Tampa Bay announced today that they're looking for a new CEO and managing partner, and another source said that they expect the team to be sold. They "didn't expect the team to leave Tampa," but there's always a chance, I suppose. I would love to see that team move here--they're so woefully underattended that I don't feel bad about taking someone else's team. And they've got no history so they would be "our team." It'd be like getting an expansion team complete with a good system.

My list of teams I'd like Portland to get are as follows...
1. Tampa Bay
2. Montreal
3. Minnesota
4. Oakland

Herons!

Let some other sucker town buy the D-Rays. Part of the buy out contact is taking care of a 26 year lease on Tropicana Field. Who in their right mind wants to pick up that tab on that team? I hope that Portland is not so crazy as to jump into any deal that stinks as bad as this one. That mentality is what got Tampa Bay in this problem in the first place. Built the park before they had a team.

++++++++++++++++++++
Show me a guy who can't pitch inside and I'll show you a loser. - Sandy Koufax

I know of a guy who doesn't mind overpaying for stuff (he's paying Shawn Kemp $19 million PER year for the next 3 years) with his bottomless wallet, who could bring the Rays to PDX and easily take care of that 26 year lease at the Trop. I'd love to see it happen!

A MLB team will be ours--oh yes-- it will be ours

Paul (and no not the former Beatle, although I sometimes think that he would rather be him, than himself) has made comments in regards to other sports franchise opportunities, most recently the attempted acquisition of the NHL Penguins, and he stated that unless it was a screaming business deal, other sports were off his "passion" list. Paul digs basketball, and football follows behind that, but he's made it pretty clear that hockey and baseball don't excite him that much, and therefore would only purchase from an investor point of view in a very good deal.

Which leads us back to Tampa... Not such a good deal for Mr. Allan to pursue if this is his criteria for going after another franchise.

++++++++++++++++++++
Show me a guy who can't pitch inside and I'll show you a loser. - Sandy Koufax

You're right Teddy, but OTOH, if you're starting a regional sports network, as Allen is, it makes sense to acquire as many properties for that station as possible...the Blazers are an increasingly unpopular team in this town, and the Fire, while likable, aren't going to exactly draw monster ratings...the Seahawks can only play preseason games on the channel...there is nothing that makes a regional sports net like the game of baseball...Harry Hutt, Allen's wisdom-challenged Blazer exec, claims the channel will be fine with just the Blazers, but the fact is, sure they could go with just the Blazers as major league programming, but their ratings will be much, much, much better if they acquire a local MLB or NHL team...at this point, after years speculation that Allen would buy an NHL team, I believe Allen is more likely to buy an MLB team, than an NHL team...baseball is a more popular game, and would provide more games and programming than the NHL...finally, Allen apparently has a box at Safeco, so hmm...

A MLB team will be ours--oh yes-- it will be ours

More news on the D-Rays...

"The COO of the club has stepped down and the team is up for sale, although there is currently no plans, or talk of moving the team" -
Tim Kirkjian on Baseball Tonight

Well you can look at this two ways folks....

1) It's bad news. No move. No team in Portland.

2) You are an optimist and realize that just the fact that there is talk of a team moving is big news in all the sports media, and therefore shows that when the conversation comes up about 2941, or baseball in general coming here to Bridgetown, we can say that it's close.... very close to happening some where, so why not here?

++++++++++++++++++++
Show me a guy who can't pitch inside and I'll show you a loser. - Sandy Koufax

There are no plans to move now.

When a new owner steps in, there may be....

Supposedly there is a group in Tampa that is interested in keeping the Rays in town. Of course, they haven't made any stadium demands yet.

History 101: The Rays were born out of the need for MLB to avoid litigation by Naimoli (sp?) and investors who tried to get both the Giants and White Sox to move to St. Pete. The Giants were all but delivered by former owner Bob Lurie when a sudden "11th Hour" bid came to keep the team in SF, and MLB sided with keeping the team from moving. Would it be possible that Selig would attempt to keep the Marlins from moving at any cost, while leaving the Rays "twisting in the wind?"

the last two crowds in tampa bay have been about 11,000 yuck a previous comment pointed out the lease issues with tropicana and that turning allen off, he is probably right since allen has looked into buying every troubled NHL franchise out there except tampa bay because of the franchise intertwinement with the stadium there. still the situation there could benefit us, first by bringing publicity to MLB teams maybe moving and second one of the groups in D.C. is loaded $$ and has a passion for MLB so they may be willing to absorb the lease costs, unlike Allen, that would take the chief competitor for a relocated franchise out of the running and leave the expos, A's and twins with fewer alternatives to us.

The city of Orlando denied reports today of trying to move the team there.

E-mail the Representatives ! Yes on HB2941 !!

The city of Orlando denied reports today of trying to move the team there.

We've talked about Orlando over on FanHome (Baseballboards) a couple of times. And most of us came to the same conclusion, that the tens of millions of tourists that come to Orlando every year, is actually a deterrent for MLB, since there is so much to do while your there, besides see a ball game.

A couple of points about Orlando, here are the attendance averages per game since '96, for their AA baseball team:

Attendance
1996 2,618
1997 2,301
1998 2,151
1999 1,307 *Won the Southern League Championship
2000 968

One could say, well it's minor league baseball, and it's outside in the humidity and so on. I can tell you AA ball, while not MLB is pretty darn good. And yes the team did play in a horrible run down stadium (Tinker Field) right next to the Citrus Bowl in downtown Orlando.

