'est drôle, le gouvernement doit toujours investir au moins un tier et prendre des gros risques tandis que c'est le privé qui garde les profits.

[MTLskyline]

Voici les liens

Étude de faisabilité du projet de retour d’une équipe de la Ligue majeure de baseball à Montréal / Feasibility Study Examining the Return of Major League Baseball to Montreal

Rentabilité du retour d’une franchise de baseball de la Ligue majeure de baseball à Montréal (les « Expos ») / Viability of the Return of a Major League Baseball Franchise to Montreal (the “Expos”)

L’IMPACT ÉCONOMIQUE ET FINANCIER du retour potentiel des Expos de Montréal

[MTLskyline]

Originally Posted by Mr.Wolf

Aucun bon sens, c'est non.

Le Québec a beaucoup de choses à régler avant d'investir autant d'argent dans un tel projet.
Ces études sont toujours commandées par des Chambres de commerces capitalistes mais, oh comme c'est drôle, le gouvernement doit toujours investir au moins un tier et prendre des gros risques tandis que c'est le privé qui garde les profits.

Il y a des précédents récents où le gouvernement du Québec a fourni une aide financière pour la construction d’installations sportives :
il a accordé en 2012 une subvention de 23 M$ à l’Impact de Montréal pour l’agrandissement du stade Saputo; il a aussi accordé une
subvention non remboursable de 200 M$ à la Ville de Québec pour la construction du nouvel amphithéâtre.

[telyou]

What kind of shady a** stadium are you going to build for $500 million? The minimum cost for a Montreal stadium, when taking a roof element into consideration is $700 million.

[MTLskyline]

Originally Posted by telyou

What kind of shady a** stadium are you going to build for $500 million? The minimum cost for a Montreal stadium, when taking a roof element into consideration is $700 million.

The study recommended going with an open-air stadium, and saw Target Field in Minneapolis as a good model. Minneapolis gets similar weather to Montreal and they built an open air stadium for $390M, and have received average attendance of over 30,000-37,000 each year since it opened in 2010.

Miami's stadium cost $515M in 2012, and Washington's stadium cost $498M in 2008.

[telyou]

Originally Posted by MTLskyline

The study recommended going with an open-air stadium, and saw Target Field in Minneapolis as a good model. Minneapolis gets similar weather to Montreal and they built an open air stadium for $390M, and have received average attendance of over 30,000-37,000 each year since it opened in 2010.

Miami's stadium cost $515M in 2012, and Washington's stadium cost $498M in 2008.

The true cost of Target field is closer to 600 million when adding in infrastructure costs, fees for studies, financing. Nationals park cost 650 million and add about another 100 million for additional costs.

[MTLskyline]

Originally Posted by telyou

The true cost of Target field is closer to 600 million when adding in infrastructure costs, fees for studies, financing. Nationals park cost 650 million and add about another 100 million for additional costs.

I hear you, but if infrastructure costs are a main concern, there are several options that already have a lot of infrastructure in place, such as the Bonaventure Expressway option (the site of the Montreal Children's Hospital is another - although demolitions would be a concern of course).

With plans for an LRT on the Champlain Bridge anyway, it would be possible to add a stop for the stadium without too much extra cost.

The study isn't suggesting to build the stadium on speculation, but is saying that if a team were to come back to Montreal, a stadium would be a key success factor. If the Quebec government can contribute public funds for a Quebec City hockey arena (based purely on speculation) and Saputo Stadium, surely it can contribute to a stadium.

[telyou]

Did the province contribute to Saputo Stadium? If so then that's a big shame.
Baseball is my sport. I would love to have a team back here. I just don't see it happening. I can't see the attendance averaging over 30K. Then there's the big question of how would it happen. I would not like to see baseball expand. Already too many teams. 28 teams is the best scenario for the league. Tampa moving could involve a 9 digit payout to the city. How big of a 9 digit payout? I'm hearing over 500 million. The agreement St-Pete has is very strong and there's nothing the team nor MLB can do. So if Sternberg does buy himself out of the agreement why would he do it to move the team to a high risk location like Montreal?

[MTLskyline]

Originally Posted by telyou

Did the province contribute to Saputo Stadium? If so then that's a big shame.
Baseball is my sport. I would love to have a team back here. I just don't see it happening. I can't see the attendance averaging over 30K. Then there's the big question of how would it happen. I would not like to see baseball expand. Already too many teams. 28 teams is the best scenario for the league. Tampa moving could involve a 9 digit payout to the city. How big of a 9 digit payout? I'm hearing over 500 million. The agreement St-Pete has is very strong and there's nothing the team nor MLB can do. So if Sternberg does buy himself out of the agreement why would he do it to move the team to a high risk location like Montreal?

The Saputo stadium received about $23M from Quebec to upgrade it for the MLS.

I definitely see it as being a huge challenge to bring a team here. I don't think there will be a team here for at least another 10-15 years. I don't see it being worthwhile to paying a huge cancellation clause on the current lease. Sternberg believes in Montreal, but he thinks it will be a long-term project not a short-term one.

