Rays GM Matthew Silverman was on MLB Network promoting the idea of this. He said there would need to be two new outdoor ball parks, with the one in Tampa being a 25K-seater which he described as “almost a spring training facility on steroids”. He even spoke about the area’s spring training heritage as a rationale for the downsize. Sounds like the Montreal one would be similarly dinky and spartan, apparently marketed as “almost the biggest beer garden and party you can imagine.”
The guy talked about two stadiums of that size being jampacked for 80 games, largely because they will be outside. Don’t forget they opened up the roof at Olympic stadium towards the end of the team’s tenure, and they still drew nothing like this guy suggests. Not only that, who is going to be jam-packing games in Tampa without weather certainty, both involving heat and rain? Last time I checked, isn’t there a hockey team named the Lightning for a reason? Nevertheless, both Kenney and Gammons were acting like this was starting to make sense.
I guess I understand why the commissioner wants to cull the minor leagues, because certain MLB execs want to actively present some purportedly major league teams in such venues. I’m sure the players association would really appreciate this sort of scenario. I mean, how much do you think you could realistically pull in as far as major league caliber prices and realistic TV and other marketing rights? Just put two minor-league teams in Tampa and Montreal like they used to have and be done with it. They can still enjoy their spring-training heritage by watching actual major-league teams visit in March.
