mets vs jays in montreal.....

[terrymeisner]

montreal showed it really is a good baseball town with over 100K attending the 2 game series....very good numbers for exhibition games and it shows montreal should have mlb ....tons of expos jerseys in the crowd and the stadium is very good for baseball....go Giants!!!!!

[weeze]

those are good numbers. but im confused I mean didnt they leave montreal due to poor attendence?

[NerdyBrooke]

Attendance was low, but there was a lot going on with the Montreal closure.  This is directly from the wiki:

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On November 6, 2001, MLB's owners voted 28

[Webster29]

Thanks Terry and Brent.   That was quite interesting.   Got a question for you guys.   Is there any organized effort to bring MLB back to Montreal??   And if so and they were successful would they still play in Olympic Stadium or would they be looking at a new baseball stadium?   We never get any info about the situation in Montreal and it interests me.

[NerdyBrooke]

The financial numbers seem to be the major thing holding it back.  From what I understand, back in 2004 when they departed to keep the team in Montreal would have cost approximately 150mil, whereas now to relocate the franchise back most news sites are speculating the costs would be in the 1 to 1.2 billion price point (assuming a new stadium is built, which is a large deciding factor on whether or not MLB approves a return).  I look at this like from a "Winnipeg Jets" standpoint, the team has their resurgence, but for how long?  Is it a viable market?  Population wise, Montreal has the numbers; but Montreal is THE hockey town.  Is there enough room for baseball again?  I look at Toronto as a gauge.  Toronto isn't doing badly, about 14th in the league in avg attendance last year.  As a kid, I remember going to Jays games pretty frequently with dad.  Then the strike happened.  Haven't been to a game since.  The Jays have a loyal following now, but nowhere near the support they used to have.  Of all my friends and family, my father in law is the only one I know who's been to more than 1 Blue Jays game in the past 5 years.  Everyone else just doesn't seem to care.

Toronto is another big hockey town.  Lots don't go to leaf games just cause the ticket prices are exorbitant, but the fan base is HUGE.  The Jays are surviving here, but not thriving.  One has to wonder who in Montreal will take the gamble when baseball has already left once and the price so high now.

Personally, I think you'll see the Nordiques return before the Expos.