I think we should instead focus our efforts on preparing for when the lease expires in Tampa. In the mean time, I think steps should be taken to acquire the land they want before developers do. At worst they'll sell it off for a capital gain. Things should be made as simple as possible for the future owner.

EDIT: The city of Montreal led by baseball fan Denis Coderre owns 93% of the land at the Bonaventure site.

[MTLskyline]

Projet Montréal's vision for the Bonaventure site (one of the options included in the feasibility study)


Site du Stade du Bassin Peel by etiennecoutu, on Flickr


Vue Stade du Bassin Peel by etiennecoutu, on Flickr


Implantation du Stade du Bassin Peel by etiennecoutu, on Flickr


Quartier Bonaventure: faire renaître Goose Village by etiennecoutu, on Flickr

[MTLskyline]

WestJet to sponsor Montreal Baseball Project
Posted on 3/13/2014 4:54:00 PM by Richard Deschamps

WestJet is announcing it's reached a one-year deal with the group that's working to bring a major league team back to Montreal.

The discount airline's public relations department says it will be sponsoring the upcoming two-game pre-season series between the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Mets at Olympic Stadium on March 28 and 29, and the gala event to mark the 20th anniversary of the 1994 Expos team which had the best record in baseball before a player's strike wiped out the end of the season.

The Montreal Baseball Project is led by Warren Cromartie, an Expos outfielder during the team's glory years in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

http://www.cjad.com/cjad-news/2014/0...seball-project

[FrankieFlowerpot]

75,000 tickets sold so far for the 2 games

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/b...s-right-031414

[artvandelay]

TSN Sportscentre is airing a feature on the possibility of the Expos returning to Montreal on friday:

On Friday, March 28, ENCORE? focuses on the possibility of Major League Baseball returning to Montreal, featuring a sit-down interview with MLB Commissioner Bud Selig.

There were rumours several months back of Bell kicking tires on a bringing an MLB franchise back in order to fill airtime after losing the NHL rights to Rogers. Perhaps this is laying the groundwork for the beginnings of that plan.

One can hope…

[Dr Awesomesauce]

What would MLB have to gain from a return of the Expos? That's a question we should all ask ourselves. I don't have a good answer for that one.

[artvandelay]

Originally Posted by Dr Awesomesauce

What would MLB have to gain from a return of the Expos? That's a question we should all ask ourselves. I don't have a good answer for that one.

Well the Blue Jays have been one of the most successful teams in terms of TV ratings over the past several years (top 3 or 4 in the league), so I doubt they would mind having another team in Canada if a solid owner (Bell) were to step up. There are several teams that continually struggle in the US even when they put solid teams on the field. With TSN/RDS carrying the games I think they could rival or surpass the Jays ratings.

[FrankieFlowerpot]

Originally Posted by Dr Awesomesauce

What would MLB have to gain from a return of the Expos? That's a question we should all ask ourselves. I don't have a good answer for that one.

Avoiding this ongoing embarrassment

[Acajack]

[QUOTE=artvandelay;6512247]Well the Blue Jays have been one of the most successful teams in terms of TV ratings over the past several years (top 3 or 4 in the league), so I doubt they would mind having another team in Canada if a solid owner (Bell) were to step up. There are several teams that continually struggle in the US even when they put solid teams on the field. With TSN/RDS carrying the games I think they could rival or surpass the Jays ratings.[/QUOTE]

Doubtful.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by FrankieFlowerpot

Avoiding this ongoing embarrassment

Looks like one of the better Expos crowds during the last couple of seasons.

[isaidso]

^^ As much as I like baseball, it would be tough to drag me to Olympic stadium on a precious summer weekend off. Put an open air stadium downtown and it changes things entirely. People vastly under-estimate how important the baseball experience is in the status the sport enjoys in Canada/US. A huge number of people at Jays games go for the atmosphere: sitting out in the sun, eating a hot dog, and enjoying the ambiance. It's through repeatedly going through this ritual that many turn from attendees to true fans of the game.

My sister is a good case in point. She hated baseball, but always said yes when I invited her because she loved sitting there in the stands on a hot day in July. To my absolute shock, by year 3 she knew who the players were, had picked up a basic understanding of the game, and energetically jumped to her feet on a run scoring double. I was flabbergasted that she was actually paying attention and that she had gotten excited over what was happening on the field. The game had grown on her and what before she thought of as a tedious bore of a sport was now a source of jubilation and genuine interest.

Kill the ambiance and you will slowly kill baseball.

Originally Posted by Dr Awesomesauce

What would MLB have to gain from a return of the Expos? That's a question we should all ask ourselves. I don't have a good answer for that one.

They'd be returning to the largest metro in Canada/US without MLB and one with a very rich baseball history/pedigree. Let's not forget that there was plenty of baseball in Montreal before the Expos arrived on the scene. The colour barrier was broken in Montreal and baseball has been a part of the city since the late 1800s.

Btw, that stadium rendering gave me goosebumps. Just gorgeous! I wouldn't be surprised to see 3 MLB teams in Canada by 2030.