MLB: Does a Canadian infestation in Seattle have any impact on expansion?
Was this past weekend’s series between the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays a showcase for Western Canada’s baseball consumers? Does interest from our northern neighbors in this series make a case for MLB to consider Vancouver as a potential expansion rival for a Montreal Expos revival bid? Are there enough fans in Western Canada for Seattle and Toronto to share a piece of their market with an expansion team?
It was listed as a home series on the schedule for the Seattle Mariners but this past weekend may have felt more like a “Canadian invasion” for the Mariners and their fans as a large swarm of Blue Jay fans from Western Canada descended upon Seattle to watch Toronto take two of three in this past weekend’s series.
The ‘infestation of Canadians’ to a beautiful city like Seattle is not a common occurrence as estimates of Blue Jay fans making up between 30 – 40% of paid attendees at SafeCo Field is impressive. This occurred even with the Mariners introducing dynamic pricing to seats – for example, lower-bowl seats that normally cost $32 were sold for the Blue Jays series for $68 (or $92 Canadian dollars) – there was still an increase of an extra 10,000 fans over the Mariners’ average attendance.
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The Montreal Expos are typically thought of as Canada’s best chance to secure a second MLB franchise but surely MLB decision-makers have taken note of the baseball fan base in Western Canada and would perhaps look to Vancouver as a potential expansion market.
Former Mets GM Steve Phillips went on Canadian radio to discuss the possibility of a Vancouver expansion and compared the idea unfavorably to Montreal’s. Montreal is likely not just the best potential expansion candidate in Canada but based on comments from MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, Montreal might be the best expansion candidate period.
Fervent support from Montreal mayor Denis Coderre and the Montreal Baseball Project that is focused on bringing back the Expos (led by former Expo Warren Cromartie), a Montreal bid is years of hard work ahead of a potential Vancouver expansion bid that at this point does not have the infrastructure or support to compete with Montreal and the other better-known expansion candidates.
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If a potential ownership group emerged from Vancouver after seeing the appetite for baseball in Western Canada, the odds are stacked against the idea. The chances of Major League Baseball expanding are slim and expanding by two teams in Canada are even slimmer. While the show of support for the Blue Jays in Seattle has to be on MLB’s radar, there is no chance that Vancouver will have their own home team coming out of the next round of MLB expansion.