Being from Utah, I can say that interest in baseball would increase dramatically if there were a new MLB team here. Most of the lack of interest is because the nearest MLB team is the Rockies who are over 7 hours away from SLC and they have rarely been good enough to gain much viewership from fans in Utah. However, the Wasatch Front is a sports-crazed area and if there were ever an MLB team here fans would show up regardless of their prior baseball experiences. "If you build it, they will come."
I disagree. There would be a lot of interest at first, but over the first ten years attendance would dwindle. Also, the nearest NFL team is also in Denver, but there are a lot more football fans in the Salt Lake area than there are baseball fans.
Honestly Toledo also makes a good choice for an expansion as their Triple A team consistently is one of the best with attendance while also being in the middle of Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, and a close drive from Fort Wayne, Ann Arbor, and arguable Dayton which is probably why it brings in so many fans for Triple A. In a league where you can’t use the major cities near Toledo, Toledo becomes a great choice.
As a Hartford resident, we're certainly trying to make the Yard Goats a thing. City I was expecting to see is Birmingham. Alabama has no representation in the major five pro leagues, just a strong showing in NCAA. I think I'd settle one team here instead of Memphis.
In addition to Vancouver, Edmonton could also work pretty well. People seem to forget how successful the old Trappers (AAA) were during their 23-year run prior to relocation, and they played in a new stadium for the final 10 seasons of that run. The park is still very active today, and, at just under 10,000 capacity, is the largest baseball stadium in Western Canada.
In general Alberta is becoming a lot like Texas in that it's becoming an increasingly Urban defined region than a rural one. It might overtake British Columbia in a few decades in population.
Surprised you left out Tucson AZ. Growing city, used to host spring training, over 1 million in the metro area, used to have triple A. Small market, but devoted fan bases
@@onthemound yeah, but it's not in the farm system. And also, we're talking about MLB teams here. The Saguaros only play half a year in the Pecos League. With this hypothetical expansion, I just think it would be a good option
@@bastianrattler1392 Not to mention, Tucson is home to the Arizona Wildcats. It would draw DROVES of college students and young adults; and you could offer promotions like there's no tomorrow.
@@lakebay972 oh absolutely. As an UA Alumni, I loved to go to the games and still do! It's a great baseball fan base down here. However, compared to big leagues, the University is the Pro League in town with a faithful following
Here is the problem with all the smaller cities getting real MLB teams. Who is going to pay for the stadium? A city like Las Vegas could handle it easily. This is my opinion, taxpayers should not pay one penny for a new stadium. If a team wants to locate in a city let them privately finance their own stadium.
In the absence of historically separate leagues like AL/NL and AFL/NFL, starting a new league makes more sense to organize into Eastern & Western Conferences like the NHL and NBA have.
I’m surprised you left out El Paso in this league. Might be small but no other major cities around it and already a Triple-A franchise would make El Paso a great candidate imo.
@@lakebay972 Las Cruces. NM 600,000 people only 40 miles away and Alamogordo to the north. Over 2 million even without Juarez in the area. I go to the Chihuahuas games now, always a good crowd and the Padres' AAA team.
Your full of you know what. Triple a or independent league yes but not a major league team remember yall lost the Diablos and the chiwawas name and logo are what made you know better.
Other possibilities include Tucson, Tulsa, Birmingham, Triad (Greensboro), Richmond, Grand Rapids, Rochester, and in the not too distant future considering their growth, El Paso, Knoxville, Bakersfield, Greenville, Gulf Coast (Pensacola/Mobile/ Gulf Shores) Charleston, and Southwest Florida (Fort Myers/Naples/Cape Coral/Port Charlotte/Estero).
@@purpleperson Considering it is almost the same size as Buffalo, it makes sense to include it. I didn't add Syracuse because it is a couple hundred thousand short in population.
The upper midwest desperately needs representation. Grand Rapids, Rockford, Peoria, Madison and Green Bay are strong candidates for this league's first expansion or relocation.
Rockford may sound like an odd choice but it would pull so many Chicago suburbanites who don’t like going into the big city. Rockford is only 140,000 population though. So maybe something like Quad Cities (380,000) people.
It's a shame that the A's are getting pressured to go to Vegas, because Sacramento would mean a new market while not totally abandoning the current fanbase.
New Orleans has not done well supporting their teams. Their AAA team left in 2019 and there are currently no plans to replace them. Before the AAA arrived in 1993, they spent the previous 15 years without a team. It seems like an obvious choice, but I don't see it working out.
I agree with what you say now but before New Orleans was a great choice for the zyhpers to move to from Denver, Jackson Mississippi had lost the general's and the Biloxi Shuckers were in Huntsville and of course mobile didn't have a team either therefore when I was with the expos I suggested that the zyhpers move to new Orleans from Denver After the city of Denver was awarded the MLB team. Also this was before hurricane Katrina so New Orleans was at that time the perfect place for the Zyhpers to move to and mld granted that idea note that this was a triple a team at that time and eventually the Zyhpers did what I intended them to do and that was to become the triple a affiliate of the In coming Florida Marlins. Not once did I ever see New Orleans as an mld city and I still don't. It makes me sad to read that the team that I moved from Denver to New Orleans is gone.
@@dvferyance absolutely incorrect, one of the fastest growing metro areas in the country, large investment from major corporations, and a built in fan base with the Cardinals, Cubs, White Sox, twins and Brewers all ceasing to exist.
I’m from the Inland Empire and you’re right, the only way we’re getting a pro team is if an existing team from L.A. builds a new stadium out here, or if a wacky scenario like this happens. We are just too close to L.A. (about and hour east) to really compete with them, in fact the I.E. more than anything else is just far-east suburbs for L.A. and Orange Counties, so even if we did get a team out here, it would likely not be a whole lot different from having a team in Orange County and considering them as “L.A.”, which is exactly what the Angels are. And the city I would put the team in would be either Ontario or Riverside because they are the most accessible from the freeways.
Colorado Springs this would be a great city to put a mlb team in because it’s about to hit 1 million people in there metro and there is Fort Collins and Pueblo fairly close to it with a lot of people too.
I love the idea I agree Ottawa should I have a major league baseball team to it they country's capital with another major sports team but it's only one problem if you're going to have the team in city of Ottawa or a hour or two away from the city like senators
People in North Texas are just as likely to root for The University of Oklahoma as the The University of Texas, so they would root for Oklahoma teams, but the Texas Rangers already being in DFW would limit this dramatically. In your hypothetical league, Albuquerque would also pull fans from the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles as it is much closer than DFW and OKC. Tulsa could have been another option as it would enthusiastically support any major league franchise, just as OKC has with the Thunder.
No one in DFW roots for the Thunder though… you’re more likely to find Rockets or Pelicans fans in DFW than Thunder fans. I think college football would be the exception for DFW rooting for OK
Tucson has a pro team… U of A. It’s come to my notice on multiple occasions that interests aligned with the athletic department have a habit of chasing other opportunities out of Tucson. (That’s true of several major college towns BTW)
Salt Lake City is perfect for an MLB team. Population along the Wasatch Front can support a team. The Bees draw well here and a new ballpark is being built and ready by 2025. It will be in an area that is growing by leaps and bounds. We support the Utah Jazz mightily, the MLS Real Salt Lake draw very well with the stadium placed perfectly. The U of U teams are all well-attended. I mean the area is growing like crazy. Plenty of surrounding cities to draw from...Park City, Tooele, and all along the Wasatch Front. Hell I'd but a season ticket.
