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I don't see how St. Louis (2.8 million MSA) can be a part of this discussion... First with your "as small (if not smaller)" as Charlotte (2.3 million) and Nashville (1.7). Second, it's without a doubt one of the best baseball cities in the entire country, to question whether the Cardinals (formed in 1882, 11 time world champions, fanatically supported, attendance that competes every year with way bigger NY, LA, etc., huge television/radio market that extends way, way beyond the city's normal pull, you even mentioned its pull in the South, there are tons of Cardinals fans in Memphis (where St. Louis's minor league affiliate plays), Little Rock, etc. ) would pack up and move (or that the MLB would ever even entertain the thought) is frankly ludicrous... The entire city could be destroyed by an earthquake and the Cardinals would probably still keep right on playing there.
As for the other teams you mentioned, they are also pretty strong heritage teams with ties to their cities and fans for generations (and the sport as a whole), which despite some lower attendance numbers for some of them some years (recently particularly Cleveland and KC ) it's very unlikely for one of them to move... And it would be a tragedy if one did...
I do appreciate MLB's dedication to its history. With the exception of several moves in the 50s to early 70s, most franchises have stayed put. The Expos to DC is the only one I can think of. Most of the other growth has come from expansion.
St. Louis definitely is a great franchise that shouldn't move, probably shouldn't have been on my list above of smaller markets as it is the largest of those I listed. And it does enjoy a regional support that other teams don't, a throwback to the days before the Braves came south. Many southerners claimed it as their team and many still do today.
Again, it isn't about metro size. Look at actual attendance figures to understand the amount of core baseball fans in an area, not overall people. Obviously, you can't simply look at a single year, because a team's on-the-field success is also a major factor. A pro soccer team in (for example) Houston will have worse attendance than (for example) a city with 1/10 of the population in the UK. Baseball has been replaced by football as the national game, and it's more of a boutique league nowadays.
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its - possession
it's - contraction of it is
your - possession
you're - contraction of you are
their - possession
they're - contraction of they are
there - referring to a place
loose - opposite of tight
lose - opposite of win
who's - contraction of who is
whose - possession
alot - NOT A WORD
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