re: MLB expansion

That city is the next San Fran.

Google "Austin San Antonio MLB Team" or some variation of that and you'll find a few interesting articles from the last couple of years on the topic.

The articles present the idea of the two cities serving as a combined Central Texas market, addressing how the I-35 corridor between Austin and San Antonio is growing, with the thought of that growth sort of connecting the two cities into one bigger metro area. The combined population of the two cities' metro areas is over 5 million. Austin alone is the 11th biggest market in the nation and close to overtaking San Jose for 10th. Plus, it has the corporate money from the tech companies.

One idea is to put a stadium in San Marcos as a way of trying to make the team somewhat centrally located between the two cities. But then the question is who would pay for it. May not happen, but it's fun to talk/speculate about.

Also, I agree with those who say yes to relocation and no to expansion. Don't dilute the talent pool even further.

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The usual suspects of Nashville, Charlotte, Orlando- rank them as you wish

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I could see two of those.

Orlando is the odd man out because the other two Florida franchises couldn’t draw dick to an orgy.

Owners have to vote BUT the expansion fees paid by new owners are enormous.

Fay Vincent claims that the last two bouts of expansion (Marlins, Rockies in the early 90s, D-Backs, Rays in the late 90s) were to raise money to pay off the collusion cases dating back to the early 80s under Peter Uberroth..

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Portland is Oakland but with commies instead of culture. An MLB team cannot survive there. The ballpark would have better attendance if it was located in Bend

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Portland would support MLB well but I am not sure how a stadium gets public financing in this climate.

I think SLC would be a bolder choice and still help expand westward. It's really a beautiful city and a stadium very close to the mountains in SLC or Provo would be unlike anything we've ever seen visually in sports. Those pleasant folks are chock full of Utah pride and would pack the place regularly.

Look at the South...Atlanta is all that MLB has to offer. They have a huge radius around them of nothing. The Rays and the Marlins are more transient fan bases and don't really count. Over the next 25-30 years, either major expansion is coming or relocation is coming, but the fact is MLB needs to get into the South/West way more and fast!!

NEW:
Nashville
Charlotte
San Antonio/Austin
Portland

I don’t think there was any REAL smoke to the Spurs going to Austin. The team is down, and in a small market you need to get creative to stay relevant in a league driven by stars. The Spurs have played in Mexico before, now they added a couple in Austin. I believe they played 38 games in SA instead of 41.

There’s a bit of a divide between the two cities IMO. The Spurs fanbase can be very possessive of their team, after all, it’s the only major league team in SA. The franchise has embraced the blue collar/barrio culture. Honestly, I just think ownership is trying to expand the fanbase and make more $$.

Birmingham is the 50th largest metro area in the country.

Green Bay is the only one smaller that has a major pro team, and that's a pretty unique situation.

Yes people from San Antonio people freak out about everything. I don’t think there’s any chance of the spurs moving to Austin. Or any other team in any sports league tbh.

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Yes people from San Antonio people freak out about everything.

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It still has small town vibes in that regard. I’d hate to see the team leave to Austin simple because it would be the biggest sellout move in sports for several years. Golden State moved across the bay because Oakland is a ghetto and their leadership doesn’t seem interested in a new venue.

Moving to Austin would be turning your back on SA in my opinion.