I lived there for a short period and been there many times. I don’t think rob manfred would approve it. People don’t care about baseball there at all. Only College football and basketball. There’s more interest soccer there than baseball.
SLC resident: I think there’s a decent interest in the baseball team here, but I don’t know if we’d get a major league interest. The Jazz does great but I think that’s because it’s our only big 4 team
Before the video, I came up with my own list. I was surprised how similar our lists were, except: WEST: Tucson and Mexico City instead of Inland, Calgary, & San Jose (I had San Antonio in the West) CENTRAL: Lansing & Winnipeg instead of Louisville (I forgot about Louisville) EAST: Scranton instead of Raleigh No reason not to go to Mexico if you're already firmly in Canada. Of course, you could go further. Santo Domingo, Havana (depending on diplomatic relations), Tijuana, and San Juan could replace my Winnipeg, Scranton, Lansing, and Providence to make it more international.
Baseball in Louisiana is complicated. LSU baseball is hard-core supported in this state. They have one of the best if not the attendance in college baseball and have had better attendance than MLB teams. On the other hand, the Baby Cakes had basically no support (which had a lot to do with the name), but the Zephyrs did struggle with attendance too. Although, I'd say using attendance numbers for a minor league team is not a great way to say there would be support or not.
Most of the talented ball players that come from that state come from the Monroe west side don't they? I know there's a academy in Baton Rouge that produce a lot too.
Glad you mentioned Jax, nobody every talks about us as an expansion candidate just because we are the 4th biggest in the state, and we are also in braves country here. Having an mlb team would be so cool, we wul have more fans per game than probably both tampa and miami (definitely miami haha)
@@lakebay972 They should be near downtown Tampa or waterfront in Tampa. Orlando could get its own team. Jacksonville could too, though it is a little smaller. Orlando metropolitan area has about 2.6 million. Jacksonville has around 1.6 million. Tampa Bay is around 3-3.5 million.
Reverse the leagues both teams are in and remove all of the minor league teams in the Tampa Bay area this being duniden, Bradenton, Clearwater, Tampa, and then put the rays in the national league and the Marlins in the American league, Tampa Bay rays problem is in the wrong league and to much minor league baseball around them.
Another interesting video would be a Canadian Baseball League. With or without Toronto? Your call. Also, having grown up between Indianapolis and Louisville, that's a rivalry that would absolutely own! Cities are like two and half, three hours apart so travel is super easy.
Nashville is obviously the place to go in TN but I think Memphis is a really good spot for an expansion team. Kind of smack in the middle of multiple states so there’s potential to get fans from Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana as well as Tennessee and Kentucky
Salt Lake City makes a lot of sense. Big urban area of 2.7 million people and only 1 other major sports team (if you don't count Real Salt Lake). I think one of the things stopping it would be the altitude thing, we all know how much drama that has caused with the Rockies. The city could definitely support another sports team though and it would be cool to see one there.
MLB really needs to add more teams in the southeast. The Braves area is huge for a heavily populated region. Outside of Florida they are the only team. Yet, the northeast and Midwest have teams every two or three hours from each other and in some areas only one to two hours from each other. At least give Charlotte, Norfolk, Raleigh, Orlando, and Nashville teams. If Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Baltimore, St. Louis, and Kansas City can have teams, then so can these southern cities that have comparable populations.
The New Orleans Showboats were one of the teams I created in my own baseball league back in the 80’s. Some of the other cities you list were also part of it. Started as a 12 team league, then grew to 26 when I added an AL.
@@stevencolatrella3257 Alabama and Mississippi have shown a passion for the braves. I know it’s not the biggest state and college football will always be king there but they definitely deserve a team
Buffalo was supposedly VERY close to getting an MLB team in 1988. Its the reason Pilot Field was built in such a way that the roof can easily be removed and another tier "stacked" ontop almost like a lego haha
I would put at least 1 team in Mexico. Puerto Rico could be a good choice as well, San Juan has quite a big population, though it might be a bit of a pain to travel to. Same with Honolulu, but it has a decent size population and no competition from other sports.
Puerto Rico is a US island and the Marlins have played several regular season games there so this is not a bad choice however one factor no minor league team is located there so thier is not much evidence for me to award a big league team to Puerto Rico and phuck Mexico I would consider the Dominican Republic or Japan before I would consider Mexico, Hawaii? Are you kidding me they lost thier triple a team years ago so they are definitely out of the picture
Other potential cities I'd add (most of which others have mentioned): Tucson, Birmingham, El Paso, Colorado Springs, Charleston, Quebec City, Fargo, Boise, Portland (Maine).
Tucson and Birmingham yes for now. El Paso, Charleston, and Colorado Springs for the future. Boise maybe in the distant future. The others are too small into the foreseeable future.
Quebec City isnt a very good place to put a sports team. When the NHL was there, the fans were heavily insisting their players be french speaking. They wont support a baseball team. Quebec City could do well if they had a soccer team, and maybe bring back Hockey, but NOT baseball.
Good list I think you covered all the us cities I was thinking of. Some other canadian cities that might be bigger than some of the american ones you chose would be edmonton, quebec city and winnipeg maybe. Just a thought. Cool video.
Thank you for the Inland Empire shout-out! We actually have THREE minor league teams in the I.E. (Inland Empire 66ers, Lake Elsinore Storm and Rancho Cucamonga Quakes), and we're within a 75-minute drive from 3 MLB teams (Dodgers, Angels, and Padres). There's a huge passion for baseball in the I.E.
@@Mentally_Will Because they draw the 4th most annually of all the major league teams right now, even with the lousy teams they've fielded. They'd be fools to move anywhere else...
@@Mentally_Will Existing leagues don’t consider building stadiums with the fans first anymore. They consider the luxury suites and club seats first. Those people aren’t in San Bernardino or Riverside. They’re “west of the 405.”
As someone from NC, I'd switch the leagues of Raleigh and Charlotte, as the Panthers are an NFC team, so keeping some consistency there would be nice. And also personally, Charlotte seems more like an NL-type city/name and Raleigh an AL one
It would be good to have a second division in any of the major us sports I know a pure pyramid would just have teams in New York or LA but this would be a nice compromise
New Jersey should have at least been an honorable mention. Seeing as how many NY teams play there, and even the Yankees (Yes, those Yankees) were rumored to be moving out there at one point in the 80's, so they can obviously support a team.
Exactly. New Jersey had the Newark Bears for the longest time and the Somerset Patriots had the most championships in the Atlantic League over the past 20 years
I created a 30 team league in a game called 00TP baseball. That had non-major league cities. My first choices were cities that had two franchises in the other major sports like Indianapolis and Buffalo. After I got all those then I went to the cities that had one franchise in a major sport. Like San Antonio .Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Montreal. And then I completed the league with cities that had no franchises like Albuquerque and Louisville. IThe thing I did different than what you’re doing though I split the league into eastern and western conferences. Which is what I think is going to happen in major league baseball within the next decade. They could do it now. But I think they will wait until they expand to 32 teams.
Omaha and Oklahoma City kinda already had a baseball rivalry before the restructuring of MiLB. For some strange reason they put Omaha in the east and OKC in the west, breaking them up.
