Charlotte, NC
Memphis, TN
Portland, OR
New Orleans, LA
Calgary, Alberta,Canada
Las Vegas, NV
Jacksonville, FL
I don’t think Las Vegas can have a professional team due to the legalized gambling. Anyway, it is fun to go to Las Vegas on a Sunday during football season. You get to sit in the sports room of your favorite casinos and see every single game on huge screens. I’ve done lousy gambling on the games however, I do better at the blackjack and craps tables.
And that's not the end of it, not by far. I can list at least two dozen changes for the worse from the dedicated American fan's point of view - starting of course with ridiculously high prices for admission and overly pampered athletes not 100% into competing. And Selig is the poster boy for much of it.
More expansion? Is he kidding?
Would it help to get rid of the Seattle Mariners? Please?
Charlotte, NC
Memphis, TN
Portland, OR
New Orleans, LA
Calgary, Alberta,Canada
Las Vegas, NV
Jacksonville, FL
Pittsburgh, PA needs a team. :-)
Hartford, Ct should get one!!! Someone from Connecticut was trying to get the Expos, before they moved to DC.
While I would be the first to buy season tickets if San Antonio landed a MLB team, I just don’t see a team moving to SA.
First, while we are the sixth- or seventh-largest city in the country, we are roughly the 30th largest metro area. Some of the suburbs to the north count towards Austin’s total.
Second, the AA Missions (yes, San Antonio, despite well over 1 million people, only has a AA team) only manage to draw about 6,000 on weekends, and 2,500 during the week, in spite of winning three of the last nine Texas League championships and being well on their way to a fourth in ten years this year. The ballpark isn’t in the nicest section of town, isn’t near *anything* besides a highway and an AF base, yet they still charge $5 to park. Concession prices are comparable with major league parks, and the home club (San Diego) runs specials *better* than the Missions.
Third, there is no good facility in the area that could easily be converted into a major league stadium. The Albatross-dome, I mean Alamodome was built too small for baseball. Wolff Stadium only holds about 8,000 maximum, and is not in great shape for a 15-year-old park. They could just raze the Wolff and rebuild, but I don’t see a MLB-quality park going up in an off-season.
Finally, the Round Rock Express, just north of Austin, are doing great business. They started about 10 years ago as Houston’s AA team, and were quickly promoted to AAA after attendance stayed high. They routinely draw 10k+ on weekends, they have a state-of-the-art facility, and are much more likely to draw baseball fans up from San Antonio than vice versa.