[GMasterAres]

The business case for both MLB and NBA is crap. Population plays a small part compared to simply geography, nationality, and demographics.

For MLB it is popularity. The Vancouver Canadians being popular and selling well isn't the same as MLB. You have to either make a lot of money by filling seats or via an expensive TV deal for MLB to work in Vancouver.

Vancouer attendance stats:

2010 = 154,592
2011 = 162,162
2012 = 164,461
2013 = 184,042

Now let's compare to MLB:

#1 team in 2013 = LA Dodgers = 3.74 million
#30 team in 2013 = Tampa Bay = 1.51 million

Seattle was #25 on the list with 1.76 million

So that is over 8 times the attendance just to reach the bottom of the MLB in attendance over Vancouver at its peak in 2013. To do that you need a stadium, infrastructure, and remember an MLB team's payroll would jump drastically.

As a side note, the owner of the Vancouver Canadians himself said even AAA baseball would have a difficult time in Vancouver. If AAA in his eyes, someone who I'd claim is an expert in running a baseball team, would be a difficult thing to make money with or a go of it, MLB would have no chance. This isn't baseball country as much as baseball fans would like to think.

Now NBA.

NBA would be popular enough to make a go of things. For one, the season is more similar to hockey, the costs are probably more around that, but what NBA has trouble with are 1) the restrictive rules put on new teams (which is changing and has changed to a degree) and more largely 2) the players themselves.

Your average NBA player couldn't find Canada on a map. Heck many couldn't find states outside California, New York, and Florida on a map. It is a far different demographic both in race and in nationality.

NBA in 2011 had 78% black, 17% white, 4% Latino, and 1% Asian.

Now breaking down citizenship, in 2011-2012 they had a record 84 international (meaning non-American) players on the starting rosters total out of around 360 total starting roster players. That means 23% international players vs 77% American players. And of the international players, there were 8 from Canada.

Compare this to Hockey:

52.3% Canadian
23.4% American
7.6% Swedish
4.5% Czech
3.8% Russian
8.4% Other

So you have 1 in 4 players in the NHL being American and 1 in 2 players being Canadian. For a sport centered in North America, that works.

NBA being 3 in 4 players = American and many are from the south of the US, makes it difficult to convince them to play in Canada unfortunately. Just the truth.

So yes things are better today in the NBA than they were in 1995, but the league just due to team demographics, would still make having a viable competitive team in Canada very, very difficult.

Toronto has the 5th largest metro area population wise in all of North America, and #1 in Canada, and finds it difficult to compete in the NBA. How could Vancouver at 23rd in North America and 3rd in Canada have a chance in the long run?

Vancouver = Hockey followed by CFL and Soccer. I don't see that changing any time soon.


The final argument against both is corporate support. There is only so much corporate support across the board and business has to make a choice. Would they purchase into NBA support or would they put their money behind the Canucks? I think corporate support for NBA or even MLB would be difficult in this city.