Orioles & Stadium Authority agree on TWO year extension of OPACY lease

[Just Regular]

Apart from this bumping the endpoint to a view of the next CBA, it also probably gets to a view of much of whatever the new normal after covid becomes.   A lot of life these days is temporizing until this is approximately over, so I sort of get it in that context.

Getting team options like the Rays there.

[MurphDogg]

14 minutes ago, SteveA said:

Hope you are right.

Do you disagree that other teams are superior candidates to move? It seems clear that the stadium situations in Tampa and Oakland are significantly worse.

Regardless, MLB has made it clear that they are more interested in further expansion than relocation.

[eddie83]

The stadium is still a gem. It needs modern upgrades like any soon to be 30 year Stadium would. 
 

Like Frobby said if anything I think this would be appealing to a potential buyer.  

[eddie83]

Going to be difficult for any city to justify building a brand new ballpark in these economic times. 

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, eddie83 said:

Going to be difficult for any city to justify building a brand new ballpark in these economic times. 

I think we've learned that cities don't have to justify building a ballpark.

[TradeAngelos]

2 hours ago, Frobby said:

The fact that the lease extension  is that short is pretty concerning.   It lends a lot of credence to the theory that the Angelos family is planning to sell the team.  A lease that only binds the owner to Baltimore for three years (including this one) but leaves the team the option to lock it in for another five should be extremely attractive to a buyer.  

Every single move this team has made (or not made) has signaled they are positioning themselves to sell. I don't know how much clearer it can be with this news. A lot of stadium leases are 30 years not 3. New owners want their own people, ideas and deals in place, and they are doing everything they can to make sure that is the case with all this maneuvering.      

[eddie83]

8 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I think we've learned that cities don't have to justify building a ballpark.

True. That said I find it hard to fathom a city building a new stadium with the current economic landscape.  

[rudyrooster]

Not sure what to make of this short-term agreement.  Maybe both parties are just waiting to see what the "new normal" will look like.  

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, eddie83 said:

True. That said I find it hard to fathom a city building a new stadium with the current economic landscape.  

Marlins new ballpark was approved in February 2008. 

[Frobby]

35 minutes ago, eddie83 said:

Going to be difficult for any city to justify building a brand new ballpark in these economic times. 

Infrastructure, baby!   

[Tony-OH]

2 hours ago, SteveA said:

Why are you so sure it won't happen?

Sure, Camden Yards is a gem.   But it was a prototype and there are now 20+ gems in the majors, and no doubt a potential new city would build a gem too.   And their gem would get that new-stadium boost which we will never again get.

And our attendance has cratered.   We know the reasons -- PLEASE don't start another debate in this thread, especially one of those stupid debates about whether it's the losing or the problems of the city of Baltimore, as if there can only be ONE reason and not a complex combination of many.   But the bottom line is it has dropped.   It is an absolute guarantee that the 2024 CityX Orioles would draw more fans to FancyNewBallpark then the 2024 Orioles would draw to OPACY.   And that would probably be true for several years thereafter, just because of the newness factor.

Baltimore losing the Orioles is not an impossibility.   And I would think today's news only increases the possibility.   Whether that increase is from 0.1% to 3%, or to some  higher number, remains to be seen.   But I definitely fear it.

I once thought this to be an impossibility, but I don't anymore. With the MASN decision, the success of the Nats, significant attendance problems, ownership issues, and general lack of interest from a generation of fans who have grown up with losing baseball for the vast majority of heir lifetime, I don't think it's impossible anymore.

Now, the good news is that MLB hasn't approved a team leaving it's city in a long time (Montreal, right?), and Camden Yards, while now on the older side of stadiums now, is still a great place to watch a ball game. 

I agree with others who said this would make the Orioles more marketable to future owners who may want to move them to Nashville or potentially Las Vegas.

I still don't think the team will move, but I no longer think it's an impossibility.

[Frobby]

28 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

I once thought this to be an impossibility, but I don't anymore. With the MASN decision, the success of the Nats, significant attendance problems, ownership issues, and general lack of interest from a generation of fans who have grown up with losing baseball for the vast majority of heir lifetime, I don't think it's impossible anymore.

Now, the good news is that MLB hasn't approved a team leaving it's city in a long time (Montreal, right?), and Camden Yards, while now on the older side of stadiums now, is still a great place to watch a ball game. 

I agree with others who said this would make the Orioles more marketable to future owners who may want to move them to Nashville or potentially Las Vegas.

I still don't think the team will move, but I no longer think it's an impossibility.

This is well said.   I don’t think it’s likely the team will be moved, but this lease deal allows the owner the flexibility to do so.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

4 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

I can see the two year extension simply serving as a window for them to hammer out the details of the new agreement.  The Angelos family does have a reputation for being deliberate.

Perhaps an agreement for the new ownership group to work out with the Maryland Stadium Authority. 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

1 hour ago, Tony-OH said:

I once thought this to be an impossibility, but I don't anymore. With the MASN decision, the success of the Nats, significant attendance problems, ownership issues, and general lack of interest from a generation of fans who have grown up with losing baseball for the vast majority of heir lifetime, I don't think it's impossible anymore.

Now, the good news is that MLB hasn't approved a team leaving it's city in a long time (Montreal, right?), and Camden Yards, while now on the older side of stadiums now, is still a great place to watch a ball game. 

I agree with others who said this would make the Orioles more marketable to future owners who may want to move them to Nashville or potentially Las Vegas.

I still don't think the team will move, but I no longer think it's an impossibility.

If Oakland can't move even to San Jose, I don't see much of a chance for the Orioles of moving. But, I'll never watch another MLB game if it happens. 

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

If Oakland can't move even to San Jose, I don't see much of a chance for the Orioles of moving. But, I'll never watch another MLB game if it happens. 

You can follow the AAA Orioles.  Maybe they will be the Nat's affiliate?