But they did move in '99 to Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex, where the Braves spring training state-of-the-art ballpark is, and just look at where the attendance went from there, and they even won the League Championship that year. They play on Disney's own property and people still could care less.

Second, the Magic are looking for the city to build them a new state-of-the-art $250 million arena to replace the 12 year old TD Waterhouse (O-rena) arena, which lacks enough luxury boxes and club seats. The city came out and said, what are you nuts, I don't think so.

Third the one person/group/company that could possibly afford to build a new $350 million to $400 million retractable roof stadium in the Orlando, which would be needed, is Disney, and they already own the Angels, which they still are trying to sell, I think.

although there is currently no plans, or talk of moving the team

I think the Devil Ray's organization are saying this, because they now the lease issue, which people have mentioned, is somewhat of a deterrent for someone to buy and move the team.

This of course all depends how deep the new owner's pockets are and what the City of St. Petersburg wants in return. The city might want $1 million, $2 million, $5 million or more, for every year left on the lease.

If they want $5 million per all the years left on the lease, that's an extra $130 million + the cost of the team (Forbes estimated this month that the franchise is worth $150-million, 25th among the 30 Major League Baseball teams) + any debt the team has.

[This message was edited by Harrisburg Senator on APR-29-01 at 09:58 AM.]

The St. Petersburg Times

April 28, 2001

by Damian Cristodero

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Spokesman Reggie Roberts made it clear Friday that Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer is not waiting for the Rays to be put up for sale.

"The Glazers' focus is on the upcoming football season, and right now they have no interest in acquiring the Rays franchise," Roberts said.

Eddie DeBartolo, former owner of the 49ers, also was adamant. In a statement read over the telephone by his secretary, he addressed speculation he may be interested in buying the team by saying, "There is absolutely no truth to the rumor."

The Rays are not for sale yet but are contemplating that possibility.

If they do go on the block, they could get tire kicks from potential buyers from as close as Orlando and as far away as Portland, Ore. There are groups in Washington, D.C., and northern Virginia also looking to buy.

The catch is, these groups want to bring teams to their areas, and commissioner Bud Selig has said franchise relocation will not be seriously considered until a new agreement has been reached with the players union. The current contract runs out after this season.

The Rays also have a contract with St. Petersburg that makes it extremely difficult to move them out of Tropicana Field.

But as Don Logan, president and general manager of the Las Vegas 51s minor-league team, said, "One thing I have learned is there's no such thing as an ironclad contract."

Who is looking for a team?

Washington financier Fred Malek heads a group that includes Stephen Porter, who was part of a group that attempted to bring major league baseball to the Tampa Bay area in the early '90s. Birmingham, Ala., has been agitating for a team and has the deep pockets of HealthSouth chairman Richard Scrushy in its back yard.

Entrepreneur Norton Herrick, whose attempt to bring a team to Orlando failed six years ago, told the Orlando Sentinel major league baseball could still work in Central Florida.

"If the Devil Rays move, I think baseball would approve a move to Orlando if it came to that," he said.

The Oregon Baseball Campaign wants to bring a team to Portland. President Lynn Lashbrook said he is keeping tabs on the Rays' situation, though he is unsure what action his group will take if there is a sale.

"We've been working on this for five years, and I've said all along that there will be three to four teams competing (to relocate) to Portland, and I stand by that," he said. "All of this plays nicely into our game plan."

There is no doubting the game plan of Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, who desperately wants professional sports in his city. But Logan said there are concerns the Las Vegas Valley, with a population of 1.4-million, cannot yet support a major league team.

The time apparently is not right for Charlotte, N.C., either. Jeff Beaver, executive director of the Charlotte Regional Sports Commission, said the priority is to keep the NBA's Hornets, who have threatened to move.

Still, Beaver wouldn't shut the door. "Baseball is on the back burner," he said. "But it never leaves the stove."

Staff writer Darrell Fry and researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

Read this article on the St. Petersburg Times website.


[This message was edited by Dodger Matt on APR-30-01 at 11:31 AM.]

WOO-HOO!!! they know we exist on the east coast

The St Petersburg TImes made me spit out my coffee A mention...east coast paper...ahead of Buckoville...the tides are turning boys ...And they contacted Lynn Lashbrook ? Guess that shows you how well established we are becoming !! Our OBC name is really out there!!

E-mail the Representatives ! Yes on HB2941 !!

This is excellent news. Great PR, and keeps us in the national press. Woo Hoo!!!!!

++++++++++++++++++++
Show me a guy who can't pitch inside and I'll show you a loser. - Sandy Koufax

And last week on the Dugout (1150 am, 5-6pm weekdays), Dr. Lynn mentioned he was contacted by ESPN...PDX will be mentioned so much in upcoming weeks and months by media across the nation, that mentions of PDX and MLB will become the norm--the rule, not the exception.

A MLB team will be ours--oh yes-- it will be ours

I've said it before, and I'll say it again:
This is it, Ladies and Gentlemen.

After all this time, your efforts are being noticed. Half the battle is getting yourself out there as a possibility. Portland is rapidly becoming the town to beat.

Let's keep the fires burning on our particular stove!

COOL!

They've got us in their radar! Now the real fun begins!

perception sometimes is as important as reality

Heck, perception is reality....