Vancouver Canadians (Northwest League) co-owner Jake Kerr says there are no plans to acquire a Triple-A Pacific Coast League franchise, as the team is solid at the short-season level.
Still, he added in an interview, the C’s ownership would listen to any proposals out there.
It would take a lot to bring a PCL team to Vancouver. For starters, you’d need to address facility issues: Nat Bailey Stadium, while one of our favorites, would need a lot of money to bring it up to Triple-A specs. Second, you’d need to buy a portable team, and while there is at least one PCL team on the market, it’s not totally portable. The Tucson Padres sold for $20.5 million to MountainStar Sports Group, setting the standard on the valuation of a PCL team.
Third, the Canadians would need to totally overhaul their business model. Let’s face it: April and early May aren’t exactly the best times to be outside watching a ballgame in almost any part of Canada, and fan attention is going to be diminished by the NHL playoffs. With 38 home games set for June, July and August, the Canadians play when the weather is nice and avoid the worst dates. The current ownership, Kerr and Jeff Mooney, have the formula down, as shown by two straight years of record attendance.
“Sure, the thought of Triple A is still there,” Kerr told the Vancouver Sun. “If a deal came at us that we thought was interesting, we’d certainly give it a look. Having said that, we are perfectly happy with the way this is turning out and frankly, our box office for 38 dates seems to work really well.
“It’s absolutely true we’d be fighting both the weather and hockey playoffs all spring and, when we think about the spring we just had, we looked at each other a number of times and said: ‘Thank God we’re not trying to play baseball.’”
RELATED STORIES: Canadians set another attendance mark
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