Portland Diamond Project (MLB) | Proposed - Page 12

philopdx · #**221** Posted **Apr 13, 2014, 10:27 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by davehogan

Ummm, what kind of market size are you using? The Pittsburgh Metro Area is larger (2.6 million vs 2.3 million) than Portland. St Louis Metro is about 2.9 million. Baltimore's metro area is 2.7 million, and it's a day trip from Washington DC's metro area (5.8 million more.)

The Tampa Bay metro area is over 4 million. That and all of those areas have larger secondary markets than Portland, which would be basically the state of Oregon minus people who are already fans of another team.

...

Even the Buffalo Bills and Sabres are considered to have tiny markets have about 2.5 million people within a two hour drive of their stadium just on the US side of the border with about 7.5 million more if you count Canadians within about two hours of the stadium. 10 million people within about two hours and it's a seen as a small market.

Oregon/SW Washington just don't have that kind of density.

If a 2-hour drive is the criteria and not MSA, that puts us at 2.7 million, not 2.3.

urbanlife · #**222** Posted **Apr 13, 2014, 11:42 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by robocop

Agreed, and that is a great point. Many of the teams in those cities have been around for decades upon decades -- the St. Louis Cardinals having been around since the year 1900, for example. While I do believe that there is a more visible and tenured sports-based culture on the east coast and midwest/south, I still wouldn't say that makes Portland any less capable of bringing on another franchise. Portland, and Oregon as a whole, really, are known for being extremely passionate about sports. The Blazers, Timbers, and Ducks athletics (football in particular) all garner cult-like followings/fan bases that are spoken of highly by national media outlets.

That said, I think Portland would do better with an NFL team as its next potential major league franchise. This state/city is packed with football fans, and I think bringing in 60,000-70,000 people 8 times an NFL season is more probable than packing a baseball stadium with 20,000-40,000 people 81 times an MLB season.

That is the biggest issue is trying to get that many fans to show up throughout a baseball season, especially since that season goes from April to October with a number of bad months on each end for Portland, so it would require an expensive roof of some sort on top of an expensive stadium.

Personally I am not a fan of the NFL either because I think it is such a waste of money that the tax payers usually end up having to fund for 8 or so games a year.

But I do think Portland could handle a third major league team, especially as the city continues to grow.

65MAX · #**223** Posted **Apr 14, 2014, 8:08 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by davehogan

Ummm, what kind of market size are you using?

Ummm, this kind. The OMB's ranking of Metropolitan Areas by population. Portland is NOT 2.3 million, as you claim. It's 3 million and growing.

So not only is it larger than Pittsburgh (2.66 million), Baltimore (2.75 million) and St. Louis (2.9 million), but it's also larger than Tampa (not 4 million, but 2.85 million)

Quote:

Originally Posted by davehogan

I'm not sure a team would succeed or fail here, but there are reasons that we don't have an NFL or MLB team. Obviously people show up for the Timbers, Blazers, Ducks and Beavers, but I'm not sure there's the regional population needed to support a team.

And yet all four of those cities have both MLB and NFL teams. As do Kansas City and Cincinnati (2.38 and 2.19 million respectively). And that's not even including other smaller cities that have just an NFL or MLB team (i.e. Charlotte, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Nashville, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Buffalo and Green Bay). So that's a total of 14 other SMALLER cities that are supporting MLB and/or NFL teams.

Quote:

Originally Posted by davehogan

MLB or NFL would require a new stadium, and that just seems like a big hurdle to get over for a city like Portland.

A new stadium is a big hurdle for ANY city, not just Portland. That's the only legitimate obstacle to getting an NFL or MLB team here. All of the population arguments are just plain ridiculous.

Eugenepdx · #**224** Posted **Apr 14, 2014, 3:30 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by 65MAX

Ummm, this kind. The OMB's ranking of Metropolitan Areas by population. Portland is NOT 2.3 million, as you claim. It's 3 million and growing.

