Allow me to introduce you to Vancouver's Slow (of Expo 86 striptease infamy). This video dates back to 1985.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RzA0VHcsBY

F*ck! Well, i thought slc was closer in population to portland and that with its surroundings counties it would be bigger but i was way off. That'll teach me... Geez, you really have to back things up on this site

Rank MSA Metropolitan Area Metropolitan Division State(s) Population
1 5600 New York–Northern New Jersey–Long Island NY–NJ–PA 18,747,320
Edison NJ 2,303,709
Nassau–Suffolk NY 2,808,064
Newark–Union NJ–PA 2,152,978
New York–White Plains–Wayne NY–NJ 11,482,569
2 4480 Los Angeles–Long Beach–Santa Ana CA 12,923,547
Los Angeles–Long Beach–Glendale CA 9,935,475
Santa Ana–Anaheim–Irvine CA 2,988,072
3 1600 Chicago–Naperville–Joliet IL–IN–WI 9,443,356
Chicago–Naperville–Joliet IL 7,882,729
Gary IN 697,401
Lake County–Kenosha County IL–WI 863,226
4 6160 Philadelphia–Camden–Wilmington PA–NJ–DE–MD 5,823,233
Camden NJ 1,245,902
Philadelphia PA 3,890,181
Wilmington DE–NJ–MD 687,150
5 2800 Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington TX 5,819,475
Dallas–Plano–Irving TX 3,893,123
Fort Worth–Arlington TX 1,926,352
6 5000 Miami–Fort Lauderdale–Miami Beach FL 5,422,200
Fort Lauderdale–Pompano Beach–Deerfield Beach FL 1,777,638
Miami–Miami Beach–Kendall FL 2,376,014
West Palm Beach–Boca Raton–Boynton Beach FL 1,268,548
7 3360 Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown TX 5,280,077
8 511 Washington–Arlington–Alexandria DC–VA–MD–WV 5,214,666
Bethesda–Frederick–Gaithersburg MD 1,148,284
Washington–Arlington–Alexandria DC–MD–VA–WV 4,066,382
9 520 Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Marietta GA 4,917,717
10 2160 Detroit–Warren–Livonia MI 4,488,335
Detroit–Livonia–Dearborn MI 1,998,217
Warren–Troy–Farmington Hills MI 2,490,118
11 1120 Boston–Cambridge–Quincy MA–NH 4,411,835
Boston–Quincy MA 1,800,432
Cambridge–Newton–Framingham MA 1,459,011
Essex County MA 738,301
Rockingham County–Strafford County NH 414,091
12 7360 San Francisco–Oakland–Fremont CA 4,152,688
Oakland–Fremont–Hayward CA 2,466,692
San Francisco–San Mateo–Redwood City CA 1,685,996
13 6780 Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario CA 3,909,954
14 6200 Phoenix–Mesa–Scottsdale AZ 3,865,077
15 4600 Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue WA 3,203,314
Seattle–Bellevue–Everett WA 2,449,527
Tacoma WA 753,787
16 5120 Minneapolis–St. Paul–Bloomington MN-WI 3,142,779
17 7320 San Diego–Carlsbad–San Marcos CA 2,933,462
18 7040 St. Louis MO–IL 2,778,518
19 720 Baltimore–Towson MD 2,655,675
20 8280 Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater FL 2,647,658
21 6280 Pittsburgh PA–WV 2,386,074
22 2080 Denver–Aurora CO 2,359,994
23 1680 Cleveland–Elyria–Mentor OH 2,126,318
24 6440 Portland–Vancouver–Beaverton OR–WA 2,095,861
25 3200 Cincinnati–Middletown OH 2,070,441

Every city on this list has MLB, except Portland*

*#13 Riverside is in the LA area.... who are they trying to kid?