First post on this channel. Instead of replacing the current MLB cities with non-MLB cities, how about forming an entirely new "minor major league", like the Continental League, or the ANAB, which stands for the Association of North American Baseball". Or even revive the now defunct National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, or NAPBL, for short. Perhaps the current unaffiliated minor leagues should have their own parent major league franchise to feed players up to. Any questions?
@@Fiedman (this is replying to the first guy) Edmonton is really far from Calgary. He already talked about how it's gonna be the one too far from other cities and Edmonton is farther north. It wouldn't work travel wise, they only have a hockey team because Canada loves hockey. Plus, I can tell you as a hockey fan Edmonton is and has always been good. Replying to Shaun, don't they support the Flames pretty good? Also which Alberta team do you root for out of pure curiosity?
It’s hard to get hockey players to sign up to play in Edm, baseball would be harder But could probably twist the city council’s arm to build a stadium in Edmonton though
0:25 Simple, after the success of Bananaball and on the heels of their first deal with ESPN, the owners and other investors decided it's time to challenge MLB directly and create Major League Bananaball with a few tweaks to their rules.
If the whole Louisville idea you had couldn't come to fruition, you could also consider Hamilton (or Mississauga) , Halifax and Quebec City in Canada as well. In one of the central divisions you could also consider Saskatoon too.
I think you would have to replace either Austin or SA with the two being combined into one franchise. (Central Texas Highlanders?) Then add Des Moines. Fresno has a VERY rich baseball history, beginning with Frank Chance of Tinker to Evers to Chance fame. Fresno later became a very popular stop for barnstorming baseball teams in the off-season (back when MLB players had to work odd jobs in the off-season to supplement their income) because of its mild weather deep into fall. Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig brought their barnstorming teams to Fresno for an exhibition (Bustin' Babes vs. Larrupin' Lous). Fresno got screwed by MLB when they were downsized from Triple A to low-A minors. If you replace Fresno with Des Moines, the layout would be lopsided--not enough teams in the West and too many teams in the Midwest. With his proposed alignment it's more balanced.
A Charlotte-Raleigh World Series. The Piedmont Series? The I-85 Series? (I-85 doesn’t technically go to Raleigh though) The Tar Heel Series? The Tobacco Road Series? The Old North State Series? Btw, I totally think there should be MLS teams in both cities. It would be an amazing soccer derby.
Make it happen! Relegate the bottom three from each league (NL & AL) and promote the top three from your league like is currently done in the Premier League.
This. ^^^ So much this. Even for cities whose teams never make the cut to get moved up this would create a sense of hope. The problem is that MLB has the antitrust exemption, and this lets them close off markets and charge huge expansion fees.
Vancouver would solve a lot of the MLB’s problems with a single expansion. You need another team in Canada? Done. Seattle doesn’t have anybody close rivals? Done. Worried about ticket sales? Vancouver is huge. It has a lot of potential from a name perspective, as well (Salmon, Mounties, Moose, Lumberjacks, Kodiaks, Voyagers).
Am told Vancouver is getting a team. I have some insider information about it. We are getting the Arizona Diamondbacks, they are leaving Arizona. I kid you not.
@@anthonys1199 I know about the Diamondbacks not being happy with Chase Field. I also know that Vancouver is a huge risk because SOMETHING has to be built (BC Lions + Whitecaps + baseball is not logistically friendly for BC Place), and that is EXPENSIVE. It’s expensive solely because the city is one of the most expensive places on the planet. We’re not sure of the popularity of the sport there. So when I tell you someone is pulling your leg, it’s not for the reason most would suspect.
It will make sense to have teams in Las Vegas, Portland, San Antonio, Charlotte, Montreal, Sacramento, Long Beach, Indianapolis. A lot of minor league cities small in nature don't have fortune 500 companies in the area to support MLB teams. Another issue a lot of new teams in small markets won't show success right away and depend on a lot of younger minor leaguers and veteran journeyman.
I would’ve done the Capital Region/Albany in UpstateNY, it’s one of the only regions of NY that’s growing in population and supports the college and minor league sports teams that have popped up with great enthusiasm
just for the fun of making team names...maybe these could be them 1. Hartford Robins (CT state bird) 2. Providence Steamrollers (surely) 3. Montreal Expos (surely) 4. Carolina Corkscrews (Charlotte...racing city...corkscrew turn/pitch) 5. Jacksonville Sea Dogs (pirates...ig) 6. San Antonio Soldiers (military history) 7. Nashville Nonet (group of 9 musicians) 8. Louisville Sluggers (hopefully no trademark issue) 9. Indianapolis Arrows (failed team pitch in the 80's) 10. Columbus Capitols (Capitol of Ohio) 11. Sacramento Quails (maybe Capitol Quails?...Either way I'd love a team here, almost had the A's. ~Sacramentan) 12. Fresno Fuchsias (California Fuchsia plant) 13. Utah Uintas (Uinta Mountains...like the Utah Utes ig) 14. Vegas Victors (i suppose i like Vulpi and Vices too) 15. Calgary Cattlemen (cattle history) 16. Ottawa Otters (native to the area) 17. Buffalo Bobcats (native to the area) 18. Raleigh Reapers (Carolina Reaper pepper) 19. Virginia Foxhounds (state dog) 20. Orlando Orbits (or Comets, famous for space exploration) 21. Austin Bats (famous for bats, the animal, pun ig) 22. Memphis Blues (music of course, i like just Music too) 23. Oklahoma City Twisters (lots of tornadoes) 24. Omaha Outlaws (i mean...alliteration?) 25. New Orleans Brass (brass instruments) 26. Vancouver Ravens (Ravens common in BC) 27. Portland Pioneers (Oregon Trail...Trail Blazers type) 28. San Jose Sparks (tech companies ig?) 29. Inland Haunts (SoCal ghost towns) 30. Albuquerque Heat (fastball plus just heat) this took some brainpower
@@jonrobles1468 I didnt wanna use minor league teams, just tried thinking of names not in use. Also tried using names not in other pro sports but i just ran out of ideas when it came to Albuquerque, Vancouver, and Memphis
Salt Lake City has a Triple A team that gets good support, unless they can expand Smith's Field, they'd probably have to build the stadium in a suburb but I think they'd support it
I like Smith's field and the view from the stands is amazing. I have just never liked that location. Maybe a different spot would be good. Just don't move it to the burbs like Real Sandy.
@@dsarmy1 yeah, the stadium is amazing, but being right in the middle of downtown is a horrible location. I'll be going to Isotopes Field in Albuquerque next season.
Fun vid! An MLB team in Buffalo would be a dream come true for me. It will never happen though with Cleveland (3 hours), Pittsburgh (3 hours) & Toronto (less than 2 hours) so close by. Oh well.
I'd say Grand Rapids Michigan would do better with baseball then Columbus Ohio. Tue West Michigan Whitecaps do very well. It would be smaller but I feel it would do better. It also won an award a few years back for the best minor league city (out of all sports). I enjoy the video. Keep up the good work!
As a Southern Indiana resident, I love having Louisville and Indy on this list, though I’d root for Louisville because I live 5 miles from there, resulting in stronger associations with Louisville than Indy. Sluggers would probably would be the default name but they could also call it something horse related, like the Thoroughbreds, since there are strong associations between horse racing and Louisville because of it hosting the first leg of the triple crown, the Kentucky Derby.
