If the A's commit, that Triple-A baseball staduim where Memorial Coliseum stands could just as easily become a major-league park.
Furthermore, if there's any team that knows how to be successful in a smaller market, it would be the Oakland A's. I'd be down for that certainly. Oh wait, I'm moving to Denver. But still, I think it would still be a cool idea and a good fit for the most part. I am not generally a baseball fan, but think it would be fun to have the team in town.
I've heard the footprint at MC would be too small for an MLB stadium, but the Portland Public Schools building on the other side of Broadway would be plenty big. There's been mention of putting the AAA stadium at the PPS site, which would benefit the Blazers development plans better than a stadium at MC, and be better for a possible MLB stadium. I'm thrilled about MLS, I'd cry if we got MLB!
Portland is an even smaller market than the East Bay. No way this happens, IMO. Lew Wolff (the managing owner of the A's) is angling for a better market. His real target is San Jose and the South Bay, which Bud Selig has said may be on the table (in the past, he had defended it as Giants territory, but Wolff has a good relationship with Selig). Wolff isn't going to move the team just to move it. He'll move it for a more lucrative market, which Portland isn't.
Sadly, I agree completely. Anyway, the PPS site would be better for the Blazers, and for the dreamers.
that would be awesome. although i cannot become a fan of the team, because they are a rival of seattle. but i still want an MLB team here, regardless.
A rival of Seattle? Portland is a rival of Seattle. The Blazers were the rivals of the Sonics. I would welcome them with open arms. Whether it happens or not, I'm not sure. I'm still not convinced that we will ever get a MLB team... I'm still a little surprised we don't have an NHL team yet, considering we already have the facility.
Yeah but that was a case of an owner wanting a team where he is/was from. Unless A's owner is from Portland...
Smaller market, but far less teams to split it with. Portland has changed considerably in the last 5-10 years and would have no trouble supporting the A's, as long as they changed their name.
Even counting that, I've read analysis that Portland would mean less revenue than Oakland, not more. It's possible that Portland can support a team, I'm not contesting that. It just doesn't seem likely that the A's would be more profitable in Portland than in Oakland, so there's no incentive for Wolff to move the A's there. The South Bay would be a wide open and lucrative market for the A's. Vegas could be, but it's extremely unlikely that baseball would ever put a franchise in a city associated with gambling.
And my point is, fuck any team that comes from Seattle. Fuck the Mariners. Fuck the Seahawks. I've always hated the fact that those teams are crammed down our throats. Just because they're from the Pac NW doesn't mean we automatically support them. You have chosen to follow the M's, but I have not. I would rather have a team in Portland that I can call my own, and not a team that I had to adopt because they were the closest to our city.
