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Post by Conky on Aug 5, 2011 21:57:08 GMT -5
For those interested, a new website dedicated to the return of the Montreal Expos will be up and running this September, sort of like the way Jets Owner was set up and run.  Join the Facebook page! www.facebook.com/exposbackBtw, thank you DF for running this site! Go Jets Go!(go flames go) |
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Post by swedonia on Aug 5, 2011 22:25:02 GMT -5
Baseball? Sorry, I would rather watch chess than baseball.
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Post by robre77 on Aug 5, 2011 22:32:00 GMT -5
Baseball does not work in Montreal. Not one bit.
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Post by gobombersgo on Aug 5, 2011 22:46:34 GMT -5
I'd love to see the expos back!
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Post by yukonjoe on Aug 5, 2011 23:06:12 GMT -5
Baseball does not work in Montreal. Not one bit. Baseball worked in Montreal for a long time - until it stopped working. I don't know enough about the market to say whether it could work again or not. It does take a lot to bring a team back, and having a webpage doesn't really do it. |
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Post by Kim Clackson on Aug 6, 2011 0:25:37 GMT -5
F major league baseball.
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2quik
Rookie Member
Posts: 15
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Post by 2quik on Aug 6, 2011 0:35:36 GMT -5
Nordiques yes.......Expos no
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Post by MooseFan on Aug 6, 2011 0:42:25 GMT -5
Loved the Expos if that strike never happened they would have had a shot at the World Series probably got a new ballpark and stayed in Montreal, instead the strike turned off a lot of expos fans, would be great to see a team back in a new park
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bingo
Veteran Member
Posts: 240
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Post by bingo on Aug 6, 2011 1:33:42 GMT -5
A downtown ballpark would have been just as much of a boost to the Expos as Molson Stadium was to the Alouettes. People forget that the Alouettes were drawing 6,000 fans a game at the Big O and when they had to move to the smaller stadium because of a Rolling Stones concert, it sold out in minutes and the rest is history.
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Post by mikecubs on Aug 6, 2011 6:07:48 GMT -5
Baseball does not work in Montreal. Not one bit. Agreed. This is a stupid idea. The Expos were a failure and it wasn't just because of the ownership and horrible stadium. In only 8 of the Expos 37 season were they above the NL average in attendance. Montreal is a Canadians town period. To return any ownership group would want a ton of taxpayer $$$ for a new stadium. This would be a complete waste of money. This is as stupid of an idea as putting hockey in Glendale. If Quebec goes through with this they might as well hire the Glendale city council and mayor to run the government. Any taxpayer dollars should go towards a Quebec City arena for a sport people would get enjoyment out of. Besides unlike hockey there is NOT a big list of struggling teams willing to relocate. The only teams in baseball that are in trouble are the Oakland A's and Tampa Bay Rays. However Tampa has a lease with St. Petersburg until 2027. The stalemate in Tampa is that the Rays owners wants a new stadium in Tampa Bay and the St.Pete mayor won't let him out of the lease. The St. Pete mayor would build the Rays a new stadium for the team but only in St.Pete or Pinalles county. In Oakland the holdup over a new stadium is over territory rights the San Jose. The San Francisco Giants hold territory rights to San Jose and won't let the Giants move there. Selig is trying to work something out. If approved Lew Wolfe the A's owner would privately finance the stadium. Even these 2 teams moving are long shots. And baseball will not expand. The last thing they want are 2 more small markets in a sport with no salary cap. Selig is on record my times saying expansion is off the table. |
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Post by M.C. Molineux on Aug 6, 2011 9:07:00 GMT -5
Baseball does not work in Montreal. Not one bit. Agreed. This is a stupid idea. The Expos were a failure and it wasn't just because of the ownership and horrible stadium. In only 8 of the Expos 37 season were they above the NL average in attendance. Montreal is a Canadians town period. To return any ownership group would want a ton of taxpayer $$$ for a new stadium. This would be a complete waste of money. This is as stupid of an idea as putting hockey in Glendale. If Quebec goes through with this they might as well hire the Glendale city council and mayor to run the government. Any taxpayer dollars should go towards a Quebec City arena for a sport people would get enjoyment out of. Besides unlike hockey there is NOT a big list of struggling teams willing to relocate. The only teams in baseball that are in trouble are the Oakland A's and Tampa Bay Rays. However Tampa has a lease with St. Petersburg until 2027. The stalemate in Tampa is that the Rays owners wants a new stadium in Tampa Bay and the St.Pete mayor won't let him out of the lease. The St. Pete mayor would build the Rays a new stadium for the team but only in St.Pete or Pinalles county. In Oakland the holdup over a new stadium is over territory rights the San Jose. The San Francisco Giants hold territory rights to San Jose and won't let the Giants move there. Selig is trying to work something out. If approved Lew Wolfe the A's owner would privately finance the stadium. Even these 2 teams moving are long shots. And baseball will not expand. The last thing they want are 2 more small markets in a sport with no salary cap. Selig is on record my times saying expansion is off the table. Aren't the Nationals struggling too? |
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Post by jetsfan4ever13 on Aug 6, 2011 10:52:06 GMT -5
Alot of u guys sound like the nay-sayers when we were believer's in the jets coming back. I say lets get behind anything canadian.. I'm not a baseball fan but some more attention in canada is never a bad thing.
