Latest in Sky Sox affiliation saga - Latest: Upgrades confirmed in San Antonio's Stadium

[jerichoholicninja]

If they land an NFL team, you can bet they'll be after a MLB team next. If they build a new stadium, I'm fairly certain if it isn't large enough for a major league team (and I'm guessing it will be), it will be structured in such a way that it can be expanded into one.

 

Are you seriously suggesting that the Brewers could move to San Antonio if the they build an NFL stadium and the rebuild takes too long?

 

There are so many things wrong with that but I'll just start by saying MLB wouldn't allow a franchise to move into a football stadium, no matter how new it is.

 

That's not what I said. But if they land an NFL team, they'll have an NBA team and an NFL team and would only lack a MLB team. Given that the Astros and Rangers both reside now in the AL, it would make sense for MLB to desire an NL presence and for San Antonio to build a baseball stadium to attract a team to complete their ascension to big league. As for television market, they'd have not just San Antonio market, but nearby Austin/Round Rock as well with a metro population of 2 million and growing rapidly as well.

 

A history lesson. The Boston Braves put their AAA team in Milwaukee, and when Milwaukee decided to build County Stadium to attract a big league team, Lou Perini, the Braves owner who was from Boston, got $ in his eyes as his floundering team was losing money in Boston. Had Perini not seen first hand what was going on in Milwaukee, then it's more likely the St. Louis Browns would have ended up here.

 

That was a completely different era when the money is pro sports was minuscule compared to what it is now and the decisions of the league and teams was determined by personal vendettas and friendships. The reason the Browns didn't come to Milwaukee was more because of the league and many owner's hatred of Bill Veeck.

 

A Brewers AAA team in San Antonio has as much bearing on the Brewers moving to San Antonio as a Brewers AAA team in Colorado Springs, or Nashville, or Indianapolis had on them moving the big league team to one of those cities.

[patrickgpe]

i think instead of trying to buy / invest in a team like Columbus or Louisville, it would be cool to get an International team in Madison. Of course i do not know the logistics of this, since this means that one current team would have to disband.

 

Madison supports the Mallards pretty well and do not have any professional sports as high as triple A baseball. I think it would be very successful for Madison and Mark A.

[MrTPlush]

i think instead of trying to buy / invest in a team like Columbus or Louisville, it would be cool to get an International team in Madison. Of course i do not know the logistics of this, since this means that one current team would have to disband.

 

Madison supports the Mallards pretty well and do not have any professional sports as high as triple A baseball. I think it would be very successful for Madison and Mark A.

 

Brewers wouldn't allow it that is the problem. We already talked about this once where, in the Brewers case, it would pull away from the MLB attendance etc. to where it wouldn't make sense for them to put the AAA team close to home.

[patrickgpe]

i think instead of trying to buy / invest in a team like Columbus or Louisville, it would be cool to get an International team in Madison. Of course i do not know the logistics of this, since this means that one current team would have to disband.

 

Madison supports the Mallards pretty well and do not have any professional sports as high as triple A baseball. I think it would be very successful for Madison and Mark A.

Brewers wouldn't allow it that is the problem. We already talked about this once where, in the Brewers case, it would pull away from the MLB attendance etc. to where it wouldn't make sense for them to put the AAA team close to home.

that makes sense, but toledo is about an hour from Detroit, and the tigers don't have a problem. The sky sox were within 1.5 hours and the Rockies were OK with that for so many years.

 

I also don't think that it would affect MLB attendance at all. The brewers aren't worried about have the Chinooks in Mequon. I know its college kids, but if $ was the only factor families would be flocking there. There would be some effect i am sure, but I think its minimal.

[Outlander]

As somebody living in Madison I know I would be spending more time watching AAA baseball, especially during this rebuilding period. Hard to say what the impact would be to the Brewers but I think the difference between college players and prospects one step from the majors is a big difference. I go to the Mallards game because it is family friendly and I like baseball but would go to the AAA games to see future Brewers. I guess there is a possibility it could also help future attendance because people from Madison and near there would have seen these guys before reaching the bigs and might like to see them in the majors.

