Charlotte MLB Team Speculation

[Jerseyman4]

I remember in Pinehurst and as far south as Wrightsville Beach, you were able to get HSS/today's Comcast Sports Net Washington/Baltimore but was dropped from the TWC cable lineup years ago.

Dropping Greensboro stations really made me mad back in 1995

[RugbyPike#11]

Just out of curiosity, what kind of attendance do you all think the Charlotte Rugby Club would see if it played their Saturday home matches at Memorial Stadium?

For those of you that are unaware of the team, Charlotte Rugby Club, affectionately known as the Olde Originals, is the newest member of the US Rugby Super League. The Super League is a collection of the top sixteen teams in the country and includes clubs from other large markets including New York City, Washington DC, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and a few others.

[cinco]

Just out of curiosity, what kind of attendance do you all think the Charlotte Rugby Club would see if it played their Saturday home matches at Memorial Stadium?

For those of you that are unaware of the team, Charlotte Rugby Club, affectionately known as the Olde Originals, is the newest member of the US Rugby Super League. The Super League is a collection of the top sixteen teams in the country and includes clubs from other large markets including New York City, Washington DC, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and a few others.

thats a tough one. i love watching sports that are outside the pantheon of baseball, football, and basketball... so you could count me and my friends in. however, the charlotte eagles (division2 pro-soccer) used to play @ memorial. they would get pretty decent crowds... maybe around 2000. then they decided not to renew their lease there and opted to play @ waddell high school. i don't know the reason why they did the move... if it was b/c memorial was too expensive then i think it might be the wrong place for rugby. unless, the rugby team doesn't mind taking a loss for a season or 2, building a fan base b/c of memorial locale, then moving to more affordable pastures. this might have been the strategy of the eagles soccer team? they seem to be working out pretty good.

[appatone]

Wow, I didn't even know we had a Rugby team. That's pretty cool. I had dorm roomate who played rugby so I watched some of the games and became more familiar with the sport and it is a lot of fun to watch. One problem though is that most American's are not familiar with the rules and when they try to watch a game it ends up looking like chaos unless they have someone around to explain the rules. Once again, marketing will probably be crucial to building a large fan base but also important for Rugby would be education of the general public on the sport itself and how it's played. Whatever happened to the Cobra's are they still around? It seems like they had a good bit of buzz going for a while so I don't know if the Rugby team could also look at some of the marketing tactics they used to build thier presence here. Also, would a Rugby team play indoors and if so, could a place like Cricket Arena work? Now that the Checkers are moving out I think the future of that building is in question and maybe the city would be happy to have Professional Rugby take over the joint.

[monsoon]

From what I have seen from most rugby tournaments, it is played in an open field and the observers surrounding the fields. It could possibly be played in BofA stadium if there were enough interest to use a venue such as that, but rugby isn't a hugely popular sport here. The Panther practice fields in third ward would probably suffice.

There was once a female rugby team here in Charlotte called the Charlotte Harletts . I accompanied them once on a tournament in Atlanta. (I was good friends with one of the girlfriends of a team member.)

[DigitalSky]

There was once a female rugby team here in Charlotte called the Charlotte Harletts .

How long ago was this?

[RugbyPike#11]

Thanks for the feedback everybody!

There is actually another women's club in the Charlotte area. They are currently known as the Charlotte Mayhem (http://www.charlottemayhem.com).

As far as the Charlotte Men's Club, we currently play our matches in North Charlotte off Bellhaven Blvd. If any of you are interested in watching a match, you can get a schedule and directions from our website (http://www.charlotterugby.com). USA Rugby is still an amateur sport so I believe all of the matches are free, but parking can be brutal for big games so get there early if you'd like to watch. Also, food and beer are sold at matches. All of the home matches this spring are Super League competition so you'll be seeing the highest level of competition in the US outside of the national team and regional all-star teams. Also, for those of you that aren't familiar with the sport, a number of our former players (old boys as we call them) attend matches and are happy to explain the rules to new spectators. Its not very often a rugby player gets the chance to sound intelligent to strangers!

