If Tampa and Miami can't support a Baseball team, how could Orlando? I think the Jaguars moving to Orlando wouldn't be a bad idea.
Orlando is a great soccer city, but I think it MIGHT be ambitious for football. But you know, I would love to have an NFL team in Orlando. Tampa has Jacksonville and Miami to contend with.
(10-13-2011 03:39 PM)MWD1001 Wrote: [ -> ]What is going on in Orlando? Everyone down there having delusions of grandeur? In the midst of all the UCF talk, the city's mayor is on crack and thinks Orlando can support an NFL Team, and possibly a MLB team.
Buddy Dyer sees Orlando as potential NFL city
In other Orlando news, on the same front page mind you:
Metro Orlando foreclosures surge 42%
This crap is too funny....
Orlando is more capable of hosting an NFL team than Jacksonville. Perhaps on par with Charlotte and Nashville.
As far as baseball, if the Tampa Bay Rays played in Tampa rather than St Petersburg, that franchise would draw much better. With its summer tourism, Orlando would likely draw better than St Petersburg, but probably not Tampa. Once upon a time, Disney actually talked about building a MLB stadium on its Magic Kingdom campus - when it still had high hopes for making a fortune with the Anaheim Ducks and Angels.
(10-13-2011 03:46 PM)NoDak Wrote: [ -> ] (10-13-2011 03:39 PM)MWD1001 Wrote: [ -> ]What is going on in Orlando? Everyone down there having delusions of grandeur? In the midst of all the UCF talk, the city's mayor is on crack and thinks Orlando can support an NFL Team, and possibly a MLB team.
Buddy Dyer sees Orlando as potential NFL city
In other Orlando news, on the same front page mind you:
Metro Orlando foreclosures surge 42%
This crap is too funny....
Orlando is more capable of hosting an NFL team than Jacksonville. Perhaps on par with Charlotte and Nashville.
As far as baseball, if the Tampa Bay Rays played in Tampa rather than St Petersburg, that franchise would draw much better. With its summer tourism, Orlando would likely draw better than St Petersburg, but probably not Tampa. Once upon a time, Disney actually talked about building a MLB stadium on its Magic Kingdom campus - when it still had high hopes for making a fortune with the Anaheim Ducks and Angels.
I remember when that was talked about. You better believe ESPN would push for an MLB franchise in Orlando if it ever got serious thought.
Orlando's best shot at an NFL team was in the mid 1990s when the Buccaneers were trying to get out of the Sombrero and Tampa was balking at building a new stadium. There were some preliminary talks with the Bucs about moving to Orlando, but the Orlando leadership at the time decided to not pursue this so they could focus on trying to lure a baseball expansion franchise. Well, the baseball franchises went to Tampa and Phoenix, and the Bucs got their deal from Tampa for the new stadium. So Orlando was stuck with the NBA as their only major league franchise. I don't see that changing any time soon.
(10-13-2011 03:58 PM)Inigo Wrote: [ -> ]Orlando's best shot at an NFL team was in the mid 1990s when the Buccaneers were trying to get out of the Sombrero and Tampa was balking at building a new stadium. There were some preliminary talks with the Bucs about moving to Orlando, but the Orlando leadership at the time decided to not pursue this so they could focus on trying to lure a baseball expansion franchise. Well, the baseball franchises went to Tampa and Phoenix, and the Bucs got their deal from Tampa for the new stadium. So Orlando was stuck with the NBA as their only major league franchise. I don't see that changing any time soon.
NFL is possible in Orlando. Its only 10 games (including preseason). Baseball, forget about it. Too many games for a city like Orlando. Different animal. In fact, baseball is a real challenge in the 15+, similar markets that already have a team.
In a mid-size market, unless you are winning, attendance will be a challenge. You have a limited tv market, with Tampa to the west. Milwaukee outdrew the Cubs this year (just under 40,000 per game) and finished in the top 10 in attendence, and still can only break even with the 17th highest payroll, $90 million (as compared to the Yankees $200 payroll). The owners of an Orlando team would have deep, deep pockets to survive until the team got good. Have 6000 people in September, when you are 30 games out, is not good for business.
Why not move the Jags to Orlando? That way they can build on their current fanbase.
Bring a team to Memphis, we love football here! Oh...wait...um...
I'm just surprised North Carolina doesn't have a baseball team. Charlotte or Raleigh/Durham def deserve to have a team.
Too much of a tourist town and retirees. I can see supporting a college team, but to support a pro team takes a lot of money, and they already have one now. They had a hard time supporting one when I lived there without the economic woes.
