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Theoretically speaking, I see about 5 MLB teams (ranked most to least likely) that could potentially be faced with relocation scenarios over the next decade or so, due to the various outlined reasons below:
Oakland Athletics - low attendance, old stadium, few viable stadium alternatives, Giants control over Bay Area market rights to San Jose
Tampa Bay Rays - low attendance, aging/uninteresting stadium, low TV revenues
Cleveland Indians -low attendance, aging stadium, direct market size shrinking
Chicago White Sox (note: I'm a White Sox fan, and even I'll acknowledge these potential shortcomings) - low attendance, potential team sale, stadium lease to set to expire in 10-15 years, little local interest for large-scale tax financing for major sports venues, projected increases in revenues for crosstown Cubs
Say 1-2 of these teams actually do end up relocating over the next 10-15 years. Who do you think leaves, and where do you think they end up? You could probably make the argument that MLB demands more from its market in terms of sustained support than any other major professional team sport. Which cities/metros do you think are ready for MLB? Portland, Charlotte, Northern New Jersey, Tidewater/Hampton Roads, San Antonio and Louisville seem to be some of the recurring favorites that I hear mentioned.
Baseball is different than the other major sports leagues because they play a 162-game season as opposed to 82 or 16, so many cities that are home to some combination of NFL, NHL and NBA may not necessarily be good homes for an MLB team. There are very few viable markets out there that don't already have a franchise, and many that do struggle year after year (Pirates, Royals, Indians - three of the smallest markets to boot).
Portland is probably the one market that can best support a baseball team. It's still not that large (about 2 million) and being fairly close to Seattle, many of them are Mariners fans anyway.
Charlotte is exploding, but probably a good 10-15 years away from being a true frontrunner (wait for it to hit 2 million). Same with San Antonio and Nashville. Las Vegas is approaching 2M as well, but as with any other sport, relocation/expansion here could be considered a conflict of interest (being a gambling town and all).
Honestly, contraction probably needs to be looked at again. About a decade ago or so, they looked at eliminating the Twins and another team (A's I think?). Getting rid of 2 teams makes it easier to spread the talent and therefore easier for the "little guy" to compete. That, and salary caps.
I don't think Portland will ever get Major League Baseball.
Portland attracts young people, the demographic that has lost a good deal of interest in baseball.
Baseball is still relatively popular with the younger residents of the Northeast. Unfortunately, Portland would play in a western division, giving them less home games against teams that young in-migrants from the east coast would want to see.
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