I don

Edited January 16, 2006 by RugbyPike#11

[cltguy99]

Just saw a report on Fox Charlotte about a plan that was proposed to the Meck Commission for a Major League ballpark. It was for the Second Ward area and had a plan for a 40K seat park with a retractable roof. Not sure how this will all pan out, but the Marlins will officially be in Charlotte within the next month. Although a huge MLB fan, I still think we are a good 5-8 years away for another major pro sport franchise.

Edited January 19, 2006 by cltguy99

[Miesian Corners]

The Marlins will be visiting Charlotte next week to see if this is the place to move the team. A local lawyer, Jerry Reece, is the driving force to get the them here. He has his own plan (done by LandDesign) to put the "retractable roof major league stadium" and over 600 housing units in Marshall Park. I've known about this for some time, but I never really took him seriously. Oh well, guess he is.

The Marlins are apparently serious about moving out of FL and are looking at San Antonio, Portland, and Charlotte.

Edited January 19, 2006 by Miesian Corners

[turbocraig]

What??? I meant to watch that, but missed the boat. What does that mean, "the Marlins who will officially be in Charlotte within the next month."??

Oh, MC... you posted before I had a chance. Hmm.. I'm nothing but skeptical here.

[dubone]

Jerry Reese's plan to put baseball in Second Ward was known as Brooklyn Renaissance, and you can find some that discussion in the Second Ward thread.

No way the Marlins would choose Charlotte over Portland, especially after leaving south Florida. That is especially true since the public entities don't have any interest in funding a stadium.

[Miesian Corners]

From what has been said, Portland is too rainy for MLB. I know, it sounds rediculous, but that's what's been said. It also doesn't have an urban region large enough to attract enough ticket buyers. Besides, we all know your real reason for not liking this plan...it's not in Third Ward.

Edited for smiley placement.

Edited January 19, 2006 by Miesian Corners

[eastsider]

Article about the Reese plan:

http://www.news14charlotte.com/content/top...asp?ArID=111363

Apparently, the entire Second Ward Plan would cost about $4 billion.

In addition to the visits already made to Portland and San Antonio and the upcoming visit to Charlotte, the Marlins are also planning to visit Norfolk, Monterrey, and Northern New Jersey.

[fulcrumsf]

Yeah, I saw this on the Govenment Channel today, as Reese was presenting the plan to the County Counsel. If all is true, the project is suppose to be funded completely by a private sector. He explained that since the project is on such a large scale (propsed at 4 billion dollars) that it makes it possible to fund the stadium cost and everthing else without public money. Im sure they will ask for some infurstructure improvements or what not. It is certianly to early in this to tell,but this looks like a way better deal than what is proposed with the Knights in the 3Rd ward. Not to mention if it pans out the way they wish for it to happen that will mean adding 4billion dollars in private development.

[rbdetsport]

Charlotte is really coming strong with sports. They just got the Bobcats. NO OFFENSE, but they suck. Especially compared to MY PISTONS! YEA BABY! GO PISTONS!

[monsoon]

Charlotte is really coming strong with sports. They just got the Bobcats. NO OFFENSE, but they suck. Especially compared to MY PISTONS! YEA BABY! GO PISTONS!

This is why banning all male teenagers from the suburbs keeps re-entering my mind.

[atlrvr]

Hmmmm.....I didn't think there could be a worse place to put a baseball stadium than the spot in 3rd ward until this plan.....if there is anyway to break up a supposedly residential neighborhood it's to put a large stadium, and a nascar hof in the middle.....especially something as unappealing as a retractable dome....maybe designs are progressing, but most domes have been the lease urban buildings ever....that excludes the proposed Jets stadium in Hells Kitchen, but even then the neighbors protested (and it was replacing rail yards).

[RugbyPike#11]

Charlotte is really coming strong with sports. They just got the Bobcats. NO OFFENSE, but they suck. Especially compared to MY PISTONS! YEA BABY! GO PISTONS!