NFL is not expanding any time soon. 32 team format works well. Orlando is already served by Bucs. Orlando was definitely a potential landing spot for the Bucs when they were going thru stadium issues previously. I could see them as a landing spot for the Jags in particular if they could figure a way out of their stadium deal, or potentially a shared home with Jacksonville like GB used to do with Milwaukee.
MLB is also not expanding any time soon. In their case, there are simply too few cities capable of supporting an MLB team. However, the Rays are one of only two MLB teams that has a clear need for a new stadium. The Rays could become one of the financial "haves" of baseball if they could figure out how to capture both the Tampa and Orlando markets. If Orlando would build a first class MLB stadium, I could see the Rays moving there or possibly splitting their schedule (e.g., 60 games in Orlando, 20 in St. Pete) to try to capture both TV markets.
(10-13-2011 04:33 PM)Joey_Niklas Wrote: [ -> ]I'm just surprised North Carolina doesn't have a baseball team. Charlotte or Raleigh/Durham def deserve to have a team.
There was a lot of speculation that the Triad - Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point - would get a MLB team and thought they were close, but it didn't materialize. The truth is we are all hard-wired to root for the Braves. I learned it from Dad who learned it from his Dad who has the MLB extra innings package so he can watch every single game. I was rooting for the cellar-dweller Braves when they had Dale Murphy, Bob Horner and Rafael Ramirez to name a few. I had all their baseball cards and made a few bad deals to acquire them. It was actually more fun back then, though that may be it was just because I was a kid.
Jacksonville is a joke of an NFL city. Nobody in the area cares the stadium sucks, its awful. Orlando could lure them away, but they have to find the money to make the Citrus Bowl not suck.
(10-13-2011 04:51 PM)KnightTower Wrote: [ -> ]Jacksonville is a joke of an NFL city. Nobody in the area cares the stadium sucks, its awful. Orlando could lure them away, but they have to find the money to make the Citrus Bowl not suck.
True...the Citrus Bowl needs a lot of work, at least it did 5 or so years ago when I was there.
(10-13-2011 04:51 PM)KnightTower Wrote: [ -> ]Jacksonville is a joke of an NFL city. Nobody in the area cares the stadium sucks, its awful. Orlando could lure them away, but they have to find the money to make the Citrus Bowl not suck.
I thought the stadium was awesome, to be honest. The parking situation sucks around Altell though. But I do agree that its a joke of an NFL city when it comes to fan support.
(10-13-2011 04:55 PM)Joey_Niklas Wrote: [ -> ]But I do agree that its a joke of an NFL city when it comes to fan support.
So many people move to Florida from other parts of the country and maintain their original loyalties. Although, that doesn't justify the apathy, at least not all of it.
(10-13-2011 04:47 PM)ringmaster Wrote: [ -> ] (10-13-2011 04:33 PM)Joey_Niklas Wrote: [ -> ]I'm just surprised North Carolina doesn't have a baseball team. Charlotte or Raleigh/Durham def deserve to have a team.
There was a lot of speculation that the Triad - Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point - would get a MLB team and thought they were close, but it didn't materialize. The truth is we are all hard-wired to root for the Braves. I learned it from Dad who learned it from his Dad who has the MLB extra innings package so he can watch every single game. I was rooting for the cellar-dweller Braves when they had Dale Murphy, Bob Horner and Rafael Ramirez to name a few. I had all their baseball cards and made a few bad deals to acquire them. It was actually more fun back then, though that may be it was just because I was a kid.
No chance. Baseball is 81 games. It means drawing 25,000 minimum, and preferably 35,000, on a Tuesday night to see the last place Oakland A's. The Triad, and Charlotte for that matter, have low population density. After the novelty wears off, no way people drive an hour to see a bad team on a weekday night, but that is what you have to do in baseball. My dad lives in Charlotte and there is no way that city could support a team. No way. Yes, their are 5 million people with 100 miles. But, there are not enough people close enough to the city to fill a stadium on weekday nights. Same goes for the Triad. You have a bunch of relatively small towns 30+ minutes apart. Football sure. But baseball, I don't see it.
As for the Atlanta connection, that disappears when you get a team. Minnesota was Packer country in the 50s, now the Packers are the enemy.
(10-13-2011 04:59 PM)99Tiger Wrote: [ -> ] (10-13-2011 04:55 PM)Joey_Niklas Wrote: [ -> ]But I do agree that its a joke of an NFL city when it comes to fan support.
So many people move to Florida from other parts of the country and maintain their original loyalties. Although, that doesn't justify the apathy, at least not all of it.
Yea that is true. The greatest part of going to a sports bar in Jacksonville on a Sunday is seeing the bar packed w/ fans of 10 different teams.