16/14 & 6/4

[NeedMoreFans]

I really don't think there will ever be 3 teams in any sport in New York.

There are 3 hockey teams...Rangers, Islanders and Devils. Yes, the Devils are, "New Jersey", but they play in the parking lot of a stadium that hosts 2 "New York" teams.

[kramnoj]

I really don't think there will ever be 3 teams in any sport in New York.

 

Hockey has the Rangers, Devils, and Islanders. There was, for some time, 3 baseball teams in NY.

 

I think the time with less than 3 teams in NY is shorter than the time that there had been 3 teams in NY. Not very relevant to today's sports scene, but somewhat interesting.

[bucks2281]

Not even NY can support three hockey teams. The Islanders are slowly fading and chances are they'll move to Kansas City within the next 5-10 years. Am I the only person that would feel weird about a third New York MLB team?

[brewdude15]

My apologies...I'm not the biggest hockey fan, but even I should've known that.

 

I would be disgusted if there were another New York MLB Team.

[rluzinski]

I'd like to see baseball go back to two divisions per league and then add another wildcard for each league.

 

Very nice. I'd certainly prefer that over having a 4 and 6 team division, like the current set up. And I agree with others that expanding to 4 divisions per league would just make it even harder to make sure that the best teams make the playoffs.

[Invader3K]

Another NY/NJ baseball team would hurt the Yankees, and that's OK in my book. Otherwise, Portland should finally get an MLB team. I think they would rabidly support a team, and it would take away the threat the owners have always had of "We'll move our team to Portland if you don't give in to our demands!" Of course, for that reason they might never put a team there.

 

A team somewhere in the Deep South would be kind of neat to see, since that region doesn't have any baseball teams really nearby, but I doubt economically they could support a baseball team.

[logan82]

Portland has a AAA team right now. TLB could probably weigh in on how they draw.

 

I wouldn't care how stuff got lined back up as long as we didn't end up in a division with the Cali teams. Those trips out west are brutal with all the late night games.

[nate82]

A team somewhere in the Deep South would be kind of neat to see, since that region doesn't have any baseball teams really nearby, but I doubt economically they could support a baseball team.

Charlotte is the only city I can think of that would make sense. Atlanta and New Orleans (a big maybe) are the only other southern cities that could support a MLB team. I don't really believe New Orleans would be a city MLB would be looking at I could see Charlotte but thats the only one I can think of.

 

Las Vegas and Portland are the other cities that could have a MLB team. I could see a Mexico team before those two teams though even though a team from Mexico probably woudln't be able to compete financially with the other MLB teams but then again I doubt there would be a problem of getting fans to come to the games like in Florida and other cities.

[TooLiveBrew]

Portland has a AAA team right now. TLB could probably weigh in on how they draw.

 

Maybe for minor league/AAA teams the Beavers draw well, but honestly the attendance is pretty crummy on the whole. The only nights the Beavs see good attendance is the weekend games or the Thirsty Thursday promotion.

 

On the other hand, when Or. St. played a 3-game set against UGA last year at PGE Park (the baseball stadium in Portland), each game set a new OSU attendance record. The Blazers mania here is comparable to how the Cubs are loved in Chicago. I'm guessing that if a MLB franchise came here, it'd thrive.

 

It's an odd concept that a baseball fan from Portland should be a Mariners fan. It'd be like Milwaukee without the Brewers, and then people would 'have to' be Cubs fans by almost default. There are a lot of baseball fans here, but seemingly for every M's hat you see, you see SFG/OAK hats too.

[logan82]

I would have guessed more San Diego fans since Portland is in their farm system. Guess you just miss out on seeing Gamel play next weekend.

[endaround]

Charlotte and Las Vegas both have smaller media markets than Milwaukee. With Vegas it might not be a problem, but Charlotte would be another small market team. Media markets bigger than Milwaukee without a team: Sacremento (The A's are unlikely to allow that to happen), Indianapolis and Portland. LA and New York both could easily support 3rd teams. If they could get a national baseball contract that would pay enough Mexico City could be possible but trips there would be a logistical problem. But they would likely draw 70,000 a game (and still make little money.)

[brewdude15]

I still think the most logical location would be Indiana. I also like the idea of Portland. It would give the Mariners an arch-rival, just like the Brewers-Cubs. Indiana would be the AL Central's 6th team (to match with the NL Central) and Portland would obviously give the AL West 5 teams. 32 teams, 16 per league.

[TooLiveBrew]

I would have guessed more San Diego fans since Portland is in their farm system. Guess you just miss out on seeing Gamel play next weekend.

 

You'd think so, but I don't see even as many (let alone more) Pads hats as OAK/SFG. The Beavers barely market themselves at all, though. The guy that owns the team (former Sec. of Treasury Hank Paulson's kid... yay trust-fund babies) really doesn't seem to care much about baseball. Along with the Beavers, his company owns the Portland Timbers, which are a minor-league soccer team (& also play at PGE Park). If anyone follows MLS, Portland was just awarded a new MLS franchise (iirc beginning play in 2011), and that seems to be all Paulson cares about.