Absolutely! Im from Kentucky! I’m a reds fan because there is no Major League Teams in Kentucky. But we do have the Bowling Green Hot Rods and the Louisville Bats. For Independent ball we have the legends and Genomes. I would root for any team in Kentucky! Indy and Louisville would be a Great Rivalry! But there’s no room for Expansion because Cincy is so close.
Great video! I'd definitely suggest something in the upper Midwest too. Perhaps niche markets Ala Green Bay Packers: Madison, WI (; Green Bay, WI; Duluth, MN (history of pro baseball going back to the 1880s); Sioux Falls (9th fastest growing metro between the Rockies and Appalachian Mtns., 2nd fastest growing in the Midwest)
FWIW ... the teams I included in my hypothetical 30 that you did not (which I created on the fly right before watching the video): Edmonton, AB and Boise, ID (instead of Fresno and and Albuquerque in the west divisions) ... Monterrey, Mexico (instead of Omaha in the central divisions, although I do like Omaha) ... Columbia, SC, Birmingham, AL, Hamilton, ON, and Newark, NJ (which I know breaks your rule) instead of Jacksonville, FL, Raleigh, NC (both good choices IMO), Hartford, CT (I had Newark NJ instead as a NY-ish team) and Ottawa (might be a good choice). Very interesting exercise. I do agree with others though that if we're starting from scratch, making East / West conferences makes more sense. the AL/NL setup is the result of two long-standing leagues that were initially competitors.
It would be nice if Dayton Ohio had an mlb team Cincinnati isn’t too far but it’s always congested on the highway with the never ending construction. Columbus is about an hour and a half away and Dayton is really close
Huge swing and a miss on the upper Midwest. You’re losing the twin cities and Milwaukee and the closest teams in your league are Indy and Omaha. Lots of options, including Green Bay/Fox Cities, Fargo, Des Moines, Winnipeg, and Rockford. I can understand considering Minneapolis/St Paul as a single metro but the St Paul Saints do really well even with the Twins just over the Mississippi. Overall the central divisions are too focused on southern areas.
There’s a gaping hole in the South Jersey area. Yeah you can’t have anything in the Philly area but maybe Atlantic City? There’s a 5000+ seat nice stadium already there and if you’re down the shore for the summer why not go see a baseball game, plus it’s close enough for most people to drive to from the Philly area or take the NJ transit in
Being from Utah, I can say that interest in baseball would increase dramatically if there were a new MLB team here. Most of the lack of interest is because the nearest MLB team is the Rockies who are over 7 hours away from SLC and they have rarely been good enough to gain much viewership from fans in Utah. However, the Wasatch Front is a sports-crazed area and if there were ever an MLB team here fans would show up regardless of their prior baseball experiences. "If you build it, they will come."
I agree.
I disagree. There would be a lot of interest at first, but over the first ten years attendance would dwindle.
Also, the nearest NFL team is also in Denver, but there are a lot more football fans in the Salt Lake area than there are baseball fans.
@@caseyjohnson695 the football fans are the result of the popularity of college football here, not the NFL.
@@caseyjohnson695 Well the AAA team pulls great attendance #'s, so I think Utah would do just fine with an MLB team
If you build it they will come. That is true. The question is who is you. The taxpayers or the team that wants the stadium
Cool thought exercise, but I really wanted to see a map of the cities/leagues at the end of the video.
Ottawa and Calgary would never happen in the real world ! 😛
Honestly Toledo also makes a good choice for an expansion as their Triple A team consistently is one of the best with attendance while also being in the middle of Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, and a close drive from Fort Wayne, Ann Arbor, and arguable Dayton which is probably why it brings in so many fans for Triple A. In a league where you can’t use the major cities near Toledo, Toledo becomes a great choice.
As a Hartford resident, we're certainly trying to make the Yard Goats a thing. City I was expecting to see is Birmingham. Alabama has no representation in the major five pro leagues, just a strong showing in NCAA. I think I'd settle one team here instead of Memphis.
4 major sports
Memphis is a crime ridden hell hole. I agree Birmingham is the far better choice.
@@markgriffiths3630 MLS exists dude XD
In addition to Vancouver, Edmonton could also work pretty well. People seem to forget how successful the old Trappers (AAA) were during their 23-year run prior to relocation, and they played in a new stadium for the final 10 seasons of that run. The park is still very active today, and, at just under 10,000 capacity, is the largest baseball stadium in Western Canada.
In general Alberta is becoming a lot like Texas in that it's becoming an increasingly Urban defined region than a rural one. It might overtake British Columbia in a few decades in population.
Surprised you left out Tucson AZ. Growing city, used to host spring training, over 1 million in the metro area, used to have triple A. Small market, but devoted fan bases
They have a great team already the Tucson Saguaros
@@onthemound yeah, but it's not in the farm system. And also, we're talking about MLB teams here. The Saguaros only play half a year in the Pecos League. With this hypothetical expansion, I just think it would be a good option
@@bastianrattler1392 Not to mention, Tucson is home to the Arizona Wildcats. It would draw DROVES of college students and young adults; and you could offer promotions like there's no tomorrow.
@@lakebay972 oh absolutely. As an UA Alumni, I loved to go to the games and still do! It's a great baseball fan base down here. However, compared to big leagues, the University is the Pro League in town with a faithful following
Here is the problem with all the smaller cities getting real MLB teams. Who is going to pay for the stadium? A city like Las Vegas could handle it easily. This is my opinion, taxpayers should not pay one penny for a new stadium. If a team wants to locate in a city let them privately finance their own stadium.
In the absence of historically separate leagues like AL/NL and AFL/NFL, starting a new league makes more sense to organize into Eastern & Western Conferences like the NHL and NBA have.
I’m surprised you left out El Paso in this league. Might be small but no other major cities around it and already a Triple-A franchise would make El Paso a great candidate imo.
It could be called the El Paso Illegal Aliens 🤣
There's Juarez with a metro population of 2.5 million.
@@lakebay972 Las Cruces. NM 600,000 people only 40 miles away and Alamogordo to the north. Over 2 million even without Juarez in the area. I go to the Chihuahuas games now, always a good crowd and the Padres' AAA team.
Your full of you know what. Triple a or independent league yes but not a major league team remember yall lost the Diablos and the chiwawas name and logo are what made you know better.
It’s not small. El Paso is the largest city in the us that doesn’t have a professional team
Other possibilities include Tucson, Tulsa, Birmingham, Triad (Greensboro), Richmond, Grand Rapids, Rochester, and in the not too distant future considering their growth, El Paso, Knoxville, Bakersfield, Greenville, Gulf Coast (Pensacola/Mobile/ Gulf Shores) Charleston, and Southwest Florida (Fort Myers/Naples/Cape Coral/Port Charlotte/Estero).
Also edmonton/winnipeg for canada
thank you for mentioning rochester, we are so forgotten even tho i think we beat out a few teams in this video
@@purpleperson Considering it is almost the same size as Buffalo, it makes sense to include it. I didn't add Syracuse because it is a couple hundred thousand short in population.
This Grand Rapidian is flattered we wuld make the list ... but we jus hav an a-ball team, & they do ok ...