So not only is it larger than Pittsburgh (2.66 million), Baltimore (2.75 million) and St. Louis (2.9 million), but it's also larger than Tampa (not 4 million, but 2.85 million)

And yet all four of those cities have both MLB and NFL teams. As do Kansas City and Cincinnati (2.38 and 2.19 million respectively). And that's not even including other smaller cities that have just an NFL or MLB team (i.e. Charlotte, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Nashville, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Buffalo and Green Bay). So that's a total of 14 other SMALLER cities that are supporting MLB and/or NFL teams.

A new stadium is a big hurdle for ANY city, not just Portland. That's the only legitimate obstacle to getting an NFL or MLB team here. All of the population arguments are just plain ridiculous.

robocop · #**225** Posted **Apr 14, 2014, 4:24 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by 65MAX

Ummm, this kind.

And yet all four of those cities have both MLB and NFL teams. As do Kansas City and Cincinnati (2.38 and 2.19 million respectively). And that's not even including other smaller cities that have just an NFL or MLB team (i.e. Charlotte, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Nashville, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Buffalo and Green Bay). So that's a total of 14 other SMALLER cities that are supporting MLB and/or NFL teams.

A new stadium is a big hurdle for ANY city, not just Portland. That's the only legitimate obstacle to getting an NFL or MLB team here. All of the population arguments are just plain ridiculous.

Derek · #**226** Posted **Apr 14, 2014, 4:59 PM**

Buffalo has the Sabres (NHL) as well.

65MAX · #**227** Posted **Apr 14, 2014, 5:53 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by robocop

Correct, I was just using MLB and NFL cities for comparison. But yes, most of the 14 smaller cities I listed also have NBA, NHL and/or MLS teams. Which just reinforces the point that Portland is MORE than capable of supporting multiple professional sports franchises. We have this image of being some kind of backwater town, but that's just false. Of course we're not LA or NYC, but we're bigger than most people think, and we have a distinct culture that is just now starting to get noticed.

urbanlife · #**228** Posted **Apr 14, 2014, 11:16 PM**

It sounds like the Hops had a good season in 2013, lets hope they have a repeat and can expand on their attendance.

I prefer baseball over football, but either the NFL or MLB will probably require a team to relocate to Portland rather than any new teams to be created because both leagues seem to have too many teams as it is. That creates another problem, there aren't too many teams looking to move any time soon, and I am not too sure how interested Portland would be in footing the bill to attract such a team.

Though, I am a Timbers fan, a Blazers fan, and a Winterhawks fan. I plan on being a Hops fan when I move back as well, and I will be a fan of any other type of team Portland gets in the future.

davehogan · #**229** Posted **Apr 19, 2014, 11:09 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by 65MAX

Ummm, this kind. The OMB's ranking of Metropolitan Areas by population. Portland is NOT 2.3 million, as you claim. It's 3 million and growing.

So not only is it larger than Pittsburgh (2.66 million), Baltimore (2.75 million) and St. Louis (2.9 million), but it's also larger than Tampa (not 4 million, but 2.85 million)

And yet all four of those cities have both MLB and NFL teams. As do Kansas City and Cincinnati (2.38 and 2.19 million respectively). And that's not even including other smaller cities that have just an NFL or MLB team (i.e. Charlotte, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Nashville, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Buffalo and Green Bay). So that's a total of 14 other SMALLER cities that are supporting MLB and/or NFL teams.

A new stadium is a big hurdle for ANY city, not just Portland. That's the only legitimate obstacle to getting an NFL or MLB team here. All of the population arguments are just plain ridiculous.

I'm from Buffalo, so I'll refer to your list from a Buffalo point of view.

First of all, it separates Buffalo and Rochester, which is like separating San Diego from Tijuana or Orange County for figuring out regional draws. It also leaves out Syracuse, and there are a lot of Syracuse area Bills fans. It also leaves out Jamestown, which is basically Buffalo's Salem. On that list those are all counted as separate metro areas from Buffalo, even though they're all within a reasonable day trip from Ralph Wilson Stadium.

It also leaves out Niagara Falls, Hamilton, Fort Erie, Toronto, and lots of other Canadian cities that are nearby.

Portland is one of the big west coast cities, but it's also relatively isolated.

San Diego/LA teams draw from the entire Southern California Area (including parts of LA, SD, Riverside, and Orange Counties). Bay Area teams get the cities of San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, and their suburbs to watch. Seattle teams get pretty much most of WA and a good percentage of OR.

