There has been some speculation about the future of the Rays franchise in Tampa Bay due to a lack of attendance and a desperate need for a new stadium, and now there's speculation of the team moving to Montreal.
Bill Madden of the New York Daily News wrote this in a column Saturday morning:
Rays owner Stuart Sternberg has been frustrated in his efforts to get out of Tropicana Field in St. Pete and move to a new stadium in Tampa, but there is growing belief that the economically depressed Tampa Bay area won’t support the Rays no matter where they play. And according to sources, Sternberg has had discussions with wealthy Wall Street associates about moving the Rays to Montreal, which has been without a major-league franchise since the Expos were transferred to Washington in 2005. As one major-league official put it to me Friday: “Say what you will about Montreal, but the Expos drew well over two million fans four times there in their heyday, while the Rays did that only once, their first year.
Now, this could simply be Sternberg's latest attempt to put pressure on Tampa/St. Petersburg to put up money for a new stadium, but something will probably happen to the franchise if support for the team and a new stadium doesn't improve soon.
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