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You're probably right. I so not expect MLB to come to Sacramento, especially not with 2 teams in the Bay Area. All I'm saying is if The A's have to leave the Bay, Sacramento would be a logical fit.
Portland, Salt Lake City, or Albuquerque would be a much better fit than Sacramento. California doesn't need that many MLB teams. California only has 13% of the US population, but has 17% of the MLB teams. Other states could use it
Portland, Salt Lake City, or Albuquerque would be a much better fit than Sacramento. California doesn't need that many MLB teams. California only has 13% of the US population, but has 17% of the MLB teams. Other states could use it
Only Portland would work with mlb. Salt Lake City and especially Albuquerque would be a disaster.
Athlon Sports conducted a survey among MLB players asking which cities should have MLB teams and which cities should be replaced.
Cities that should have a team:
15.3% Las Vegas
15.3% Nashville
6.9% Portland
6.1% Indianapolis
5.3% San Antonio
4.5% Charlotte
3.7% Oklahoma City
2.9% Salt Lake City
2.9% Columbus
2.1% Charlotte
2.1% Montreal
2.1% San Jose
2.1% Vancouver
1.3% Austin
1.3% Birmingham
1.3% New Orleans
Current cities that should be replaced:
31% Oakland
27% Tampa Bay
14% Miami
8% Cleveland
7% Toronto
6% Houston
3% Milwaukee
Athlon Sports conducted a survey among MLB players asking which cities should have MLB teams and which cities should be replaced.
Cities that should have a team:
15.3% Las Vegas
15.3% Nashville
6.9% Portland
6.1% Indianapolis
5.3% San Antonio
4.5% Charlotte
3.7% Oklahoma City
2.9% Salt Lake City
2.9% Columbus
2.1% Charlotte
2.1% Montreal
2.1% San Jose
2.1% Vancouver
1.3% Austin
1.3% Birmingham
1.3% New Orleans
Current cities that should be replaced:
31% Oakland
27% Tampa Bay
14% Miami
8% Cleveland
7% Toronto
6% Houston
3% Milwaukee
Other than maybe (and I stress the word MAYBE) Oakland, I completely disagree with all of that.
And if the A's do move out of Oakland, I see them going to Portland... or possibly Montreal.
Can some of them support another pro franchise? Cities like Charlotte, Nashville, and Indianapolis are growing pretty well, but each have two franchises to deal with...and MLB is the toughest one to support. The general thought from a financial perspective is that MLB would overstretch these cities. They are growing, promising, and could potentially grow into a franchise...but will the road be too tough? If each of these cities had one pro franchise, I think it would certainly be possible. But with two, is there room to absorb the fan and corporate support?
With cities with no franchises (Las Vegas, Louisville, Omaha, etc)...does MLB want these markets? MLB is not in any market without at least one pro franchise...and there are only four with only 2 franchises (Milwaukee, Cincinnati, San Diego, Baltimore) and two more that have 2+ an MLS franchise (Kansas City, Seattle). For the most part, these MLB teams have been in these markets for eons (35+ years). Is baseball willing to take the chance on an MLB-only market, or will they continue to be only in markets with other pro sports?
That leaves under-served markets with only 1 pro franchise. Portland, San Antonio, and perhaps Columbus...along with cities like Vancouver with multiple franchises, but no MLB (does MLB want another Canadian franchise after Montreal?).
One question I have is about the South (excluding Florida and Texas). The South (Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia)...this region has over 55 million people, but is represented by a single team (Atlanta Braves). Granted, there are periphery teams (Texas and Florida teams, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Washington, and Baltimore)...but it does seem to be under-served by MLB big time. This is true in other pro sports...but most notably MLB. One problem is that outside Atlanta, there are no other very large cities. But would fan support go beyond the city and include a large portion of the region (like Atlanta currently does)? Would it make sense for MLB to place a team in Charlotte, Nashville, or even Tidewater, Birmingham, Memphis, etc?
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