Also there are ownership rules that would prevent an NFL team here unless Paul Allen divested himself of either the Seahawks or the Blazers.

MLB might be an option, I don't know their ownership rules as well, but it seems absurd to think Portland will get a team that's any league other than CFL or NHL. MLB TV local TV rights matter more and those aren't going to be a goldmine in Oregon.

The really important thing (other than being a more remote market) is that the NFL is pretty strict about ownership rules.

Edited to add, I went with these numbers which also have flaws. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portlan...atistical_area

65MAX · #**230** Posted **Apr 20, 2014, 12:01 AM**

First of all, rules change all the time. And who's to say Paul Allen is always going to own either team in perpetuity. Ownership of both will transfer to somebody else eventually.

And as far as Portland being "remote", that all depends on your perspective. If a "reasonable day trip" is your criteria for determining market draw, then you have to include the entire Van-Sea-Port corridor as potential fans of a Portland team. That's over 12 million people. I doubt there's anywhere near 12 million people within a 5 hour drive of Denver or Kansas City, both with MLB and NFL teams.

So again, population arguments against putting those teams here are bogus. The only reason we probably won't get teams is the cost of a new stadium. But then again, if Lashbrook can get the financing cobbled together and the political muscle to back it up, then more power to him.

urbanlife · #**231** Posted **Apr 22, 2014, 3:57 AM**

I was reading about the Oakland A's today, which got me wondering about the possibility of Portland ever getting a MLB team. I actually think Portland could handle a MLB team, the only challenges would be corporate sponsorships and trying to get 2 million people to show up to games every season.

Derek · #**232** Posted **Apr 22, 2014, 5:37 AM**

I don't think corporate sponsorship would be as difficult as some of you think. Just because there aren't many Fortune 500 companies that are headquartered here, there are still plenty that have operations here. Not every stadium/arena with corporate sponsorship has the company's headquarters in their city.

Examples:
Barclays Center - Brooklyn, NY. Barclays headquarters - London, UK
TD Garden - Boston, MA. TD Bank headquarters - Cherry Hill, NJ
AT&T Park - San Francisco, CA. AT&T headquarters - Bedminster, NJ
SAP Center - San Jose, CA. SAP AG headquarters - Walldorf, Germany

I think Portland's chances of landing corporate sponsorships are pretty good.

urbanlife · #**233** Posted **Apr 23, 2014, 2:39 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Derek

I don't think corporate sponsorship would be as difficult as some of you think. Just because there aren't many Fortune 500 companies that are headquartered here, there are still plenty that have operations here. Not every stadium/arena with corporate sponsorship has the company's headquarters in their city.

Examples:
Barclays Center - Brooklyn, NY. Barclays headquarters - London, UK
TD Garden - Boston, MA. TD Bank headquarters - Cherry Hill, NJ
AT&T Park - San Francisco, CA. AT&T headquarters - Bedminster, NJ
SAP Center - San Jose, CA. SAP AG headquarters - Walldorf, Germany

I think Portland's chances of landing corporate sponsorships are pretty good.

That is a good point, basically the biggest challenge, which is a big challenge for any city is to try and sell at least 2 million tickets every year.

urbanlife · #**234** Posted **Mar 11, 2015, 1:09 AM**

Baseball is coming back to Portland!!! Sounds exciting? Now lower that excitement by a lot.....

Quote:

Play ball! Great West will field Portland team

Starting in 2016, Portland will have its own boys of summer playing in a revamped Walker Stadium at Lents Park.

The Great West League is making it official at a news conference with city officials downtown today: A Portland team will be part of its inaugural season of summer college wood-bat baseball.

A name-the-team contest starts online today at portlandsbaseballteam.com, says Ken Wilson, a veteran baseball broadcaster who lives in Portland, is one of the team owners and is the league’s president, “until we hire one.”

The Portland team plans to help the city renovate Walker Stadium, which has been in disrepair for years.

The team will have 30 home games in a 60-game regular season scheduled to run from June 3, 2016, through early August. Most of the games will be at night. “Ten weeks, six games a week,” Wilson says.

continue reading....