Top 50 media Markets in the US

1 New York, NY
2 Los Angeles, CA
3 Chicago, IL
4 San Francisco-Oakland, CA
5 Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX
6 Houston-Galveston, TX
7 Philadelphia, PA
8 Washington, DC
9 Atlanta, GA
10 Detroit, MI
11 Boston, MA
12 Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood, FL
13 * Puerto Rico
14 Seattle-Tacoma, WA
15 Phoenix, AZ
16 Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN
17 San Diego, CA
18 * Nassau-Suffolk (Long Island), NY (= NYC)
19 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL
20 St. Louis, MO
21 Baltimore, MD
22 Denver-Boulder, CO
23 Portland, OR
24 Pittsburgh, PA
25 * Riverside-San Bernardino, CA (= LA)
26 Cleveland, OH
27 Sacramento, CA
28 Cincinnati, OH
29 San Antonio, TX
30 Kansas City, MO-KS
31 Salt Lake City-Ogden-Provo, UT
32 Las Vegas, NV
33 Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC
34 Orlando, FL
35 * San Jose, CA (= SF)
36 Milwaukee-Racine, WI
37 Columbus, OH
38 Providence-Warwick-Pawtucket, RI
39 * Middlesex-Somerset-Union, NJ (= NYC)
40 Indianapolis, IN
41 Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News, VA
42 Austin, TX
43 Raleigh-Durham, NC
44 Nashville, TN
45 Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point, NC
46 * West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, FL (= Miami)
47 Jacksonville, FL
48 Oklahoma City, OK
49 Memphis, TN
50 Hartford-New Britain-Middletown, CT

If you don't count #13- Puerto Rico (an anomoly, and not economically viable for MLB) and #18- Long Island (= NYC), Portland is the #21 media market. We surpassed Pittsburgh last year, and we were already larger than Cleveland, Cincinnati, Kansas City and Milwaukee (all MLB cities).

So, with 30 MLB teams, explain to me why Portland shouldn't have one of them.

Not sure but I think portland is the sister with all the STDS :haha:

Seattle was the Paris Hilton, remember? :haha:

I drove through Charlotte last summer. It's one of those cities with tall buildings but little or nothing going on downtown. There is nothing about the place that suggests any sort of character. Yes they have money because they're a huge banking center, but NASCAR is the most popular sport there. What does that tell you? Charlotte=money and hicks. Come to think of it, maybe baseball would be a perfect fit.

There is really not an arguement for any other city IMO besides Portland. The article in ESPN stated it and most of us have. If the MLB expands or a team moves the Portland area is the biggest and best market for that team. Same goes for football.

Thanks, roner for getting us back to "what the article" stated.... :)

SLC or Vegas? Not a chance. Well, maybe Vegas has a chance...about the same as you hitting it big on a slot at Caesars. And MLB doesn't really care that the East Coast already has enough teams. They see 7 million people within a 2 1/2 hour drive that aren't within that time of another franchise, and lots of very wealthy people with interest in owning pro sports franchises. Don't get me wrong, even the die-hard M'sFan that I am, I would love to have 2 ballparks to choose from on summer evenings...I just don't see the Portland area supporting a team. Too many other distractions/interests.

In a town that prides itself on bookstores, strip clubs, underground restaurants, rock bands, and small enterprise, a baseball team is indeed a hard sell. Plus, unlike Seattle, we're not a company town. We just don't have the heavy-hitting companies. And the ones we do have (Nike, Adidas America) aren't really in a position where they can favor one pro team as they have contracts with many.

So, what you nay sayers are saying is this guy, where professional sports is his game, doesn't know what he is talking about... If we were in the same racket as this author, maybe our opinions would be worth something. Yada, Yada, Yada.... :)

If Portland does get a MLB team, I sure hope they turn the stadium so that it faces downtown...that would look very much like Pittsburgh's PNC Park's spectacular view!

OR how bout a better idea? Put it in Vancouver, WA and Washington can have 2 teams!!! Cheaper land, no income tax for players, let's make it happen! (The Vancouver Explorers...hmmm...like the sound of that)

If it were in Vancouver, I wouldn't go. Vancouver is a mess of freeway intersections that survives by bleeding Portland's infrastructure while providing none of its own. Perhaps if Vancouver supported light rail, planning, and the other things that have increased the livability of the metro area that it's undeniably a part of, then things would change. Remember: until Brad Roots moved in three years ago, the best restaurant in Vancouver was Applebees.

Yeah, I realize it wouldn't work in Couv. I temporarily indulged in my evil "the only good thing about Oregon is from parts of it you can see Washington" attitude. Sorry, my PDX friends.:cheers:

:)

From your posts M'sFan, not to mention your profile name itself, I'm guessing you're more than a little biased against anything that might draw fans away from your precious Mariners. So your naysaying, along with your complete disregard for Portland's favorable demographics and market size, just ring hollow. If you don't like the idea of MLB in Portland, the solution is very simple.... don't go to any of the games here.

There. Problem solved. Now you can move on. And shocking as it may seem, a Portland team will do just fine without your support.

Right on..65MAX!!

I did not realize that the Mariner's still had fans.