[patrickgpe]

I'd probably going to Madison a couple times over the course of the season which would be a few less times I am at Miller Park, I get why the brewers wouldn't want to give up that revenue. It would though force the brewers to put a competitive product on the field as the sky sox will be more exciting to follow this season than the parent club.

 

My point is that other clubs don't have an issue with it, so why should the brewers, because I am sure many brewer fans would love to see prospects live in person before they are up to the bigs.

 

There has been no correlation between attendance and having a A ball team in Appleton (i understand that low A and triple A are a huge difference)

[CheezWizHed]

My point is that other clubs don't have an issue with it, so why should the brewers, because I am sure many brewer fans would love to see prospects live in person before they are up to the bigs.

 

There has been no correlation between attendance and having a A ball team in Appleton (i understand that low A and triple A are a huge difference)

 

Both Denver and especially Detroit are much larger metro areas to support it. At Appleton and Beloit (both A-ball), the average attendance to support the team is under 4,000 fans. AAA is typically double the attendance. Might not be much, but I really doubt the Brewers would support (let alone encourage) having 3 minor league teams in proximity (2 hours drive or less) to Milwaukee.

 

Metro Populations:

Milwaukee: 1.57M + Madison: 0.62M

Denver: 2.75M + Colorado Springs: 0.69M

Detroit: 4.29M + Toledo: 0.60M

[nodakfan17]

On the topic of a AAA team in Madison - an interesting case study would be to see if the Timber Rattlers have cannibalized any of the Brewers' revenue. I now live in Green Bay and it costs about 3-times as much for me to catch a game in Milwaukee as it does in Appleton. I usually make the Miller Park pilgrimage twice per year, but with the reasonably close MiLB alternative, I don't make many extra trips. If there were a AAA team in Madison, I would definitely come down to check it out, but that might come at the expense of a single-A game.

[MrTPlush]

I think you guys are underestimating the effect even the T-Rats have on the Brewers. With booming ticket prices the gap is beginning to be quite massive. Why should I spend a fortune to take my family to one Brewers game when I can go to 5+ T-Rats games for the same price? Not to mention pay a fraction of the price for beer, food, parking etc.

 

You add in a AAA team to the mix and even 40,000 less fans costs $1mil in lost ticket revenue. Add in all the other extras and clearly you are talking about a huge chunk of cash.

 

Or you know they could just keep them far away and have no negative effect. In their market that is most sensible.

[patrickgpe]

there is something to be said about having your triple A team in the south if the long term plan is to keep affiliates in biloxi and brevard county. Will be much easier to play ball in April and May, would be easy to promote / demote players from double a to triple a, and Sterms or any other brewers official could visit all 3 teams pretty quickly.

 

This is why i would love to see if the New Orleans would dump the Marlins for the brewers. From a fan standpoint Madison would be awesome, but i understand the negatives of the move.

[ReverendBrewmeister]

Unfortunately the Brewers aren't very desirable. We've been dumped for the Pirates and A's in our last 2 locations. If this happens, San Antonio would seem like a no brainer to affliate with the Astros (who were left without a partner as well and ended up in Fresno for the last go around).

 

Houston having San Antonio as a long term AAA affiliate would be a good get for the Astros. Austin (Round Rock) is currently linked with the Texas Rangers. Putting an Astros affiliate 90 miles down the road would be a good way to try to gain the San Antonio market. Unfortunately, that would likely mean losing out on the site for the Brewers as ZBTMP notes above.

 

To JohnBriggs12's statements about San Antonio/Austin becoming "major league": The population trends would indicate that it could be a possibility, if it would develop into a San Antonio/Austin metroplex. But perhaps the distance between San Antonio and Austin and the desire of the cities to be seen as completely distinct would be a bit too much to overcome.