The upper midwest desperately needs representation. Grand Rapids, Rockford, Peoria, Madison and Green Bay are strong candidates for this league's first expansion or relocation.
Came here to say this. Teams are needed in the Northern Midwest.
I think Grand Rapids / west michigan could support a real team but only one of the big four so everyone goes to that.
Rockford may sound like an odd choice but it would pull so many Chicago suburbanites who don’t like going into the big city. Rockford is only 140,000 population though. So maybe something like Quad Cities (380,000) people.
Yeah not one team in Michigan? Pathetic
Quad Cities Modern Woodman Park is a really awesome place to watch a game. 2nd picture into this video is actually a shot of the park during a flood.
I like most of those choices. Should do a video like this for NBA 30 teams, NFL 32 teams and NHL 32 teams
I love this video, i’m a Sacramento native so I would be delighted if we got a major league team
It's a shame that the A's are getting pressured to go to Vegas, because Sacramento would mean a new market while not totally abandoning the current fanbase.
New Orleans has not done well supporting their teams. Their AAA team left in 2019 and there are currently no plans to replace them. Before the AAA arrived in 1993, they spent the previous 15 years without a team. It seems like an obvious choice, but I don't see it working out.
I agree with what you say now but before New Orleans was a great choice for the zyhpers to move to from Denver, Jackson Mississippi had lost the general's and the Biloxi Shuckers were in Huntsville and of course mobile didn't have a team either therefore when I was with the expos I suggested that the zyhpers move to new Orleans from Denver After the city of Denver was awarded the MLB team. Also this was before hurricane Katrina so New Orleans was at that time the perfect place for the Zyhpers to move to and mld granted that idea note that this was a triple a team at that time and eventually the Zyhpers did what I intended them to do and that was to become the triple a affiliate of the In coming Florida Marlins. Not once did I ever see New Orleans as an mld city and I still don't. It makes me sad to read that the team that I moved from Denver to New Orleans is gone.
Des Moines got heavily overlooked. How can you not have a Field of Dreams-themed team in this league?
In another 10 years maybe right now it's too small to be considered.
Yes where is Iowa in all of this.
@@dvferyance absolutely incorrect, one of the fastest growing metro areas in the country, large investment from major corporations, and a built in fan base with the Cardinals, Cubs, White Sox, twins and Brewers all ceasing to exist.
@@Imkohlton plus they already have the Iowa Cubs (AAA) in real life.
@@rodneybrown2448 because it's in Iowa 🤯😂😭
I’m from the Inland Empire and you’re right, the only way we’re getting a pro team is if an existing team from L.A. builds a new stadium out here, or if a wacky scenario like this happens. We are just too close to L.A. (about and hour east) to really compete with them, in fact the I.E. more than anything else is just far-east suburbs for L.A. and Orange Counties, so even if we did get a team out here, it would likely not be a whole lot different from having a team in Orange County and considering them as “L.A.”, which is exactly what the Angels are. And the city I would put the team in would be either Ontario or Riverside because they are the most accessible from the freeways.
It would be fun to brainstorm all the names those teams could have.
Detroit would be a great place for a real baseball team
Are the Tigers not a real baseball team.
@@waynejohanson1083 It was a joke 🤣
LOL! I’m a die hard San Francisco Giants fan but I’ve always liked the Tigers. Would’ve been rooting for them in 2012 but…..
Kansas City too 😂
Colorado Springs this would be a great city to put a mlb team in because it’s about to hit 1 million people in there metro and there is Fort Collins and Pueblo fairly close to it with a lot of people too.
plus, you'd have the elevation for a great hitter's park as well as the tourist factor
@@lakebay972 and Albuquerque and Colorado Springs would be a great rivalry
@@fizwis1303 The Interstate 25 Series
@@fizwis1303r maybe Tucson as well, along with El Paso the I-10 rivalry. Or Spokane Washington vs Portland
Great job. I’d swap Ottawa and Montreal so Montreal can be NL again. Loved this. Very interesting and well thought out.
I love the idea I agree Ottawa should I have a major league baseball team to it they country's capital with another major sports team but it's only one problem if you're going to have the team in city of Ottawa or a hour or two away from the city like senators
People in North Texas are just as likely to root for The University of Oklahoma as the The University of Texas, so they would root for Oklahoma teams, but the Texas Rangers already being in DFW would limit this dramatically. In your hypothetical league, Albuquerque would also pull fans from the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles as it is much closer than DFW and OKC. Tulsa could have been another option as it would enthusiastically support any major league franchise, just as OKC has with the Thunder.
No one in DFW roots for the Thunder though… you’re more likely to find Rockets or Pelicans fans in DFW than Thunder fans.
I think college football would be the exception for DFW rooting for OK
I’d also add Tucson to the list of cities to consider for a video like this
me too. It is larger than many of the cities that made the cut in this video.
Tucson has a pro team… U of A.
It’s come to my notice on multiple occasions that interests aligned with the athletic department have a habit of chasing other opportunities out of Tucson.
(That’s true of several major college towns BTW)
You could put a professional team in Pittsburgh. 😆
Defeats the point of the video.
Are you saying the Pirates are not a pro team.
@@waynejohanson1083 He said NON MLB CITIES.
@@VL1975 That's the joke...
@@jackaspley3283 No..I think op was serious.
Salt Lake City is perfect for an MLB team. Population along the Wasatch Front can support a team. The Bees draw well here and a new ballpark is being built and ready by 2025. It will be in an area that is growing by leaps and bounds. We support the Utah Jazz mightily, the MLS Real Salt Lake draw very well with the stadium placed perfectly. The U of U teams are all well-attended. I mean the area is growing like crazy. Plenty of surrounding cities to draw from...Park City, Tooele, and all along the Wasatch Front. Hell I'd but a season ticket.
I lived there for a short period and been there many times. I don’t think rob manfred would approve it. People don’t care about baseball there at all. Only College football and basketball. There’s more interest soccer there than baseball.
SLC resident: I think there’s a decent interest in the baseball team here, but I don’t know if we’d get a major league interest. The Jazz does great but I think that’s because it’s our only big 4 team
SLC seems like a sleepy, remote city much like Portland. The reason basketball works is because it's fast-paced.
@@lakebay972 Also fewer games a week and more star players passing through on a nightly basis.
@@lakebay972 The Salt Lake City/Ogden/Provo area is bigger than you probably think.
@@willp.8120 but the TV market is small; and they're just not into baseball; just basketball and college football.
@@lakebay972 You won't know until you try.
Before the video, I came up with my own list. I was surprised how similar our lists were, except:
WEST: Tucson and Mexico City instead of Inland, Calgary, & San Jose (I had San Antonio in the West)
CENTRAL: Lansing & Winnipeg instead of Louisville (I forgot about Louisville)
EAST: Scranton instead of Raleigh
No reason not to go to Mexico if you're already firmly in Canada. Of course, you could go further. Santo Domingo, Havana (depending on diplomatic relations), Tijuana, and San Juan could replace my Winnipeg, Scranton, Lansing, and Providence to make it more international.
Baseball in Louisiana is complicated. LSU baseball is hard-core supported in this state. They have one of the best if not the attendance in college baseball and have had better attendance than MLB teams. On the other hand, the Baby Cakes had basically no support (which had a lot to do with the name), but the Zephyrs did struggle with attendance too. Although, I'd say using attendance numbers for a minor league team is not a great way to say there would be support or not.
