The general population newspapers have cottoned on to the Ottawa Statesman story of how the Ottawa Lynx will be sold, and as more details come in, it’s clear that something was/is rotten in O-Town.
The Globe and Mail:
When the Lynx began in Ottawa in 1993, they broke league attendance records. The public flocked to the beautiful new downtown stadium still regarded as one of the best minor-league venues in North America, with a natural grass and clay field. They won the league championship in 1995. But the honeymoon was short-lived, and now the Lynx have the smallest attendance record in the league, with an average of about 1,800 in a stadium that holds more than 10,000, even though the maximum ticket price is only $11.
Wow. 1,800 a night to Triple-A ball, while the short-season Low-A Vancouver Canadians are drawing 3,700 a night. I haven’t seen disparity like that since the independent Northern League St Paul Saints outdrew the Major League Minnesota Twins, playing just a few miles away, by several thousand a night - or the time the C’s drew 7400 people to The Nat on a night when the Montreal Expos could only manage 5000.
So what causes that kind of attendance drop-off?
It sure isn’t the facility, which is awesome, shiny and new. And the prices are cheaper than those charged in Van City.
Perhaps it’s the non-existant presence of baseball in Canada’s mainstream media that’s killing the game. Take this as a fine example, from 24 Hours:
Canada is about to lose its last triple-A baseball team.
The International League said yesterday it has approved the sale of the Ottawa Lynx to buyers in the United States. The prospective owners plan to move the team to Allentown, Pennsylvania. Under the terms of the sale, the Lynx would leave Ottawa for the 2008 season. Ottawa is the last of Canada’s triple-A cities. Vancouver Canadians moved south to Sacramento, Calif., after winning 1999’s triple-A World Series. The Calgary and Edmonton teams moved in 2002 and 2004, respectively.
Great journalism. No mention of why, no mention of which teams are left, no analysis. In fact, the Lynx haven’t been mentioned in 24 Hours for months, and what does it take to get a mention? Their death.
So how much will team owner Ray Pecor make off the sale? Well, let’s just say he won’t be shopping at Wal-Mart any time soon (not that anyone should).
The Ottawa Sun:
The sale price is unknown, but there are outlets reporting Pecor will get $14 million for the team. The Burlington, Vt., ferry company owner bought the Lynx off Howard Darwin for $7 million in 2000.
$14m for a team losing $1m every season - suddenly it looks like Jake Kerr is getting the deal of a lifetime for the profitable Vancouver Canadians, and with the new Lynx owners committed to building a $32m stadium (that seats only as many as the crumbling old Nat does), Kerr’s much vaunted plans of spending $7m-10m upgrading the Nat suddenly looks like pennies found behind the couch.
The next question becomes, what happens to the 10,000 seat, taxpayer funded, $17m stadium left behind when the Lynx move to Allentown? Nobody seems to know the answer to that, but if they can put it on a flatbed truck and move it west, I have an idea or two.
The Lynx are taking the official position that, until there’s a sale, there’s no move… but it’ll happen, if the Philadelphia Phillies have any say. They’ve made no secret of the fact that they want their AAA team to be close to Philadelphia, so even if the sale didn’t go through, there’s no doubt AAA ball is history in Ottawa. And with an attendance record lower than that of the Yakima Bears, it probably should be.
Just a shame we can’t pull a swap with Ottawa and bring Triple-A back to The Nat, eh? Especially after last night… (shudder)
2 users commented in " Ottawa Lynx sale fall-out hits the papers "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackThe last AAA team leaving Canada is sad news for the sport in the North & for the city of Ottawa. Considering how many solid players have come out of Canada in the last few years (Morneau, Lowen, Bedard, & more co.), there are people who care and love the game in this country.
Now, only a short-season A team has done well as an organization in Vancouver. Thanks to all the supportive fans and success of the A’s minor league operation. People in Vancouver should do more to ensure the team stays for years to come & never leaves for a suburb in the middle of nowhere across the border.
Ottawa’s situation is terrible, really. Averaging only less than 2K fan per game is pittiful. Regardless of the level of baseball, not being able to get the support from the local busineesses and fans in the community kills any professional sports team. How did the people in Ottawa expect the Lynx to even break even & to stick around when they don’t show up at the game?
To be able to “upgrade” the level of baseball in Vancouver is possible. Though, getting an AAA may not be all that realistic. A newer, bigger stadium and a bigger fan-base would have to be in place before the Canadians can bid for a higher-level team. Also, Sacramento is doing great for the A’s as an AAA team. The only possibilty could be the Rockies’ Colorado Spring affiliation(they are not drwing many fans to games) or Dismondbacks’ Tucson team, considering the geographic distance between the city & the respective teams, and fan supports.
Let’s just all be very happy to have a strong team in the Canadians & the studs drafted year-after-year by the A’s.
The problem is, geographically, the only place the C’s will really fit is the Northwest League. We could maybe con our way into the Midwest League (though other teams would protest about the travel expenses, and we really wouldn’t be taking a big step up), but there’s no way we’d find a spot in the Texas League or California League, so that really leaves short-season ball or AAA.
I honestly think AAA is a possibility some time down the road, but it wouldn’t be with Oakland, who just love the way things are run in Sacramento, and I can’t see the Rockies or D’backs wanting to go from nearby affiliates to distant cross-border options. As much as nobody goes to Colorado Springs games or Tucson games, if the big team needs an emergency arm, it’s a two hour drive, not an international flight, and the big clubs do prefer that.
In all honesty, the only way I could see us getting back to AAA is if Portland found themselves with a Major League team, and here’s why: it would mean the current AAA team in Portland would have to move, and where the hell could they move to? There just isn’t anywhere handy that could fill a AAA stadium, that doesn’t already have one.
Vancouver would give a Portland major league team a nearby AAA affiliate, a good-sized city with a big potential crowd (and a soon-to-be beautiful stadium), and the existing AAA team could pick any Northwest city and take our spot in the NWL - which would suck for them, but as we’ve seen, you can get bigger crowds in the NWL than some cities in AAA can draw.
Either way, if the C’s stay where is, we’re going to do just fine. But if we can get up to full-season ball, I sure as hell wouldn’t object to it.
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