The numbers don’t add up for baseball’s return to Montreal.
The Montreal Expos played their final game on October 3, 2004, losing 8-1 to the Mets at Shea Stadium. But will it be their last game?
MLB Commissioner, Rob Manfred (CBSSports.com)
In an interview conducted at this year’s All-Star Game, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred identified Montreal among a list of cities as potential locations for an MLB expansion team.
Manfred’s reference to Montreal created a buzz. However, is Montreal prepared to support major league baseball? Or is nostalgia trumping logic?
I think Montreal is no more capable of supporting an MLB team than it was 14 years ago–when the team packed its bags and moved to Washington DC.
Back then, the demise of interest in the Expos was often attributed to the 1994 players’ strike, which led to canceling the season from early August onward. At the time of the strike, the Expos boasted the best record in baseball, 74-40, and had an extremely talented roster, which included Pedro Martinez, Moises Alou, and Larry Walker.
But even with those positives, the Expos averaged under 24k fans per home game that year. The total draw–1.2 million–was over 30% below the NL average and ranked 11th out of 14 teams. And even with very competitive teams in ’92 and ’93, attendance was no better (in fact, it was worse)–barely cracking an average of 20,000 fans per game.
Now, fast forward to 2018. For the last five years, the Blue Jays have completed the spring exhibition schedule by playing two games at Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Prior to 2018–and during the previous four years–the series drew over 50k fans a game. But this year’s game attracted half that number.
Is this a sign that baseball fervor (if it ever existed) is waning in Montreal?
Mayor Plante (photo, iHeartRadio.ca)
No, if you ask influential Canadian businessmen, Stephen Bronfman and Mitch Garber. They are avid supporters of baseball’s return to Montreal, and they are also willing to contribute private funds to the cause.
But there’s a hitch and her name is Valerie Plante. Plante is Montreal’s mayor.
Plante’s attitude about landing an expansion team can be described as lukewarm, at best. And her attitude may reflect the public’s view. She was elected mayor over incumbent Denis Coderre, an outspoken proponent of MLB’s return to Montreal.
One big issue is where the team would play. MLB considers Olympic Stadium an unsuitable facility, even though having a new stadium in place isn’t a condition for becoming an expansion team. However, it will become an issue not too long down the line.
With that in mind, Mayor Plante has deferred for four years a possible stadium referendum. That means private funding would need to fill in the gap, with public funding levels minimal, if at all. But is that a reasonable proposition? Is it even feasible?
Bottom line: I think there’s one word to describe MLB’s consideration of Montreal as an expansion franchise.
Misguided.