Most of the talented ball players that come from that state come from the Monroe west side don't they? I know there's a academy in Baton Rouge that produce a lot too.
Glad you mentioned Jax, nobody every talks about us as an expansion candidate just because we are the 4th biggest in the state, and we are also in braves country here. Having an mlb team would be so cool, we wul have more fans per game than probably both tampa and miami (definitely miami haha)
The Rays should consider relocating to Jax as well as Orlando.
@@lakebay972 They should be near downtown Tampa or waterfront in Tampa. Orlando could get its own team. Jacksonville could too, though it is a little smaller. Orlando metropolitan area has about 2.6 million. Jacksonville has around 1.6 million. Tampa Bay is around 3-3.5 million.
Reverse the leagues both teams are in and remove all of the minor league teams in the Tampa Bay area this being duniden, Bradenton, Clearwater, Tampa, and then put the rays in the national league and the Marlins in the American league, Tampa Bay rays problem is in the wrong league and to much minor league baseball around them.
@@richardwilson3400 i dont see how switching their leagues is gonna help at all with fan attendance
Alabama has four minor leauge teams and alot of baseball fans. Im extremely upset we got passed over.
Alabama is a decimal point away from being the poorest state in America. This list should be well down your list of things to be upset about.
@@DD-ps6wx we have the fastest growing metro area in the country. Give it five years.
Another interesting video would be a Canadian Baseball League. With or without Toronto? Your call. Also, having grown up between Indianapolis and Louisville, that's a rivalry that would absolutely own! Cities are like two and half, three hours apart so travel is super easy.
We had one and it failed within a year. Used to have seasons tix to the London Monarchs
Salt Lake City would definitely do well supporting an MLB team. Bring it!
Nice video, very well thought-out. Also a lesson in US geography for me. Thanks for including Vancouver, I'd love to have an MLB team in my hometown!
Nashville is obviously the place to go in TN but I think Memphis is a really good spot for an expansion team. Kind of smack in the middle of multiple states so there’s potential to get fans from Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana as well as Tennessee and Kentucky
Salt Lake City makes a lot of sense. Big urban area of 2.7 million people and only 1 other major sports team (if you don't count Real Salt Lake). I think one of the things stopping it would be the altitude thing, we all know how much drama that has caused with the Rockies. The city could definitely support another sports team though and it would be cool to see one there.
Love these hypothetical “XLB” videos.
MLB really needs to add more teams in the southeast. The Braves area is huge for a heavily populated region. Outside of Florida they are the only team. Yet, the northeast and Midwest have teams every two or three hours from each other and in some areas only one to two hours from each other.
At least give Charlotte, Norfolk, Raleigh, Orlando, and Nashville teams.
If Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Baltimore, St. Louis, and Kansas City can have teams, then so can these southern cities that have comparable populations.
Just a little FYI, Las Vegas has had a AAA team for nearly 40 years now; it's about time they were upgraded to MLB!!!!
Louisville Bats is a play on the sport as well as the bats in the caves like in Mammoth Cave
The New Orleans Showboats were one of the teams I created in my own baseball league back in the 80’s. Some of the other cities you list were also part of it. Started as a 12 team league, then grew to 26 when I added an AL.
I’m stunned there’s no team in Birmingham
Mobile, home of Henry Aaron, Satchel Paige and many other greats, might be the more interesting choice for Alabama.
@@stevencolatrella3257 Alabama and Mississippi have shown a passion for the braves. I know it’s not the biggest state and college football will always be king there but they definitely deserve a team
Buffalo was supposedly VERY close to getting an MLB team in 1988. Its the reason Pilot Field was built in such a way that the roof can easily be removed and another tier "stacked" ontop almost like a lego haha
I would put at least 1 team in Mexico. Puerto Rico could be a good choice as well, San Juan has quite a big population, though it might be a bit of a pain to travel to. Same with Honolulu, but it has a decent size population and no competition from other sports.
My two choices would be Tijuana and Monterrey.
Carribean league expansion.
Nassau, Santo Domingo, San Juan, Cancun, Curacao?
😂
Honolulu could make PNC Park look like a dump
Puerto Rico is a US island and the Marlins have played several regular season games there so this is not a bad choice however one factor no minor league team is located there so thier is not much evidence for me to award a big league team to Puerto Rico and phuck Mexico I would consider the Dominican Republic or Japan before I would consider Mexico, Hawaii? Are you kidding me they lost thier triple a team years ago so they are definitely out of the picture
And/ Or add teams from the DR
Other potential cities I'd add (most of which others have mentioned): Tucson, Birmingham, El Paso, Colorado Springs, Charleston, Quebec City, Fargo, Boise, Portland (Maine).
Tucson and Birmingham yes for now.
El Paso, Charleston, and Colorado Springs for the future.
Boise maybe in the distant future.
The others are too small into the foreseeable future.
Quebec City isnt a very good place to put a sports team. When the NHL was there, the fans were heavily insisting their players be french speaking. They wont support a baseball team. Quebec City could do well if they had a soccer team, and maybe bring back Hockey, but NOT baseball.
Portland Maine has a double a team and it’s not that popular
I love that Ottawa was in here! They supported the expos farm team really well for years!
Great video. As a Canadian sports fan, I appreciate that you considered four cities north of the border. Very well done.
You know what would be nice? An MLB franchise in Seattle. I'd sure love to watch some good baseball played near the Puget Sound.
The A's need to go to Las Vegas and the Rays need to go to Nashville. Like, yesterday. Or if any team wants to risk it in Omaha we'd support it
That's now how Raleigh is pronounced.
Well if Saud's ever wanted spend more $ they could use your suggestion as started point. Probably would go with 12-16 team start up model!!!
Good list I think you covered all the us cities I was thinking of. Some other canadian cities that might be bigger than some of the american ones you chose would be edmonton, quebec city and winnipeg maybe. Just a thought. Cool video.
Thank you for the Inland Empire shout-out! We actually have THREE minor league teams in the I.E. (Inland Empire 66ers, Lake Elsinore Storm and Rancho Cucamonga Quakes), and we're within a 75-minute drive from 3 MLB teams (Dodgers, Angels, and Padres). There's a huge passion for baseball in the I.E.
Tell me why the Angels aren't even considering moving to Riverside, it seems like such a no-brainer to me when Long Beach is already spoken for.
@@Mentally_Will Because they draw the 4th most annually of all the major league teams right now, even with the lousy teams they've fielded. They'd be fools to move anywhere else...
@@Mentally_Will Existing leagues don’t consider building stadiums with the fans first anymore. They consider the luxury suites and club seats first.
Those people aren’t in San Bernardino or Riverside. They’re “west of the 405.”
As someone from NC, I'd switch the leagues of Raleigh and Charlotte, as the Panthers are an NFC team, so keeping some consistency there would be nice. And also personally, Charlotte seems more like an NL-type city/name and Raleigh an AL one
As someone from Raleigh..... The area blows... deserves nothing
Buffalo was so close to getting an MLB team in the 80s. We already had basketball, but the people here love baseball. It would work.
No team in Michigan feels like leaving money on the table.