 

 

If you had committed ownership to go with a MLB franchise, this city would eat it up. If nothing else has, the recent success of the Or. State baseball team has fostered a huge love of baseball in Oregon. If the Beavers marketed themselves at all, I think they'd draw much better, but clearly that's just not a priority to the ownership.

[sbrylski]

I have put little thought into this, but don't forget about Ottawa/Montreal/Vancouver.

[topper09er]

Just for fun although I would hate to see 4 divisions in each league, what would they be? 1 possibility:

In the NL move Houston and Colorado to the AL for Tampa Bay and add a franchise in Charlottle

 

East: PHIL, NYM, PIT, WASH,

North: MIL, CHC, STL, CIN,

West: LAD, SF, SD, AZ,

South: FLA, TB, ATL, CHAR

 

In the AL move Tampa Bay to the NL and get Houston and Colorado and add a team in Portland:

East: NYY, BOS, BAL, TOR,

North: CHW, CLE, MINN, DET,

South: HOU, COL, TEX, KC,

West: LAA, SEA, OAK, PORT

[Invader3K]

The problem with that is I really doubt Tampa would be willing to switch leagues and give up all the revenue they get from the visiting Yankees and Red Sox. Also, I think Houston has had the option to switch before and has been opposed to it (though I think they should and would do well in your proposed layout).

[nate82]

Charlotte and Las Vegas both have smaller media markets than Milwaukee. With Vegas it might not be a problem, but Charlotte would be another small market team. Media markets bigger than Milwaukee without a team: Sacremento (The A's are unlikely to allow that to happen), Indianapolis and Portland. LA and New York both could easily support 3rd teams. If they could get a national baseball contract that would pay enough Mexico City could be possible but trips there would be a logistical problem. But they would likely draw 70,000 a game (and still make little money.)

Las Vegas wouldn't have a problem with the smaller media market and Charlotte wouldn't have the problem the Nationals, Marlins, and Rays have. Those teams have the transplanted Red Sox, Yankees, and Cubs fans to deal with. Charlotte really wouldn't have this problem as much as those teams have. The media market is small but I just don't see another New York team being added. Indianapolis is an interesting one though.

 

With Las Vegas you know you will have a national media audience and is the main reason why you hear about the NBA and to a lesser extent the NFL wanting to put a team there. With the tourism in Las Vegas it becomes a very high media market that the leagues would want to exploit.

[logan82]

Is Las Vegas a really good summer destination? I think the NFL and an NBA team would draw well because of the tourism in the cooler northern months.

[kramnoj]

Vegas is an interesting city. I've never been there, but deserts get cool at night, so I don't think fans would necessarily bake in the sun. If they have to delay games to 7:30 like they do in Texas, that probably isn't a big deal. It is too small to have a team just based on Vegas residents, so the question is would there be enough tourist money to support the team.

 

I suppose it would depend entirely on how the big casinos treat the team. If they think they can sell packages that would include games and hotel, and if they would buy luxury suites for their best clients, it could work. If they saw baseball as a threat that eats up disposable income that should be spent in the hotel, there's probably no chance of getting the business support that is needed.

 

The other interesting thing that I've seen people talk about is just how different Vegas is as a community. If a large portion of the community is dependent on working in the casinos and relevant businesses at night, how much of the population would actually be able to attend games?

[nate82]

If one of the casino owner really wanted to bring a sports team into Vegas they could get creative and have the stadium be a casino/hotel. Which would address most of the problems.

[JoeH33]

I haven't seen anyone bring up Memphis or Nashville yet, both of which have populations about the size of Milwaukee. I think the South would be a great place for another team because the only team currently located in that region is the Braves.

[topper09er]

If some billionare built a hotel/casino/baseball stadium and included the ticket prices into the hotel room rates how many of us would be going to the brewers vs gamblers series in vegas every year...probably about 90%.

[BrewCrewForever]

I have often wondered about this as well. How is it fair to have 6 teams in one division and only 4 in another. But I guess it is what it is.

[nate82]

If some billionare built a hotel/casino/baseball stadium and included the ticket prices into the hotel room rates how many of us would be going to the brewers vs gamblers series in vegas every year...probably about 90%.

This is the gamble that the NFL and NBA were making when thinking about putting a franchise in Las Vegas. I still believe Vegas is going to get a NBA franchise before Seattle gets one again. There is going to be a professional sports team in Las Vegas it is just a matter of time. The lure of the tourism dollars will be too much for one of the leagues to pass up.

[Invader3K]

I have often wondered about this as well. How is it fair to have 6 teams in one division and only 4 in another. But I guess it is what it is.

You would think Selig would figure out a way to fix it sooner than later, since you know, he used to own the Brewers.