Dude, I don’t know that that’s necessarily so. The Japanese might be interested in an MLB team that was completely or predominantly composed of Japanese players, but I doubt they’d be interested in a team of gaijin. Besides, they have their own league, which is well-established and popular (and, in my opinion, about the same level of play as a Triple-A league here in the States - the step up to a MLB team wouldn’t be that great).
Just because they will flock to see a one game between American teams doesn’t mean they’d go to see 81.
Ah, thank you, that explains the otherwise rather puzzling question. MLB, indeed, defers to no international federation, and is thus free to plant franchises wherever its collective heart desires.
I don’t think distance from Seattle is an issue with regard to the viability of an MLB franchise in Vancouver. However, I believe there is a question of whether the city would support it. Vancouver’s track record with sports that are not hockey is rather spotty at best. It lost its AAA team in the PCL years ago. Its NBA franchise only lasted a few years before it moved to Memphis. Granted, the CFL franchise is still there but I don’t know how well it draws.
That was an odd situation. MLB grants franchises exclusive territories and said the Orioles deal includes Baltimore and most of the counties in nothern Maryland. I think part of Angelos argument was that Washington was de facto Orioles territory since DC hadn’t had a team since the early 70’s and DC residents were spending money on the Orioles. MLB probably could have shoved it down his throat, but if Angelos went to court, he could have held the move up for a long time.
When the Yankees wanted to establish the Staten Island Yankees, they had to make a deal with the Mets since Staten Island is considered Mets territory, so the Mets got a minor league team in Brooklyn.
Now the Giants are getting into it with the with the A’s because the A’s have considered building a park in San Jose which the Giants claim is within their realm. Even if the franchise agreement does not give San Jose to the Giants, I wager that some deal will be struck to smooth the way for a stadium in San Jose.
Ah, no, not exactly. I grew up playing baseball and watching the A’s on TV. I was just curious as to whether or not MLB had some specific rule about being located only in North America and, if it did, why there were no teams from any Mexican cities in MLB. Ignorance fought!
BTW, as someone who born and raised in the San Jose, this BS by the Giants to drive the A’s out of the area is just ridiculous. San Jose is pretty much equidistant from the City and Oakland, and (in my experience) split half and half between A’s and Giants fans.
It has nothing to do with territory, it has everything to do with the Giants forcing the A’s to have an extended legal battle so that they can move 45 minutes down I-880 (and stay in the Bay Area).
A team in Tokyo is logistically impossible. Baseball teams play every day. There’s no practical way to design a schedule with one Japan-based team that wouldn’t wreak utter havoc on team travel.
Not that that has anything to do with your point. But Nate Silver probably SHOULD have considered Mexico City. It’s theoretically possible that a Mexican entrepreneur could make a bid to move/expand an MLB team there, and if the business plan was solid I have no doubt MLB would consider it. Tokyo, however, can’t be done.
Sure. I was being hyperbolic. My main point was, as you probably realize, simply to note that Silver didn’t even attempt to evaluate Mexico City, so using Silver’s list is not an especially useful measure of Mexico City’s viability.
Years ago, when the Giants were doing poorly and were thinking of moving to Denver, MLB gave the team exclusive rights to San Jose as an incentive to stay in the Bay Area. Those rights were never rescinded, although they could be if the MLB ownership decides on it (I remember reading that it would take a 2/3 vote of the MLB owners).
Although I’m an A’s fan, I can see why the Giants would want to maintain their hold on San Jose. A lot of their fans come from the peninsula, and some of those fans would switch their allegiance if the A’s ballpark were significantly closer to them. Of course, the Giants would probably pick up fans from the East Bay at the same time. It would make more economic sense for MLB to divide up the Bay Area along north/south lines rather than east/west lines, since that’s how the population is distributed, but the Giants’ ownership is thinking about their own interests, not those of MLB as a whole.
As for having two teams near each other - the question isn’t one of distance, but of whether there is enough population and fan interest to support two teams. For example, Chicago has a huge population and is a sports-crazy city. The Seattle/Vancouver area is smaller and not as sports-crazy.
I think if given the choice, the NBA wouldn’t hesitate to place a franchise in Seattle over Vancouver. Seattle had 40 years of history, an NBA championship, and fairly strong fan support whereas Vancouver had just a few seasons of sub-par basketball and mediocre attendance.
As for MLB, I would like to see a franchise put in Vancouver (or Portland) because I think it would be great if the Mariners had a regional rival. However, I don’t think MLB is planning on expanding for awhile and, if it does, markets like Las Vegas, Charlotte, or San Antonio probably look better to them.
I don’t question that Seattle is probably a better place for the NBA than Vancouver. I was merely saying that using Vancouver’s tepid NBA support as an example for future sports in Vancouver might not be an accurate picture because the Sonics were entrenched nearby. When the Grizzlies moved into town, they probably had a smaller local market than you’d expect, since many basketball fans in Vancouver would probably have been die-hard Sonics fans already.
For that matter, that’s (in the opposite direction) probably why the NHL hasn’t placed a franchise in Seattle during the last few expansions and relocations.
And that, really, was the point I was trying to make in noting Vancouver’s proximity to Seattle as a negative for it being a possible location for an MLB franchise. Baseball fans in Vancouver have had the Mariners nearby for nearly 35 years.
The only time I’ve ever really noticed the presence of baseball fans from Vancouver (and Victoria) at Seattle Mariner games is when they play the Toronto Blue Jays in which case they all come to root for the Jays. In fact, during the frequent fallow periods for the Mariners, the Blue Jay fans often outnumber the Mariner fans at the park. Of course, I don’t know if that’s proof the Vancouver area could support a MLB franchise. Perhaps travelling south of the border to Seattle once or twice a year to see the Jays is enough to satisfy their baseball fix.