Two things I would do, first I would switch Omaha for Birmingham. Then put Birmingham into the AL Central and move Indianapolis to the NL Central.
Omaha is much larger population and more of a baseball city. I'd keep it.
@@lakebay972 You know what after I look at population of both cities, I'll have to agree with you
And I also would get rid of Inland for a Mexico team
@@lakebay972 The Birmingham metropolitan area has about two hundred thousand more people than Omaha.
@@malcolmhopkins9196 a Mexico City team is a good idea
I love your channel!!! Always makes ya think!!!
I’d say Erie Pa would have made sense since Cleveland and Pittsburgh are under 2 hours from it and would get lots of support.
I'm not sure why I watched this video, but it was fun and I appreciate the effort you put into it.
Ok, this guys voice sounds just like Will Forte.
Thats a compliment, hes hilarious.
It would be good to have a second division in any of the major us sports I know a pure pyramid would just have teams in New York or LA but this would be a nice compromise
New Jersey should have at least been an honorable mention. Seeing as how many NY teams play there, and even the Yankees (Yes, those Yankees) were rumored to be moving out there at one point in the 80's, so they can obviously support a team.
Exactly. New Jersey had the Newark Bears for the longest time and the Somerset Patriots had the most championships in the Atlantic League over the past 20 years
I created a 30 team league in a game called 00TP baseball. That had non-major league cities. My first choices were cities that had two franchises in the other major sports like Indianapolis and Buffalo. After I got all those then I went to the cities that had one franchise in a major sport. Like San Antonio .Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Montreal. And then I completed the league with cities that had no franchises like Albuquerque and Louisville. IThe thing I did different than what you’re doing though I split the league into eastern and western conferences.
Which is what I think is going to happen in major league baseball within the next decade. They could do it now. But I think they will wait until they expand to 32 teams.
You had the quad city river bandits stadium (flooded by the Mississippi) in your intro, and was hoping it was going to make your list!
Would love to have 4 Canadian MLB teams! Great list
How about naming the new Major League Baseball, "MLB 2.0". Just another thought here.
New England, man! National League.
Omaha and Oklahoma City kinda already had a baseball rivalry before the restructuring of MiLB. For some strange reason they put Omaha in the east and OKC in the west, breaking them up.
Very glad to see Buffalo here!
I'd put a team in Reno........decent sized city, natural rival of Sacramento and Las Vegas
I’ve always wanted to have an mlb team here in reno
First post on this channel. Instead of replacing the current MLB cities with non-MLB cities, how about forming an entirely new "minor major league", like the Continental League, or the ANAB, which stands for the Association of North American Baseball". Or even revive the now defunct National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, or NAPBL, for short. Perhaps the current unaffiliated minor leagues should have their own parent major league franchise to feed players up to. Any questions?
Tuned in with the hope you mentioned Indianapolis, and you did. Subscribed.
The logistics would be incredible but expansions in Tokyo Japan and/or Seoul South Korea would have incredible local support
Food-Under-Car-Keys RUclips and their filters that never specifies what needs to be changed!
I noticed you put Calgary here. Why not Edmonton too. 2 Alberta teams and a great rivalry.
I love Calgary, I live about three hours away and its one of my favorite cites to visit but I don't think they could support a MLB team.
@@Fiedman (this is replying to the first guy) Edmonton is really far from Calgary. He already talked about how it's gonna be the one too far from other cities and Edmonton is farther north. It wouldn't work travel wise, they only have a hockey team because Canada loves hockey. Plus, I can tell you as a hockey fan Edmonton is and has always been good. Replying to Shaun, don't they support the Flames pretty good? Also which Alberta team do you root for out of pure curiosity?
It’s hard to get hockey players to sign up to play in Edm, baseball would be harder
But could probably twist the city council’s arm to build a stadium in Edmonton though
Very interesting thought experiment. Subscribed!
0:25 Simple, after the success of Bananaball and on the heels of their first deal with ESPN, the owners and other investors decided it's time to challenge MLB directly and create Major League Bananaball with a few tweaks to their rules.
Savannah Bananas 🍌
@@willp.8120 They could replace the Jacksonville team in this scenario.
Lol!
If the whole Louisville idea you had couldn't come to fruition, you could also consider Hamilton (or Mississauga) , Halifax and Quebec City in Canada as well. In one of the central divisions you could also consider Saskatoon too.
I would include San Bernardino, Bakersfield, Edmonton, El Paso, Tulsa, Tucson, Boise, Virginia Beach, Winnipeg, and Quebec City to that list.
Des Moines over Fresno. They love baseball in Iowa. I also would added 2 or 3 Mexico teams and one in PR.
Glad someone mentioned my home town.
Yeah, surprised Des Moines wasn’t on the list.
@@shad6644 He showed Principal Park in the intro
I think you would have to replace either Austin or SA with the two being combined into one franchise. (Central Texas Highlanders?) Then add Des Moines. Fresno has a VERY rich baseball history, beginning with Frank Chance of Tinker to Evers to Chance fame. Fresno later became a very popular stop for barnstorming baseball teams in the off-season (back when MLB players had to work odd jobs in the off-season to supplement their income) because of its mild weather deep into fall. Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig brought their barnstorming teams to Fresno for an exhibition (Bustin' Babes vs. Larrupin' Lous). Fresno got screwed by MLB when they were downsized from Triple A to low-A minors. If you replace Fresno with Des Moines, the layout would be lopsided--not enough teams in the West and too many teams in the Midwest. With his proposed alignment it's more balanced.
@@jonrobles1468
What mlb did to Fresno was incredibly unfair. Going from AAA to low A?
What a screw you, to Fresno baseball fans.
A Charlotte-Raleigh World Series.
The Piedmont Series? The I-85 Series? (I-85 doesn’t technically go to Raleigh though) The Tar Heel Series? The Tobacco Road Series? The Old North State Series?
Btw, I totally think there should be MLS teams in both cities. It would be an amazing soccer derby.
Make it happen! Relegate the bottom three from each league (NL & AL) and promote the top three from your league like is currently done in the Premier League.
I would absolutely love for baseball to have relegation
This. ^^^ So much this. Even for cities whose teams never make the cut to get moved up this would create a sense of hope. The problem is that MLB has the antitrust exemption, and this lets them close off markets and charge huge expansion fees.
Right on. NFL needs to do the same. It prevents sandbagging and quitting a bit
@@michaelhunziker7287 it doesn't work in football. Teams can go from worst to a superbowl in a year
lol sorry, we don't need Euro trash rules here.
Vancouver would solve a lot of the MLB’s problems with a single expansion. You need another team in Canada? Done. Seattle doesn’t have anybody close rivals? Done. Worried about ticket sales? Vancouver is huge. It has a lot of potential from a name perspective, as well (Salmon, Mounties, Moose, Lumberjacks, Kodiaks, Voyagers).
Am told Vancouver is getting a team. I have some insider information about it. We are getting the Arizona Diamondbacks, they are leaving Arizona. I kid you not.
Your a**hole leader Trudeau does not allow non-vacinated players.
@@anthonys1199 I know about the Diamondbacks not being happy with Chase Field. I also know that Vancouver is a huge risk because SOMETHING has to be built (BC Lions + Whitecaps + baseball is not logistically friendly for BC Place), and that is EXPENSIVE. It’s expensive solely because the city is one of the most expensive places on the planet. We’re not sure of the popularity of the sport there.