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Post by pank on Aug 6, 2011 11:11:01 GMT -5
Montreal isn't a bad sports town-Olympic Stadium should never have had a MLB team and MLB used Montreal as a pawn to get back to Washington. The whole Loria deal was pretty crooked.
The Impact are well supported and I am guessing like Toronto and Vancouver, will play to bigger crowds next year.
Everybody knows of the Als success.
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fitzy0019
Veteran Member
BRING 'EM HOME!
Posts: 142
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Post by fitzy0019 on Aug 6, 2011 12:13:45 GMT -5
not an expos topic, but a montreal topic, is the montreal MLS team still slated for next season? where are they playing out of? and hows the buzz in the city for it?
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Post by joeyjoejoe on Aug 6, 2011 12:54:40 GMT -5
Baseball does not work in Montreal. Not one bit. Agreed. This is a stupid idea. The Expos were a failure and it wasn't just because of the ownership and horrible stadium. In only 8 of the Expos 37 season were they above the NL average in attendance. The Jets were above the NHL average attendance in exactly 0 of their 19 NHL seasons. What's your point? There were as many complex reasons for the Expos failure as there were for the Jets. You sound like one of the ignorant Peg bashers circa 2006. I would be 100% behind this. I am not really a baseball fan but when I paid attention I always cheered for the Expos. |
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Post by killalll on Aug 6, 2011 15:54:20 GMT -5
All you guys sound like Go Jets Go-hole naysayers who said the jets would never come back. Nobody learnd anything over the past 15 years?
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Post by jetsreturn2011 on Aug 6, 2011 17:23:59 GMT -5
All you guys sound like Go Jets Go-hole naysayers who said the jets would never come back. Nobody learnd anything over the past 15 years? The thing is, if I were to say yes to Expos, then i would be like Gongdale, baseball in Montreal makes just as much sense as hockey in Arizona. |
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Post by Douggy-D on Aug 6, 2011 17:35:37 GMT -5
Agreed. This is a stupid idea. The Expos were a failure and it wasn't just because of the ownership and horrible stadium. In only 8 of the Expos 37 season were they above the NL average in attendance. The Jets were above the NHL average attendance in exactly 0 of their 19 NHL seasons. What's your point? There were as many complex reasons for the Expos failure as there were for the Jets. You sound like one of the ignorant Peg bashers circa 2006. I would be 100% behind this. I am not really a baseball fan but when I paid attention I always cheered for the Expos. I actually think the Jets were above the League Average for the NHL the first few years in the League, but yeah I get the point. Although the thing is that the Jets were averaging about 13-13.5K when the League Average was 14-15K, the Expos drew like 5-10K which isn't even 1/2 of the MLB League Average. |
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Post by robre77 on Aug 6, 2011 18:04:20 GMT -5
All you guys sound like Go Jets Go-hole naysayers who said the jets would never come back. Nobody learnd anything over the past 15 years? The thing is, if I were to say yes to Expos, then i would be like Gongdale, baseball in Montreal makes just as much sense as hockey in Arizona. Bingo!! Or like Basketball in Winnipeg. It just does not work. |
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Post by Charon2000 on Aug 6, 2011 19:00:15 GMT -5
I kinda disagree that Montreal can't be a good baseball city. Things were rough at the end but they weren't always that way. Remember, the team was in Montreal since 1969 – that's 35 years. I saw a lot of games in Montreal where the crowds were in the 27,000-30,000 range. Nothing wrong with that.
I'm convinced that if the new downtown park had been built and if they had had an owner who cared about the fans and the city instead of just himself, the Expos would still be in Montreal.
The final years of the Expos were one disappointment after another for the fans... a strike that ended a likely World Series run... a stellar team that got dismantled... the hopes of a beautiful downtown stadium that got yanked out from under their feet... an owner with selfish intentions... the Expos basically became a farm system for the rest of the league. Would you pay to see games under those circumstances? I'm not so sure I would have.
Look what happened with the Alouettes when solid ownership (with a commitment to winning) and a proper sized stadium were introduced. Attendance went from abysmal to years of sellouts.
I think the biggest challenges to Montreal are that the failure was so miserable near the end (that is gonna really stick in people's minds) and that Montreal is not viewed as a traditional market among those who are involved with "America's Pastime."
Having said that, I think the keys to a future franchise in Montreal are the same as for any other market in any sports league:
1) Solid ownership
2) Demonstration of a sufficient fan base
3) A properly-sized facility capable of generating necessary revenue
4) Corporate support
IF those criteria ever materialize, then why not? it may not happen tomorrow, but down the road... you never know.
Good luck with the site, Conky!
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