Quote:
Originally Posted by thedan8
The problem with making the jump to AAA is that it adds a lot of costs for very little extra revenue. The casual fan, which are the vast majority of Canadian's fans, won't notice the difference between single A and AAA. At least it won't be an extra draw. AAA it starts in early April as opposed to single A which starts in mid June. That's 2 and a half extra months of trying to sell tickets to fickle fans in rainy Vancouver. The costs of travel and roster are much higher. Also the Canadians would have to raise money to renovate that Nat to accommodate around 10K fans. This would lead to a surge of nimbys.
Single A ball is a bit of a cash cow in Vancouver. The cost/benefit isn't there to make the jump.
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Agreed. To be fair though, the average AAA team in the PCL only averages about 5,000 in attendance per game. Even if you factor in dismal crowds in April and May, we would likely still be in the upper half of the league in attendance. Add to that the potential draw and marketing opportunities of being the AAA affiliate of the Blue Jays would add interest (the current affiliation is less than compelling) and Rogers would see accretive value and strengthening of the Blue Jays' TV ratings locally.
I don't think the ongoing operational costs would outweigh the benefit but certainly expanding the Nat or building a new stadium would be prohibitive without something like financial support/partnership from a parent like Rogers.