CSNbbs

Reports are coming in that the new owners of the Marlins will be a group led by Jeb Bush and Derek Jeter. Other members of the group not known at this time. Reportedly paying $1.3B for the Marlins.

I'd think he'd find it better to be a high ranking exec. with the Yankees. Marlins, are you kidding?

I agree, Jeter owning the Marlins is going to be weird.

Jeb Bush I completely understand though. Maybe he thinks in order to become President he needs to be both a former governor and former MLB owner like his brother.

It'll be weird, but it'll be much better for the franchise in the long run over the current status quo of Loria. Jeter gives them some desperately needed credibility.

What will give them credibility is moving to a better market. South Florida is not a problem sports market, period. Yet they have as many World Series titles as like half of baseball since 1950, go figure.

There are no "better" markets with ballparks.

It might be fun to imagine a brand new $500 million ballpark magically appearing in some giant untapped market, but if that was realistic it would have happened already for one team or another.

New Jersey hasn't been tapped. And don't tell me it's all Yankees country, New Jersey would embrace a team of their own and not under a New York or Philly moniker. They'd have plenty of crossover at worse. Heck, many smaller markets would be better than Miami, like Austin/Round Rock or even a second team in LA. Canada is an underserved market and I don't mean Montreal either.

So yes, there are options. I understand Miami's connection to Latin America but it's a poor pro sports market.

(04-25-2017 10:38 PM)_C2_ Wrote: [ -> ]New Jersey hasn't been tapped. And don't tell me it's all Yankees country, New Jersey would embrace a team of their own and not under a New York or Philly moniker. They'd have plenty of crossover at worse.

You keep saying stuff like this, ignoring fundamental market drivers. One: Yankees, Mets, and Phillies would fight a New Jersey team tooth and nail. Two: Any new team would have to get media deals. If there was a multi-billion dollar media deal just waiting for the right NJ team, it would be done by now. Same thing applies to LA. Look what's going on with the Dodgers deal.

The Nationals moved in on Orioles territory. Of course some money would change hands but a smart owner could carve out a niche in New Jersey or LA.

New Jersey definitely could support a team of its own, but it would be a huge battle with the Yankees/Mets/Phillies to get a team there. The Expos only had to battle with the Orioles. New York had three teams at the same time Philadelphia had two, so it's definitely possible. For years though I've thought it wasn't worth the battle to move there. With franchise values skyrocketing, especially those in major metropolitan areas (see LA Clippers) if there ever was a time to try to break into that market, it would be now. They'd have no problem finding a media deal once they moved in.

Of course with the Marlins new ballpark they're not going to be the ones attempting to move there. I wouldn't count out the Rays though.

It was just a bad idea to put sports teams in Florida. Just because you look at a spreadsheet and see a few million people live around a city doesn't mean it's a better market than somewhere else. Spring Training should be Florida's baseball niche as well as the Florida League. It's full of retirees and immigrants otherwise, at least most of everything from Orlando and south.

I am still amazed that North Carolina doesn't have a MLB team.

(04-26-2017 05:26 PM)PirateTreasureNC Wrote: [ -> ]I am still amazed that North Carolina doesn't have a MLB team.

The Braves' new ballpark cost over $670 million.

The Marlins, who are probably one of the least-valuable MLB franchises, just sold for $1.3 billion.

So to buy a team and build a new MLB-quality ballpark requires people who have (or can raise) about $2 billion, plus an existing owner who wants to sell to someone who wants to move the franchise, plus MLB approving the move, plus a satisfactory place to play while the new team's ballpark is being built.

There's no place in North Carolina that has enough of a market to support a team. Maybe if Charlotte didn't have two teams it could work.