Fox Sports: Jays-Mariners could make killing in Vancouver

go_leafs_go02 · #1 Posted **Aug 15, 2011, 5:44 PM**

Interesting article/idea from Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/B...ncouver-081411

It's an excellent idea if you ask me - although I think part of the fun is the the road trip down to Seattle - I'm going with 15 other friends on Wednesday to cheer on the Jays.

Just don't think Mariners fans would be interested in losing 3 games every other year to Vancouver. Same might go for Toronto, but Vancouver is considered part of their MLB market.

Quote:

Tonight, the Blue Jays and Mariners will begin a three-game series at Safeco Field in downtown Seattle.

They should be playing 150 miles to the north – at BC Place in Vancouver, B.C.

Just think of the buzz it would generate: Jays rookie Brett Lawrie, a 21-year-old from the Vancouver suburb of Langley, is a sensation in the North. He has an OPS of 1.104 after nine big-league games, and Canadians would surely turn out in droves to see their native son.

DKaz · #2 Posted **Aug 15, 2011, 5:47 PM**

Go Mariners!!!

crazyjoeda · #3 Posted **Aug 15, 2011, 7:48 PM**

Baseball isn't popular enough in Vancouver to support even a Triple-A team, but I could see one series a year drawing significant crowds.

phesto · #4 Posted **Aug 15, 2011, 8:16 PM**

Relocation of a Jays/Mariners series from Toronto would makes a lot of sense, but not from Seattle.

There is the obvious affiliation with Vancouver being the single-A affiliate. Rogers is also aggressively seeking to make the Blue Jays "Canada's Team" complete with new uniforms for next year, so a series or two in other Canadian cities would make sense to generate more interest as part of that strategy. And aside from the fact that it will likely be named after Telus, the new stadium could be a good fit.

Seattle would also be a logical series to locate in Vancouver as you might be able to get some people up from Washington State to see their team in another city. It also wouldn't be difficult to exceed the attendance expected for a Mariners series at Rogers Centre (ie. 25,000 on a good day).

Relocating a series from Seattle makes less sense as it is one of the only series that gets an above-average draw from visitors from B.C.

phesto · #5 Posted **Aug 15, 2011, 8:24 PM**

Here's an article from last week regarding the compatibility of BC Place for MLB Baseball, note the reference to talks with the Blue Jays about playing exhibition games there.

Baseball in B.C. Place a thing of the past?

Read more: http://www.vancourier.com/news/Baseb...#ixzz1V8CEwQYh

dennis1 · #6 Posted **Aug 15, 2011, 8:42 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by crazyjoeda

Baseball isn't popular enough in Vancouver to support even a Triple-A team, but I could see one series a year drawing significant crowds.

You don't even have a team. Most sports have fans at the top level.

Calgarian · #7 Posted **Aug 15, 2011, 7:55 PM**

BAseball is dying in Canada. Good riddance as far as I'm concerned.

Would love to see a Vancouver - Seattle rivalry in something (hockey would be awesome), that could be interesting. How is it between the Sounders and Whitecaps?

go_leafs_go02 · #8 Posted **Aug 15, 2011, 10:25 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calgarian

BAseball is dying in Canada. Good riddance as far as I'm concerned.

Would love to see a Vancouver - Seattle rivalry in something (hockey would be awesome), that could be interesting. How is it between the Sounders and Whitecaps?

Really - baseball dying? There's talk right now of Montreal looking into getting a MLB team back, the Jays attendance is up right now 3,000 fans per game (nothing crazy, but still). Jays games on TV get 600,000 viewers on average on Sportsnet.

If anything, this year has been a bit of a revival in and around BC and Ontario - I don't know Alberta (have they ever cared about baseball period there), but the Vancouver Canadians are affiliated with the Jays now here too.

From what I seen, the Jays/Mariners split in Vancouver is around 50/50. Either way, a lot of Jays fans heading down this week to see them in Seattle.

Calgarian · #9 Posted **Aug 16, 2011, 2:23 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by go_leafs_go02

Really - baseball dying? There's talk right now of Montreal looking into getting a MLB team back, the Jays attendance is up right now 3,000 fans per game (nothing crazy, but still). Jays games on TV get 600,000 viewers on average on Sportsnet.

If anything, this year has been a bit of a revival in and around BC and Ontario - I don't know Alberta (have they ever cared about baseball period there), but the Vancouver Canadians are affiliated with the Jays now here too.

From what I seen, the Jays/Mariners split in Vancouver is around 50/50. Either way, a lot of Jays fans heading down this week to see them in Seattle.

I know Baseball was huge in Medicine Hat when they had the Blue Jays, but in Calgary no one really cares, we barely even support the Vipers. It might help if we had a decent stadium, but baseball still isn't really popular here.

DKaz · #10 Posted **Aug 15, 2011, 8:40 PM**

Cheering for the Jays makes about as much sense as cheering for the Leafs. The Mariners and Seahawks are my local teams.

phesto · #11 Posted **Aug 15, 2011, 8:51 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DKaz

Cheering for the Jays makes about as much sense as cheering for the Leafs. The Mariners and Seahawks are my local teams.

Hardly. Maybe I'm older than you, but during the Jays' World Series years 92 & 93, there was a lot of hype in Vancouver surrounding the team. Obviously most of that has faded, but I suspect there is still more of an allegiance to the Jays than the Mariners out west. Just look at the number of people that go down to Safeco when the Jays visit.

Hatred for the Leafs is a whole different thing altogether...

DKaz · #12 Posted **Aug 15, 2011, 9:07 PM**

I cheered for the Blue Jays in 92 and 93 when I lived in Edmonton. Made sense then.

Then baseball was off my radar until Ichiro joined the Mariners.

dennis1 · #13 Posted **Aug 15, 2011, 9:54 PM**

If Vancouver got baseball and the NBA it would be huge.

s211 · #14 Posted **Aug 15, 2011, 11:11 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by dennis1

If Vancouver got baseball and the NBA it would be huge.

Ummm, you do realize that we used to have an NBA team, yes?

dennis1 · #15 Posted **Aug 16, 2011, 2:09 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by s211

Ummm, you do realize that we used to have an NBA team, yes?

Obviously I meant I new one.

s211 · #16 Posted **Aug 16, 2011, 4:12 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by dennis1

Obviously I meant I new one.

And, it wouldn't fail like last time, obviously how?

dennis1 · #17 Posted **Aug 16, 2011, 6:51 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by s211

And, it wouldn't fail like last time, obviously how?

By running the franchise well? Why does this have to be explained?

DKaz · #18 Posted **Aug 15, 2011, 10:43 PM**

Montreal doesn't deserve the MLB. Hell they don't deserve the NHL.

Acajack · #19 Posted **Aug 16, 2011, 2:19 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DKaz

Montreal doesn't deserve the MLB. Hell they don't deserve the NHL.

Hmm I'd say Montreal probably deserves an NHL team. They are usually at the top in average attendance, so if they don't deserve one, no one else does!

dennis1 · #20 Posted **Aug 16, 2011, 2:28 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack

Hmm I'd say Montreal probably deserves an NHL team. They are usually at the top in average attendance, so if they don't deserve one, no one else does!

Montreal needs to do better. An area of 3.9 million can be more than just hockey.