soxfan18

They would have to figure something out with the state to stay at GRF. Anyone who thinks they'd leave Chicagoland doesn't have a clue about the economics of baseball. There's been 1 relocation in the last 50 years, by a team playing in a stadium that was, well, the biggest dump in baseball with plenty of structural issues. There is another one ongoing for that same reason. Forbes ranks the SOX 15th in value despite decades of mediocrity. The prospect of this move might see them gain spots in the next ranking, and the top 10 is very much within reach once if everything with the 78 goes to plan. There is no remaining market where they would be anywhere near that. Other owners would not approve a move that is a step back and would decrease the average team value.

Ah yes, the mysterious book that came out. ? Look at The Battery in Atlanta, Ballpark Village in STL, Xfinity Live in Philly...are those districts not successful?

My hunch is Related approached the Sox with these points very much at the forefront. A ballpark will drive over 2 million visitors annually to the site. That's far more than the ~700,000 who would attend Bears games. And of those 2+ million, there's far more unique visitors who are more likely to spend time/money elsewhere in the development, vs. the average Bears attendee who is more likely to be a repeat visitor (STHs make up 60-70% of Bears ticket sales) with a regular tailgating routine. EDIT: The other thing I forgot to mention is the Bears want to be in the suburbs. Their season ticket base is primarily out there and they want to replicate the Dallas or New England model of owning all the parking & business in the area. The 78, as big as it is, wouldn't allow for the expansive parking they need.

The big difference is the Cubs have such a strong season ticket base, so the numbers are still pretty decent. They might sell 28-30k tickets on a Tuesday night in April, but there's less than 25k in the building and tons of tickets available on the secondary market for under $20. The hope would be that a new park closer to downtown would increase the corporate season ticket base to closer to what the Cubs have.

Seattle's roof is a large umbrella, it is still open air when closed. You will remain uncomfortable in April, just dry.

The Sox biggest attendance related issue is drawing people on weeknights before school is out. Hopefully, the better location improves that.

Seriously? Is baseball, and pro sports altogether, different than it was 40 years ago? Has the value of the ballclub changed? Has the age of the owner changed? Does the owner think that he'll still be owning the team in 40 years? Has the business model evolved in any way? Has the South Loop changed as a whole?

Yep, and the Rangers were strategically placed halfway between Dallas & Ft. Worth.

Technically the Strip isn't in the City of Las Vegas.

That's what I keep coming back to. Why would Related get involved in a leverage play? That doesn't make any sense for them. The Casino plan failed, they're onto what's next. They NEED the SOX more than vice versa.

They're not building a ballpark to not also build an entertainment district on the property. That's why Related wants it there, to drive 2 million people to the property so they go to those bars/restaurants.

Why would Related get involved in a Sox' leverage play? They want to get this done.

The A's value will go up in LV. The Sox value in Nashville would go down, bringing the leaguewide average down. This isn't a hard concept.

For real?

Moving a top 15 team in valuations to a much lesser market is very much NOT in their best interests.

The league would never let them move at this point with GRF still perfectly fine, and anyone who thinks differently is kidding themselves. 14 NL owners would absolutely vote NO on conceding the entire market to the Cubs.

I feel like it's very unlikely. The renderings seem really well aligned to Related's vision for open, connected green spaces. https://www.78chicago.com/explore/parks It would also add at least a half billion to the cost.

Pretty wild that Rivers not winning the casino bid might end up being the greatest thing that ever happened to this ballclub. When I saw the news yesterday I was skeptical of this being realistic, but the more I read the more it makes sense. Related needs a huge draw to their entertainment district, and nothing makes more sense than putting a ballpark in the middle of it. And they might even pay for most of it!

Ownership isn't that important. Those teams are at the top because of their market, like you said. It's the operational control that matters most.

Ideally they'd add a stop, the tracks run right through there.

Unfortunate that Joe Davis was already promoted to FOX's #1 for baseball, is in unbearably boring. Benetti isn't going anywhere, tons of guys in big national gigs do a local team: Davis, Dan Shulman, Brian Anderson, Sean McDonough, Dave O'Brien, Jon Sciambi, Matt Vasgersian until recently...

The 16oz cans in the Midwest Beers stands are $10.75, I don't believe that's up from last year. I'd been going to those the last few years since they carried High Life while Miller wasn't a partner.

Their list is bullshit, I had friends get called 3 times this winter, there's no longer a wait.

Memorial Day would be ideal, its their 3rd scheduled off day in 8 days.