Could Buffalo Support An MLB Team? (expansion, ball, ticket, games)

[DrPizza]

Coca-Cola field is only 25 years old. I think moving the Buffalo Bisons up to the MLB would work. The only problem is the Toronto Blue Jays. I don't think an MLB Team would work in Vegas because the tourists are out on the strip by the time games start. Colombus is eh because most lf Ohio is Indians/Reds. Portland could support an MLB team.

[bluescreen73]

I voted no because I think it would be a tough sell. Buffalo is a great town, but I think it's going to be a two sport city for the foreseeable future.

[Matthew Duck]

I think there are a handful of cities that should get a team before Buffalo: San Antonio, Raleigh/Charlotte, Portland, Memphis/Nashville...

[Grandstander]

Could Buffalo Support An MLB Team?

No, I think you need human fans. Bison don't spend much at the concession stands.

[case44]

As much as I'd love to see baseball add two more teams, it's just not going to happen in this economy. And I can see four cities with the potential to add a franchise before Buffalo could even sniff at one.

[rogead]

I like Buffalo, and I've seen The Bisons play a few times, but I had to vote "no". If you look at US metro areas and the number of major league franchises they support among the four major sports, an MLB team would give Buffalo three. Buffalo has a metro population of less than 1.2 million. The next closest metro with three major league teams is Cleveland, with nearly twice as many people in the metro area, and a significantly larger TV market. Add in the fact that there isn't an especially large corporate presence in the city, I think MLB would balk (sorry about the pun) at placing a franchise in Buffalo.

[Checkered24]

Unfortunately I think the ship sailed back in the early 90's when Bob Rich walked away from landing an expansion team back then. Ultimately it was deemed that the hundred million dollar purchase price was just too much. I wonder if he regrets that decision seeing where values have gone.

I think Baseball would struggle here. Baseball teams are financially reliant on local TV deals. The value of those deals is heavily influenced by metro size. As such, Buffalo would likely have one of the lowest valued TV deals in the league, which would inhibit their ability to healthily compete financially.

If a team was placed here, they would really need to market outside of the metro statistical area which is around 1.1 million, ranked 50th nationwide. The Bills have shown you can market and receive significant support from the Rochester market, which is ranked 51st nationally (1.0 million). About 60% of the Bills "suite" and "premium seat" sales are to Rochester area businesses and individuals. If you could successfully tie into that market as well, particularly in negotiating a TV deal, that doubles the effective market size to about 2.1 million, which is about equivalent to Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Kansas City (for comparison).

The other potential increase in the effective market is the St Catherines-Niagara Falls (Canada) metro area, which is about 400,000 more people (not to mention the 12 million people total in Southern Ontario). It is literally right across a river from Buffalo, so geographically it is certainly within the actual metro area, even though statistically it is not included. The Bills, and particularly the Sabres have very large and significant fan bases and support there as well. As much as half of the Sabres season ticket holders come across the bridge for games. I am not sure the percentage for the Bills, but it is a lot (the guy who has the seats next to mine is from north of Toronto!). Getting on TV is a challenge up there, particularly for the Sabres, unless your deal is with an over-the-air station. That could be another key to really sell the team and sport to attract fans over. However, effectively, this would boost you to at least 2.5 million, maybe more if you get into drawing attention from the GTA area in general. 2.5-2.8M would put them in a population range around Pittsburgh, Denver, Baltimore, and St Louis

Of course, I am building a lot of "if's" here. Ultimately, I think there are enough people in range to show up for games. The real key would be to get a favorable TV deal... and that would be difficult.

The other problem is, to be honest, they need a new ballpark. Coca Cola Field was groundbreaking in 1988 when it opened. It was originally built to be expandable to 40,000+ seats to accommodate a big league club (I still have the Buffalo News article with drawings showing and explaining the expansion plans). It was also one of the models of the new generation of ballparks across the major leagues these days, returning ballpark design back to baseball specific fields with a more classic feel to them. However, I having attended a number of more recent MLB parks, Coca Cola Field is certainly showing it's age in amenities, design, ease of use, etc. Coca Cola Field would be the 7th oldest ball park in MLB, with those that are older Fenway (1912), Wrigley (1914), Dodger Stadium (1962), Angel Stadium (1966), Oakland Colosium (1966), and Kaufmann Stadium (1973). With the need to expand it, and having it land locked by the thruway ramp outside of left Field Buffalo would likely be better off starting with a clean sheet and a new ball park.

This along could sink attempts at attracting a team with the community staring at the need for a new football facility to finance. It is doubtful the local political climate could swallow significant support for two new stadiums (or even a rebuild of Coca Cola field).

At the end of the day, I would say Buffalo could ultimately support the team but it would be a lot of effort to do so, and MLB would likely look elsewhere with fewer hurdles to put a team into. There are better markets they could look at.