New baseball stadium could lure back Expos, study shows

The dream of seeing the Expos or another Major League Baseball team back in Montreal could be a reality, according to astudy released today, but it would take more than abillion dollars from government and private investors.

The feasibilitystudy produced by theMontreal Baseball Projectin collaboration withErnst & Young and the Board of Trade of MetropolitanMontrealconcludedthe new team wouldrequire about $355 million in government funding, with the rest coming froma privateinvestor.

"We arelooking for a power hitter, a hitter who can clear the bases," said former Expos WarrenCromartie, whothefounded the Montreal Baseball Project in 2012.

The $400,000 feasibility study was a follow-up to a survey of1,589Quebecers, which found that69 per centwanted Major League Baseball back in the city. Of392 businessownerssurveyed, 81 per cent said they supported the project.

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"The numbers do not lie. We are now closer to a return of baseball in Montreal thanwe have been in a decade," saidCromartie.

The study estimatesthat the government would recover itsinvestmentin eight yearsandwould returnmore than $1billion over the following22 years, mostly fromsales taxas well as income taxpaid by players.

MichelLablanc, the CEO and President of the Montreal Board of Trade, said he believesthe financialand political climate has significantly changedsince the Expos left Montreal nine years ago.

I have the impression that even in the political realm this project is seen as a very mobilizingprojectforMontrealers and Quebecers," Leblanc said.

New team, new stadium

The study concludes that bringingMajor League Baseball back to Montreal would require theconstruction of a new stadium,no farther than twokilometresfrom downtown, with a capacity of36,000 seats.

Of the $1.025 billion investment, $500 million would go toward the construction of this new stadium, as theBaseball Project says theOlympic Stadium is not in an ideal location to attract fans.

The remaining $525 million dollars would go towards buying a team, which theBaseball Project sayswould bepurchased froman existing franchise rather than creatingone from scratch.

The committee also says it is important that the team be a member of the American League as opposed to the Expo's previous National League because it would allow competition with nearby rivals including the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays.

The Montreal Exposmoved toWashington D.C. in 2004 and changed their name to the Nationals.

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