[molitor fan]

I live in Charlotte and would obviously love to see AAA team of Brewers here...however the relationship with White Sox is strong and Sox have 3 of their milb teams in North Carolina - so that is optimal for them. I will say that the beautiful new stadium in Charlotte is stunning and a great place to watch a game...however it is a bandbox, does not play to its measurements (I think the measurements are actually false, as it actually looks very similar in dimensions to the park the high school team I help coach plays in which is 20 feet less all around that what the Charlotte park measures in at), and thus skews stats offensively.

[MNBrew]

http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/minor-league-player-development-contracts/

 

Scroll to the bottom.

 

Maybe Toledo is getting sick of Detroit's mediocre system and interested in its franchises historical past as the old minor league Milwaukee Brewers? Not seeing much for options...

 

 

Thank you, from a brewers prospective, i think New Orleans would make the most sense. Miami has a bottom 5 system, plus its a former brewers affiliate. Close to Biloxi and Brevard County.

 

EDIT: I can't see Toledo leaving detroit no matter what. It would be as shocking as Wisconsin leaving the brewers as an affiliate.

I agree, and maybe it's not the same because of how the relationship with the current A-ball team has been nurtured, but it wasn't that long ago that Beloit left the Brewers (or vice versa), so it's not a completely absurd possibility.

[patrickgpe]

Looks like it was the brewers decision due to the aging stadium in beloit.

https://badgerherald.com/sports/2004/10/07/after-23-years-with/

[MadScientist]

New Orleans would be a good location, for easy scouting of AA and AAA, plus quick transfer of players. If that doesn't work, I will be satisfied if 1) they are not in Colorado and 2) they are not in the worst stadium in AAA.

[brewmann04]

I really hope they leave next year deal is up.

[patrickgpe]

I really hope they leave next year deal is up.

 

takes 2 to tango. I think with Nashville the issue was that the sounds let their intentions be known late and the brewers had other opportunities (Albuquerque), but didn't pursue them since they assumed they were keeping Nashville with a new stadium.

[brewmann04]

Always take two hope they would have more choices.

[MrTPlush]

With the amount of talent the Brewers will be pushing through the minors here in the coming years I imagine many teams will be interested in the Brewers for a AAA team.

[502 to Right]

The Raiders won't go to San Antonio. But they sure as hell will use San Antonio as a bargaining chip.

[Mass Haas]

Sorry, Colorado Springs Gazette, but even with the ownership connection, don't look for the Helena Brewers to move and play Pioneer League games in your large AAA ballpark.

[young guns]

I bet those 15 hour bus rides would bring joy to both the hypothetical cs team and the missoula teams. Closest team would be 5 hours away and next closest is 9 hours. Thats just not gonna happen.

[Mass Haas]

San Antonio Triple-A Announcement Expected

By Kevin Reichard, BallparkDigest.com

 

Key takeaway from the article:

 

Of course, the announcement will begin speculation about a potential team move. The assumption is that the Sky Sox would be moved, but that’s probably a premature assumption. There are potentially PCL teams on the market, so we’ll let the process play out.

 

Another key note from outside the article:

 

The Brewers PDC with Colorado Springs currently only runs through 2016. (Current MiLB PDC affiliation status page)

[Mudville9]

I may have missed this previously, but does SA have a stadium or would they build one? Having a new stadium in AA and AAA would be quite the coup. Honestly I'd prefer they play on a intramural field in SA than in Colorado Springs next year. I really like the way the minor league teams are stacking up in one area of the country. I would think that would bring down costs of travel etc, for the business side. I'm not sure if there are any rookie teams in FL, but it would be nice to move A+ to Carolina and bring a rookie ball team to FL. That would put all our minor league teams (besides Helena and Appleton) within a few hundred miles of each other, not to mention a possible move of ST to Florida.

[ZBTMP]

How good of a relationship do the Brewers have with Elmore Sports Group? I'd guess with 2 affiliates it can't be terrible. The note about them buying Lynchburg is interesting but the PDC with the Indians goes until 2018. However, they also own Bakersfield who is oft-rumored to be a team that may be headed to Carolina... gives me some hope...