Wisconsin Timber Rattlers - future Brewers affiliate?

[parkside21]

Nothing too earth shattering here, and it's all just pipe dreams probably for one local reporter, but nonetheless, it makes me wishful, though I could have done without the cheap Ben Sheets comment.

 

Mike Woods column: Hopefully in '08, Brewers and Rattlers will find each other

[dadofandrew]

I doubt it, but that'd be great for many of us.

[TheCrew07]

I would absolutely love it, and I garuntee I'd go to at least 2 games a week on the homestands. That being said, I doubt it, but it would be cool.

[Cracked Bat Collector]

I would love that. I'd definitely hit up way more games there.

[Brian the Automator]

Part of the reason the Brewers picked up WV as an affiliate was to get out of the cold weather and into that brand spankin' new stadium. I would be surprised if the Power and the Brewers parted ways.

[Boy Jeenius]

What Brian said.

On the other hand, West Viginia held out on the Brewers and made them sweat while they looked for a better offer this last re-up.

[parkside21]

That's kind of my problem with the article and the comparison between Beloit and West Virginia. The author talks about why the Brewers left Beloit, because of poor facilities and low attendance, that's all fine and true....but it's not exactly like West Virginia suffers from any problems with either attendance or facilities. In fact, the T-Rats draw roughly 3,000 fans a game (last time I looked). With the weather poor at the start of the season, I imagine the average will go up and they will finish with between 3,500-4,000 per game. However, West Virginia averages just under 4,000 (if I remember), and their averages are also sure to go up with summer upon us.

 

Obviously, I'd love to see the Brewers have a presence somewhere, anywhere in the Midwest League again...but I don't see how talking about why the Brewers left Beloit applies here, since West Virginia is doing just fine and dandy. If currently West Virginia resembled the Beloit situation ala 2003-ish, then I could see why the Brewers might be inclined to move. Right now, I just sadly don't see it happening.

 

That said, do big league teams even care about the attendance numbers of their affiliates? I mean, the big league club doesn't see any of that gate money, do they? I would imagine they are much more concerned with the current facilities, and attendance is just an afterthought.

[parkside21]

Ugh, why do my posts always end up being so long? Sorry guys.

[Brian the Automator]

[ That said, do big league teams even care about the attendance numbers of their affiliates? I mean, the big league club doesn't see any of that gate money, do they? I would imagine they are much more concerned with the current facilities, and attendance is just an afterthought. ]

 

The Brewers don't care about the gate... They care about their players being happy, and that means facilities.

[TracyThom]

Maybe this deserves its own thread, but here goes anyway...

 

I've always wondered if Steve Schmitt and the Madison Mallards would ever consider becoming an actual affiliated minor league team.

 

Yes, he has a great thing going with the Northwoods League. However, Schmitt is a huge Cardinals fan. Although I don't think there would be any chance he could woo the Cards single A team away from the southern Illinois/Iowa area where they have a strong fanbase, he'd still get to see them a few times a year.

 

The Mallards are pushing forward a new stadium deal. They draw huge crowds, and they webcast every home game. If and when the Snappers fold, I'd be curious to see if Schmitt would step up to the plate and become affiliated with the Midwest League and try to get the Brewers affiliation.

[dadofandrew]

That would seem to be the next logical step for the Mallards. It takes an owner who is wealthy in other aspects to accomplish many things.

[snapperfan22]

Not sure where to begin here...Madison can't have an affiliated team because of territorial rights as long as Beloit franchise remains in Rock County. Let us not forget an affiliated team has failed in Madison. Also Major League teams don't get any of the gate from Minor League teams.

[dadofandrew]

Beloit gained territorial rights after Madison lost a team? That seems strange.

[RyDogg66]

Quote:

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Not sure where to begin here...Madison can't have an affiliated team because of territorial rights as long as Beloit franchise remains in Rock County. Let us not forget an affiliated team has failed in Madison. Also Major League teams don't get any of the gate from Minor League teams.

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I agree with Al, they gained rights AFTER Madison lost its team? That does seem odd. I think there was a franchise in Madison about 15 years ago.

 

Also, who cares if an affiliated team failed in Madison before. If they built a new stadium and offered the same fan experience with a minor league team as they do with the Mallards the fans will still come. People arent going to stop coming just because a team is now officially a minor league team.

 

If they modeled a new stadium after fox cities stadium they would be very wise. Thats a great place to catch a single A game. It makes way more sense to have a Single A affiliate in Madison than it does in Beloit.

[TracyThom]

Quote:

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Not sure where to begin here...Madison can't have an affiliated team because of territorial rights as long as Beloit franchise remains in Rock County. Let us not forget an affiliated team has failed in Madison. Also Major League teams don't get any of the gate from Minor League teams.

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Huh? At one time, weren't there Midwest League teams in Madison, Beloit, and Rockford all at the same time? Please explain.

[filthyfrog]

Unless there's a ton of money from the Major League franchise, I don't think there's any motivation for Schmidt to replace the Mallards with a minor league team. Attendance is about as good as it can possibly get. No one cares about the baseball on the field. In fact, I think people would still go even if there was no game. So adding better baseball wouldn't really make a difference because it's all about the bar atmosphere for the adults and the crazy promotions for the kids.

[snapperfan22]

Territorial rights work like this... any county bording the county (in this case rock county), is considered that teams territory. The team has the ability to waive their rights if they so choose. Beloit would not waive those rights so no affilaited team can happen in Rockford or Madison.

[TracyThom]

Is territorial rights something new in the past 10 years? Like I mentioned, at one time the Snappers had teams competing in the county directly to the south (Rockford Cubbies in Winnebago County, IL) and north (Madison Muskies in Dane County.)

[JJ Hardy Har Har]

Madison also had the Hatters (Cardinals) as recently as 1994 playing in the Midwest League. So this rule either had to have been put in place since then, or it's total B.S.

 

P.S. What's that smell?