So when I tell you someone is pulling your leg, it’s not for the reason most would suspect.
Having a dynamic map of where you placed the teams would have been really nice to see instead of just still photos and screenshots of a word document.
It will make sense to have teams in Las Vegas, Portland, San Antonio, Charlotte, Montreal, Sacramento, Long Beach, Indianapolis. A lot of minor league cities small in nature don't have fortune 500 companies in the area to support MLB teams. Another issue a lot of new teams in small markets won't show success right away and depend on a lot of younger minor leaguers and veteran journeyman.
Funnily, I always do this in Super Mega Baseball.
If you’re going to include Fresno and Albuquerque then I think Colorado Springs is a viable option.
I would’ve done the Capital Region/Albany in UpstateNY, it’s one of the only regions of NY that’s growing in population and supports the college and minor league sports teams that have popped up with great enthusiasm
just for the fun of making team names...maybe these could be them
1. Hartford Robins (CT state bird)
2. Providence Steamrollers (surely)
3. Montreal Expos (surely)
4. Carolina Corkscrews (Charlotte...racing city...corkscrew turn/pitch)
5. Jacksonville Sea Dogs (pirates...ig)
6. San Antonio Soldiers (military history)
7. Nashville Nonet (group of 9 musicians)
8. Louisville Sluggers (hopefully no trademark issue)
9. Indianapolis Arrows (failed team pitch in the 80's)
10. Columbus Capitols (Capitol of Ohio)
11. Sacramento Quails (maybe Capitol Quails?...Either way I'd love a team here, almost had the A's. ~Sacramentan)
12. Fresno Fuchsias (California Fuchsia plant)
13. Utah Uintas (Uinta Mountains...like the Utah Utes ig)
14. Vegas Victors (i suppose i like Vulpi and Vices too)
15. Calgary Cattlemen (cattle history)
16. Ottawa Otters (native to the area)
17. Buffalo Bobcats (native to the area)
18. Raleigh Reapers (Carolina Reaper pepper)
19. Virginia Foxhounds (state dog)
20. Orlando Orbits (or Comets, famous for space exploration)
21. Austin Bats (famous for bats, the animal, pun ig)
22. Memphis Blues (music of course, i like just Music too)
23. Oklahoma City Twisters (lots of tornadoes)
24. Omaha Outlaws (i mean...alliteration?)
25. New Orleans Brass (brass instruments)
26. Vancouver Ravens (Ravens common in BC)
27. Portland Pioneers (Oregon Trail...Trail Blazers type)
28. San Jose Sparks (tech companies ig?)
29. Inland Haunts (SoCal ghost towns)
30. Albuquerque Heat (fastball plus just heat)
this took some brainpower
Why not just make the current Las Vegas Aviators the big league team?
For Fresno, you could give a nod to the old Fresno Falcons minor league hockey teams and name them the Falcons. Or just keep the Grizzlies.
@@chibigohan925 I avoided using pre-existing sports teams in the cities for names just for the sake of tryna be creative
@@jonrobles1468 I didnt wanna use minor league teams, just tried thinking of names not in use. Also tried using names not in other pro sports but i just ran out of ideas when it came to Albuquerque, Vancouver, and Memphis
Calgary and Vancouver would need new ballparks.
Salt Lake City has a Triple A team that gets good support, unless they can expand Smith's Field, they'd probably have to build the stadium in a suburb but I think they'd support it
I like Smith's field and the view from the stands is amazing. I have just never liked that location. Maybe a different spot would be good. Just don't move it to the burbs like Real Sandy.
@@dsarmy1 yeah, the stadium is amazing, but being right in the middle of downtown is a horrible location. I'll be going to Isotopes Field in Albuquerque next season.
Fun vid! An MLB team in Buffalo would be a dream come true for me. It will never happen though with Cleveland (3 hours), Pittsburgh (3 hours) & Toronto (less than 2 hours) so close by. Oh well.
I'd say Grand Rapids Michigan would do better with baseball then Columbus Ohio. Tue West Michigan Whitecaps do very well. It would be smaller but I feel it would do better. It also won an award a few years back for the best minor league city (out of all sports). I enjoy the video. Keep up the good work!
I was expecting either Toledo or Grand Rapids to be his city instead of Columbus.
As a Southern Indiana resident, I love having Louisville and Indy on this list, though I’d root for Louisville because I live 5 miles from there, resulting in stronger associations with Louisville than Indy. Sluggers would probably would be the default name but they could also call it something horse related, like the Thoroughbreds, since there are strong associations between horse racing and Louisville because of it hosting the first leg of the triple crown, the Kentucky Derby.
Absolutely! Im from Kentucky! I’m a reds fan because there is no Major League Teams in Kentucky. But we do have the Bowling Green Hot Rods and the Louisville Bats. For Independent ball we have the legends and Genomes. I would root for any team in Kentucky! Indy and Louisville would be a Great Rivalry! But there’s no room for Expansion because Cincy is so close.
Great video! I'd definitely suggest something in the upper Midwest too. Perhaps niche markets Ala Green Bay Packers: Madison, WI (; Green Bay, WI; Duluth, MN (history of pro baseball going back to the 1880s); Sioux Falls (9th fastest growing metro between the Rockies and Appalachian Mtns., 2nd fastest growing in the Midwest)
FWIW ... the teams I included in my hypothetical 30 that you did not (which I created on the fly right before watching the video): Edmonton, AB and Boise, ID (instead of Fresno and and Albuquerque in the west divisions) ... Monterrey, Mexico (instead of Omaha in the central divisions, although I do like Omaha) ... Columbia, SC, Birmingham, AL, Hamilton, ON, and Newark, NJ (which I know breaks your rule) instead of Jacksonville, FL, Raleigh, NC (both good choices IMO), Hartford, CT (I had Newark NJ instead as a NY-ish team) and Ottawa (might be a good choice).
Very interesting exercise. I do agree with others though that if we're starting from scratch, making East / West conferences makes more sense. the AL/NL setup is the result of two long-standing leagues that were initially competitors.
It would be nice if Dayton Ohio had an mlb team Cincinnati isn’t too far but it’s always congested on the highway with the never ending construction. Columbus is about an hour and a half away and Dayton is really close
New Orleans would need a dome. It's too hot and humid for day games mid-summer. That's probably one reason why baseball isn't bigger there.
As a NHL fan I just know every person in Edmonton is mad you giving a team to Calgary and not them as well Lol
Huge swing and a miss on the upper Midwest. You’re losing the twin cities and Milwaukee and the closest teams in your league are Indy and Omaha. Lots of options, including Green Bay/Fox Cities, Fargo, Des Moines, Winnipeg, and Rockford. I can understand considering Minneapolis/St Paul as a single metro but the St Paul Saints do really well even with the Twins just over the Mississippi. Overall the central divisions are too focused on southern areas.
This was fun! Good work!
There’s a gaping hole in the South Jersey area. Yeah you can’t have anything in the Philly area but maybe Atlantic City? There’s a 5000+ seat nice stadium already there and if you’re down the shore for the summer why not go see a baseball game, plus it’s close enough for most people to drive to from the Philly area or take the NJ transit in
Gaping hole? Between the Nationals, Orioles, Phillies, Yankees, and Mets, your region is saturated.