The Charlotte Marlins?

[erik316wttn]

MLB is forbidding the Marlins from talking to Las Vegas.

 

http://www.benmaller.com/archives/2006/february/05-mlb_wont_let_marlins_talk_with_vegas.html

[Yeti]

in todays charolette observer(business section) there is an article discussing this possible move, i havent read it yet, i'll buy the paper tomorrow and offer a summary. unless someone tracks down the article b4 i do, but im not gonna hunt it down tonight on the net, its breakfast reading for me in the morn'.

[Fred Hornkohl]

in todays charolette observer(business section) there is an article discussing this possible move, i havent read it yet, i'll buy the paper tomorrow and offer a summary. unless someone tracks down the article b4 i do, but im not gonna hunt it down tonight on the net, its breakfast reading for me in the morn'.

 

Found this article in the Charlotte Observer Sports Section. Didn't find anything in the business section, tho.

[Yeti]

in todays charolette observer(business section) there is an article discussing this possible move, i havent read it yet, i'll buy the paper tomorrow and offer a summary. unless someone tracks down the article b4 i do, but im not gonna hunt it down tonight on the net, its breakfast reading for me in the morn'.

 

Found this article in the Charlotte Observer Sports Section. Didn't find anything in the business section, tho.

saturdays paper said it would be in the business section, im not suprised it was in sports....as far as the paper situation goes charolette is still kind of a hick town

[snoodmonger]

Could Portland support a team?

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Could Portland support a team?

 

I think they could, but I believe I've heard the mayor say he is not in favor of the city contributing to the financing.

[katway]

Could Portland support a team?

 

Perhaps they could bring enough fans out to the games, but they don't have a stadium worth considering at the moment (the most they can fit in the current stadium is 19,000) and no backing for a publicly financed stadium. As a result, they really aren't in a position to get a team unless an agreement is reached several years in advance.

[katway]

I see this as entirely possible. There isn't any MLB baseball in Tennessee or Kentucky or Virginia or South Carolina. Seems like enough population in those areas...

 

The northern reaches of a Charlotte team's territory, per your definition, would be populated mostly by hills, trees and hoops-loving poor people.

 

The reaches of Virginia not covered by the description (Northern Virginia, Richmond, Tidewater areas...) would continue to support the Washington Nationals.

[JamieMCFC]

im all for this move(i live in NC and have to travel to atlanta for MLB) but i dont think it will happen and if it does it wont work, charolette couldnt support the Hornets and they're not supporting the bobcats any better. also, you gotta figure that baseball fans in this area are braves fans and wont likely change their colors that readily

 

I lived in Charlotte for a couple of years. The fans there didn't have any problem with the Hornets, it was all about their owner. If he would have sold the team, they would have flourished there. It's true that North Carolina has a lot of Braves fans. But it was also true that NC had a lot of Falcons fans before the Panthers came into being, and that didn't seem to hurt the Panthers any. I truly believe that the Charlotte area could support MLB, and better than Miami did, at that.

 

edit: and I sure would love to go back to Charlotte once a year to see the CUBS play !!!

things to consider

 

in the 01-02 season the hornets had an average attendance of 11,286 the league average was 16,778. the hornets came in second in their division. not very good attendance #'s for a team that actually competed

 

now consider that NC is a huge basketball state

 

 

the panthers were new when the falcolns just sucked and the panthers charged out of the gate...easy to switch teams in that scenero, but the braves, who's fans need to be won over to make charolette baseball viable, are perenial winners where as the marlins are...gutted...i dont see the city embracing a loseing team in place of the braves.

 

again remember basketball is first in ppls hearts here

 

 

as much as i would like to see it happen and work, and yes i would love to have an easy 2 hour drive to see the cubs once a year, i just dont see it working out

 

But you forget why they had low attendance. The main reason was people stopped going to games after the owner got busted for child porn and he refused to sell the team. That had a major impact on attendance.

[mhuber92211]

Just as an FYI on Portland, they were the only city in the running for the Expos that already had passed state funding hurdles. The state had already voted to approve financing.

[katway]

Just as an FYI on Portland, they were the only city in the running for the Expos that already had passed state funding hurdles. The state had already voted to approve financing.

 

They approved partial financing of $150 million, which they were suppose to pluck from player and executive salaries (pipe dream?). They never crossed the bridge of getting the rest of the estimated $200 million.