Las Vegas and San Antonio have emerged as potential relocation destinations for the Expos, according to a baseball official familiar with MLB's plans for the franchise.

 

Although significant obstacles remain for both cities and the Washington DC/Northern Virginia area remains the favorite to land the Expos when they are moved after the 2004 season, baseball officials are sufficiently concerned over the lack of financing in place for a new ballpark in the DC area that they have begun to seriously contemplate alternative locations.

 

Portland, Ore., Monterrey, Mexico, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, where the Expos will play 22 "home" games next season, had been thought to be next in line for the franchise if ballpark financing issues could not be resolved in the DC area.

 

But MLB officials do not view any of the three as viable long-term destinations for a major league team and instead have begun studying what San Antonio and Las Vegas could offer.

 

Las Vegas is a destination that intrigues other major pro sports leagues, including the NBA, although it seems like each league is waiting for another to be the first to place a franchise in the gambling center of the world. Despite that stigma, there are plenty of attractive features, including its booming year-round population, high per capita income and the billions of dollars generated by the casino industry, which could easily finance a stadium. MLB officials envision a state-of-the-art park with a retractable roof near the Las Vegas Strip, which was once considered to be a strictly adult playground but now draws family vacationers from all over the world.

 

San Antonio has a larger, and still growing, population, has proven it can support a major pro sports team in the NBA champion Spurs and has one of the highest drawing teams in minor league baseball in the Double-A Missions, who are run by the highly respected management duo of Burl Yarbrough and Dave Oldham. San Antonio would seem to have a better chance at luring the Expos than Las Vegas.

 

The biggest concern MLB officials have about the Expos' future regards stadium financing.

 

Virginia state budget issues have MLB officials doubtful that public financing for a ballpark could be secured in the next year. Baseball officials are worried that if they award the franchise to the group that would move the club to DC before a new ballpark is guaranteed, the owners might simply keep the team in RFK Stadium, which is a sub-par facility and could render the club as financially beleaguered as it has been in Montreal.

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if they go to Vegas i will be a fan...

That'd be crazy to have a team in Vegas.

 

But I don't think they should be in San Antonio..way too many sports team already in Texas. That's like putting another team in Cali.

so the full list is Portland, D.C., San Anton, Vegas?

so the full list is Portland, D.C., San Anton, Vegas?

Portland? oh no

 

The Blazers might rub off on them

They Should Move the Team to Vegas and let Pete Rose Manage it.

And Your Portland Stoners!

From the Teams there naming these days.. you could call Them the Las Vegas Gravey Bowls.

the Las Vegas Slots!

Vegas would be bad, because what sort of true fanbase would you have? Tourists? I would rather see a third team in NY. If California has 5 teams, where two of them cannot have big payrolls, and in NY the two teams spend way too much, I have a perfect solution: move the expos into brooklyn!

I have a perfect solution: move the expos into brooklyn!

That sounds good to me. We have a minor league park right near here for the Cyclones. KeySpan Park is a nice place right next to Nathans. Renovate it, turn it into a MLB Park and move a team in.

Admin and his dreams...

 

the Brooklyn Roc-A-Fellas ( Nets ) arent enough for you?

Las Vegas would get named the 51's since it is the minor league team's name and a popular one in LV. The LV team would play in the same ballpark the current Dodger 51's play in. The A's played here when their ballpark was being renovated for the Raiders in the 90's.

 

San Antonio would have their team play, interestingly enough, in the AlamoDome. The minor league park in San Antonio is for the Mariner affiliated Missions. The name is Wolff Stadium.

New Orleans is alo in the mix for the Expos.

 

Can anyone say New Orleans Expos? The French thing would even remain! They would play in the SuperDome until the new ballpark would be built.

I have a perfect solution: move the expos into brooklyn!

That sounds good to me. We have a minor league park right near here for the Cyclones. KeySpan Park is a nice place right next to Nathans. Renovate it, turn it into a MLB Park and move a team in. That's a total of 4 people in america that want this to happen...our numbers are growing.

Cashman field in LV its a pitchers park. anyone who ever saw the MLBPA HR derby knows it...

Just when DC thought the player's union had forced MLB to make their decision, a few more markets come into the mix. :banghead