Quote:
Originally Posted by logan5
Here's an idea. Since Nat Bailey is not suitable for AAA baseball, we could build a new park on the waterfront with 20 000 capacity which would meet AAA standards, and have it expandable (40 000) and up-gradable to MLB standards if the opportunity were to arise for a franchise.
With the setting and the Gastown vibe, the waterfront stadium idea is just too good to give up on. If it can't be MLS then lets try baseball. With the good transit connections and the dense neighborhoods, I could see crowds of over 12 000 people showing up to this awesome setting for baseball on some nights.
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well. I guess it's okay for us to dream. I like your idea, I just don't think the Canadian owners would build a multi-million dollar stadium on the waterfront that accomodates 20,000 fans. We're not even guaranteed to get a AAA baseball franchise. We have Single A ball! If Vancouver got a Triple AAA baseball franchise, then, maybe, MAYBE, we can begin dreaming about a MLB franchise. But losing a AAA baseball franchise says something about the market in this city. maybe it's not as "hot" as we all think it may be. While I would never say that your idea would never work, I think if it were to go ahead, it would be a long long time from today. But we can always dream
There's no doubt about it, a lot of people here believe that baseball is a growing sport. But the Canadians selling out 8 straight (I believe, correct me, if I'm wrong here) games says a little bit about the market, but there's still a long, long ways to go. One day, perhaps the city needs to keep it's MLB dreams alive, but at the moment, professional basketball (NBA) is a closer return than MLB, and that's saying something there, because we don't know when we'll get another shot at the NBA. If Vancouver can demonstrate that it can keep it's sports franchises relatively healthy, and there is a supportive market, then I can see Commissioners of other leagues eyeing Vancouver for a potential destination for their products (MLB, NBA, NLL, maybe even the NFL one day?).
We "lost" the NBA here once already, and that's not a good start (however the argument, people will have a perception on Vancouver about that, whether it's fair or not).