Possible Tampa-Montreal MLB Marriage Swirling With Uncertainties

How about a Montreal of view on whether or not a Tampa Bay Rays split-season in Canada could work?

The current box-office numbers of the Rays is ugly. In the club's 24 year history, the 2021 season recorded their lowest average home attendance. The 2021 club that achieved a 100-62 record, won its second straight American League East title, and is just one year past appearing in the World Series, averaged 9,513 fans at Tropicana Field.

The Rays' low home attendance for 2021 ranks them 28th in the MLB, coming in just ahead of the Miami Marlins and Oakland Athletics. With all the public comments about a possible "Sister City" plan with Montreal, where the Rays would play the first three months of home games of the season in Central Florida, then followed by three months in Quebec, Canada, historically the attendance numbers in Montreal aren't encouraging.

The Montreal Expos joined the National League in 1969 and remained operational until the end of the 2004 season when the organization moved to our nation's capital and became the Washington Nationals. The Expos final full season in Montreal drew just 10,031 fans to home games. In 2001, Montreal attracted a staggering 7,935 fans to Olympic Stadium.

Remember, during the 2003 and 2004 seasons, Montreal scheduled 22 home games each of these seasons at Puerto Rico's Hiram Bithorn Stadium. The Expos, for all intents and purposes, played a split-season in Montreal and San Juan, and the crowds were disappointing.

So, with a baseball city rich in tradition, a club that produced Hall of Famers as Tim Raines, Andre Dawson, Cary Carter, Larry Walker, and Vladimir Guerrero, had a manager in Dick Williams that would also be welcomed into Cooperstown, and failed to keep fans interested in their product, what do the Rays know to possibly reverse public sentiment?

The Rays are contractually bound to remain at the Trop in St. Petersburg until 2027.

So, what is the baseball community in Montreal thinking when it comes to a team possibly returning to their region?

Danny Gallagher, a longtime sportswriter, and historian on everything Expos is a voice of authority on what could work, should Rays Principal Owner Stuart Sternberg and club president Matthew Silverman move forward in setting up roots in Quebec.

" There are a lot of hardcore fans in Montreal that like the idea of baseball possibly returning," said Gallagher during a recent telephone conversation. " They want a chance to watch baseball that hasn't been here since 2004."

But, Gallagher is a realist.

He believes in theory some folks like the idea of a split-season with Tampa Bay, but Gallagher doesn't think it will happen. Gallagher, author of Never Forgotten: Tales About Ron LeFlore, Ron Hunt, And Other Expos Yarns From 1969-2004, also believes any type of cities sharing an MLB club would need to get the players union onboard. This could be tricky as Gallagher sees it due to players and staff needing to establish residency in both Tampa and Montreal.

Although Olympic Stadium, home of the Expos from 1977 thru the 2004 season, remains available, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has made his feelings known that any team setting up shop in Montreal would need a new stadium. The "Big O", Olympic Stadiums’ nickname, isn't a viable option as a full-time home of an MLB team.

" Manfred says Montreal needs a new stadium. When is this going to be built, and who is going to pay for it," asks Gallagher. " The city (Montreal), the Province of Quebec. Who? This wouldn't happen in the next couple of years."

However a realist, Gallagher has been around baseball and the sports scene in Montreal for decades, and he does believe that there is "something to it", in referring to baseball succeeding with a reboot in "The City of Saints."

" I think the younger crowd would come out for baseball. And the baby boomers would support a team. The big question is long-term. Will the people of Montreal support a team (for years down the road) is the big question?"

From the 1985 Expos season thru their final home season of 2004, Gallagher points out, crowd support in Montreal was "so-so".

Talk among former Expos players, those who have spoken with Gallagher about the possibility of an MLB club returning to Montreal in some fashion, for the most part, remains positive. There appears to be a lot of enthusiasm among sports fans, the Montreal community as a whole, and potential corporate sponsors.

Mitch Garber, minority owner and board member of the NHL's Seattle Kraken, and Stephen Bronfman, the head of a private equity firm in Canada, are the duo most likely to lead a group that would ultimately bring MLB back to Montreal.

There remain many short-term questions about the long-term viability of baseball surviving in Central Florida and Montreal. As long as there are discussions, solutions in the best interest of the game and communities involved should prevail, ensuring a baseball future.