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OT: MLB Thread

There's a better chance of Quebec getting two NHL expansions team, AT THE SAME TIME, than of the 'Spos being reborn. Just realistin'.
 
Nah... I think there's a chance the Spos could return. Not a great chance but with the strong Canadian dollar they could be somewhat viable.
 
Krustchev said:
There's a better chance of Quebec getting two NHL expansions team, AT THE SAME TIME, than of the 'Spos being reborn. Just realistin'.
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Ye of little faith.

Bell owns TSN and RDS which, after this season, will no longer have any national hockey broadcasts and zero playoff hockey. So what will they do in the spring of 2015 when all the NHL playoff games are being shown on Sportnet? The Blue Jays? Nope, sorry. They're owned by Rogers too.

Sports networks are profitable because advertisers like them. And advertisers like them because sports fans tend to watch sports live as opposed to other forms to TV which people are happy to PVR and watch later (while skipping past the commercials) But in order to get people to watch you need content. A baseball team in Montreal, owned in whole or in part by Bell, would provide 162 games worth of content that can be sold to advertisers. Unless Bell is happy with running all-day marathons of "Le Defi Mini-Putt" on RDS, the idea of a reborn Expos should be of interest to them.
 
Krustchev said:
Sure but no one will take the risk of owning a baseball team in Montreal. No chance. Zero.
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Nobody will foot the bill for a nice stade. I agree. But if (giant size if) the government handed out dough to rich dudes they way they do in the USA to build stadiums, somebody would bite at owning a team.
 
WeHaveMoreCupsThanYou said:
Ye of little faith.

Bell owns TSN and RDS which, after this season, will no longer have any national hockey broadcasts and zero playoff hockey. So what will they do in the spring of 2015 when all the NHL playoff games are being shown on Sportnet? The Blue Jays? Nope, sorry. They're owned by Rogers too.

Sports networks are profitable because advertisers like them. And advertisers like them because sports fans tend to watch sports live as opposed to other forms to TV which people are happy to PVR and watch later (while skipping past the commercials) But in order to get people to watch you need content. A baseball team in Montreal, owned in whole or in part by Bell, would provide 162 games worth of content that can be sold to advertisers. Unless Bell is happy with running all-day marathons of "Le Defi Mini-Putt" on RDS, the idea of a reborn Expos should be of interest to them.
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Terrific theory but slight caveat, u see in 1976 the Expos didn't think much of having a new Toronto team to enter their airwaves in Western Quebec out east through the maritimes , so they settled on the Jays having exclusive rights from Belleville out westward. So which fool is going to cough up big $ without access to Southern Ontario? Bell would want access to the entire country, only way to hope & build a business case to be profitable.

If a new Mtl ownership group were ever to find a way to overthrow that ruling in court, and gain Canada-wide rights, then maybe, still a very slim but better maybe.
 
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Well the construction of a stadium would enable a few hundred PQ voters (construction workers who belong to the FTQ) to make a nice chunk of change. It would be a golden opportunity to show how Quebec isn't all mobbed up and corrupt when the project is finished on time and on budget.

(if by "on time" you mean unfinished but functional in time to open 2 months later than scheduled and by "on budget" you mean "only" $50 million worth of cost overruns, kick-backs, and bribes)
 
CH1 said:
Nobody will foot the bill for a nice stade. I agree. But if (giant size if) the government handed out dough to rich dudes they way they do in the USA to build stadiums, somebody would bite at owning a team.
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They do that in the U.S. usually when the owner hints at/threatens to move the team but that obviously would not be a factor here so . . . no chance of MLB returning to Montreal. Sorry.
 
Sal_Butera said:
Terrific theory but slight caveat, u see in 1976 the Expos didn't think much of having a new Toronto team to enter their airwaves in Western Quebec out east through the maritimes , so they settled on the Jays having exclusive rights from Belleville out westward. So which fool is going to cough up big $ without access to Southern Ontario? Bell would want access to the entire country, only way to hope & build a business case to be profitable.

If a new Mtl ownership group were ever to find a way to overthrow that ruling in court, and gain Canada-wide rights, then maybe, still a very slim but better maybe.
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would an arrangement between the Jays and Expos still apply when a new team wouldn't be the Expos.
 
Sal_Butera said:
Terrific theory but slight caveat, u see in 1976 the Expos didn't think much of having a new Toronto team to enter their airwaves in Western Quebec out east through the maritimes , so they settled on the Jays having exclusive rights from Belleville out westward. So which fool is going to cough up big $ without access to Southern Ontario?

If a new Mtl ownership group were ever to find a way to overthrow that ruling in court, and gain Canada-wide rights, then maybe, still a very slim but better maybe.
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It is important to note that any new team in Montreal, even if it's called the Expos, will not, in fact, be THOSE Expos. So the old broadcasting model will no longer apply. It will be a role-reversal this time; the Jays will be the established team and the Expos will be the expansion team. And broadcasting means a lot more than TV nowadays. Television isn't the only platform on which people access games anymore. And even when the Expos were around any game shown on RDS was seen from coast to coast. just like the Habs are now.

In other words, the broadcasting deal is going to be revisited and any new owner is going to make a point of getting a new, more favourable deal. MLB will likely instruct the Jays to play nice in the sandbox.
 
Krustchev said:
They do that in the U.S. usually when the owner hints at/threatens to move the team but that obviously would not be a factor here so . . . no chance of MLB returning to Montreal. Sorry.
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umm they also do in cities where teams move to . Smarten up.
 
CH1 said:
umm they also do in cities where teams move to . Smarten up.
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Exactly. Tampa built their dome before they ever got the Rays. And until the Rays were formed, at least a half-dozen teams in other markets threatened to move there unless the cities they were in built them new ballparks essentially for free. I remember the White Sox specifically threatening a move to Tampa before the new Comiskey was built.
 
WeHaveMoreCupsThanYou said:
It is important to note that any new team in Montreal, even if it's called the Expos, will not, in fact, be THOSE Expos. So the old broadcasting model will no longer apply. It will be a role-reversal this time; the Jays will be the established team and the Expos will be the expansion team. And broadcasting means a lot more than TV nowadays. Television isn't the only platform on which people access games anymore. And even when the Expos were around any game shown on RDS was seen from coast to coast. just like the Habs are now.

In other words, the broadcasting deal is going to be revisited and any new owner is going to make a point of getting a new, more favourable deal. MLB will likely instruct the Jays to play nice in the sandbox.
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I would never have pictured the color of the sky in u'r world was pink. Maybe Sunshine does fit....
 
Sal_Butera said:
I would never have pictured the color of the sky in u'r world was pink. Maybe Sunshine does fit....
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When it comes to broadcasting, MLB is very NFL-like. They control a lot of the broadcast content centrally and since all teams share in the TV money it behooves MLB to ensure that all it's member clubs can generate revenues. In a country of 30+ million there should be plenty of money to go around between two teams. There's no need for the Jays and Expos to try and cut each other's throats except on the field.
 
I think the more tb keeps sucking at the gate despite being a very good team gives hope that someone will relocate that market
 
CH1 said:
umm they also do in cities where teams move to . Smarten up.
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There will never be a publicly funded stadium in Quebec for a baseball team that is not yet playing there so the threat of moving to Montreal is illusory. Any American would laugh if you threatened to move your ball club to Montreal. And rightly so.
 
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