Portland Baseball

I guess it will be a nice improvement for Lents with something that is mildly exciting and a great way to enjoy an afternoon if one is looking for some amateur baseball.

davehogan · #**235** Posted **Mar 13, 2015, 5:07 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by urbanlife

Baseball is coming back to Portland!!! Sounds exciting? Now lower that excitement by a lot.....

It's not MLB, but it's an excuse to go out and make the neighborhood more of a neighborhood. I met lots of my neighbors last summer from sitting on my steps and watching the Goonies play at Brooklyn Park. Local neighborhood events like that can't really hurt anything, and might attract more people to stop in the neighborhood and have dinner and a beer.

urbanlife · #**236** Posted **Jun 5, 2015, 3:10 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by davehogan

It's not MLB, but it's an excuse to go out and make the neighborhood more of a neighborhood. I met lots of my neighbors last summer from sitting on my steps and watching the Goonies play at Brooklyn Park. Local neighborhood events like that can't really hurt anything, and might attract more people to stop in the neighborhood and have dinner and a beer.

That is very true, I hope this helps Lents, it definitely can't hurt the neighborhood.

MarkDaMan · #**237** Posted **Apr 17, 2018, 1:24 AM**

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/i...ncart_breaking

Quote:

Retired Nike exec stakes claim to bring Major League Baseball to Portland
Updated 6:13 PM; Posted 3:54 PM

By Gordon R. Friedman gfriedman@oregonian.com
The Oregonian/OregonLive

A retired Nike executive connected to a group seeking to bring a Major League Baseball team to Portland has formed a company to facilitate deal-making and to lobby local officials.

Craig Cheek, a former vice president at the footwear giant who oversaw training, baseball and football operations, acknowledged Monday that the company, Portland Diamond Project, is baseball-related but declined to comment further. John McIsaac, who said he has been retained as a spokesman for the would-be baseball management group, acknowledged Cheek's connection to group, which includes former Portland Trail Blazers announcer Mike Barrett.

Portland Diamond Project was founded last July, according to its articles of organization. No owner or manager is listed. But Cheek's name appears on paperwork the company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission showing it sought to raise $6 million and had already sold equity worth $500,000 to two unnamed investors. Cheek is listed as Portland Diamond Project's executive officer and director, and records show the company is registered at the address of his riverfront home in Lake Oswego.

The company's website went online in July of last year, domain registration records show. The entire site is a landing page showing only a circular blue, black and white logo, with a calligraphy-styled capital "P" in the center.

...(continues)

Derek · #**238** Posted **Apr 17, 2018, 2:05 AM**

I’m not a baseball fan at all but sitting at a game drinking some beers in the middle of July sounds absolutely delightful. I’d be thrilled if this happened.

urbanlife · #**239** Posted **Apr 17, 2018, 6:18 AM**

I am so excited for this because this is starting to really looking like the rights cards are getting into place to make this happen. Portland is a fast growing market, and MLB is looking at the possibility of potentially moving two teams, and expanding two more teams but there isn't many cities on the list they can go to. Portland is definitely in the top 4 choices which would in turn mean that we are more than likely going to see that happen in the near future. Plus it would be in MLB's best interest to invest in the Northwest rivalry.

Or as I like to say, guess who isn't in the playoffs this year, the Sonics.

MarkDaMan · #**240** Posted **Apr 18, 2018, 2:51 AM**

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/i...2box_targeted_

Quote:

Major League Baseball backers offer to buy two close-in Portland sites for stadium
Updated 6:51 PM; Posted 4:06 PM
By Gordon R. Friedman gfriedman@oregonian.com
The Oregonian/OregonLive

Backers of bringing a Major League Baseball team to Portland say they have submitted formal proposals to purchase one of two potential ballpark sites close to downtown.

One is Portland Public Schools' headquarters, located in the Rose Quarter just north of the Moda Center complex and valued at more than $100 million, according to county assessor records.

Backers said only that the other location is an industrial site in Northwest Portland. Heavy manufacturing company Esco owns a large property like that -- on Northwest Vaughn Street between 24th Avenue and 26th Avenue -- and has said it wants to sell the portion that houses a large out-of-commission foundry. Its Vaughn Street property has an estimated value of $14 million, assessor records show.

...(continues)