I'm actually a Michigan native currently living in Charlotte so I consider my self a die-hard Pistons fan and an up and coming Bobcats fan. I was skeptical about the hire of Bickerstaff when it was first announced because he hadn't really seen a great deal of success when he was the GM in Washington. That said, if the team continues to progress and grow as a unit, they will become contenders within a few years. They've got solid young players across the board. More importantly, they've got a potential star in Raymond Felton and point guard is one of the most difficult positions to solidify for a young team. Felton is being helped along by a great cerebral veteran in Brevin Knight.

You also can't sleep on Gerald Wallace. It will be a travesty if this kid isn't named 1st Team Defense at the end of the year! He also provides a ton of versatility as he's fast enough to defend almost anybody on the perimeter and he's shown recently that he's able to defend the post. The kid is a jump shot away from being a star. Even if he never develops a jumper, he's still a very capable third option and would be a remarkable role player for a championship level team. Think more athletic Michael Cooper (from showtime Lakers) without the jump shot.

I hope we take a look at Al Harrington in the off-season. He's an unrestricted free agent, great scorer, versatile (can play SF or PF), and still very young. He's the ideal free agent to add to our core. The team is still bad enough to pull in a potential star through the draft as well. Remember that Amare Stoudemire was picked 9th overall!

People, do not sleep on the Bobcats. The team is young and inexperienced but full of hard workers and character guys. Bernie and company are building the team right. Please please pleas go to some games and show some support. If we were to lose this franchise the NBA would probably never come back!

Edited January 19, 2006 by RugbyPike#11

[monsoon]

People, do not sleep on the Bobcats. The team is young and inexperienced but full of hard workers and character guys. Bernie and company are building the team right. Please please pleas go to some games and show some support. If we were to lose this franchise the NBA would probably never come back!

Been there, done that. Maybe you forgot about the Hornets. All it takes to get a NBA team is the promise of lots of tax payer money and the NBA will be quite happy to place a dozen teams in a city if the public money pig trough stays full. The NBA is a money grubbing business and really not much else these days.

[RugbyPike#11]

Been there, done that. Maybe you forgot about the Hornets. All it takes to get a NBA team is the promise of lots of tax payer money and the NBA will be quite happy to place a dozen teams in a city if the public money pig trough stays full. The NBA is a money grubbing business and really not much else these days.

I do remember the Hornets and as a basketball fan, I'm glad the city got a second chance to host the NBA. Despite the fact that the NBA may be a "money grubbing business," if the Bobcats were to leave Charlotte within 5-10 years due to low interest, I don't think Charlotte would get a third chance for a very long time. We'd be left with a fabulous and very expensive downtown arena without a consistent high dollar draw.

[Southernyank]

In addition to the visits already made to Portland and San Antonio and the upcoming visit to Charlotte, the Marlins are also planning to visit Norfolk, Monterrey, and Northern New Jersey.

They're also looking at San Juan according to USA Today. I dont really know if that move would be any better than just staying in Miami.

[Subway Scoundrel]

From what has been said, Portland is too rainy for MLB. I know, it sounds rediculous, but that's what's been said. It also doesn't have an urban region large enough to attract enough ticket buyers. Besides, we all know your real reason for not liking this plan...it's not in Third Ward.

Edited for smiley placement.

All they have to do is do what Seattle did with SafeCo field. They have a retractable roof that runs on giant rollers. Pretty cheap and easy to use. It is amazing to watch it work. If Seattle can do it, I am sure Portland can......

[RugbyPike#11]

All they have to do is do what Seattle did with SafeCo field. They have a retractable roof that runs on giant rollers. Pretty cheap and easy to use. It is amazing to watch it work. If Seattle can do it, I am sure Portland can......

Even the Charlotte stadium would have a retractable roof. I don't think weather will be one of the primary factors in the Marlins' decision making.

Do you all think there's any chance this development would go off without the stadium and the Marlins?

And did I read this part correctly? 6,000 new homes in uptown?! I'm sure the development of those would be stretched out but wow, that's a huge amount of residency! I wonder what their timeline would be for the entire development. Very interesting.

[SmellyCat]

This is such nonsense. Obviously nothing more than a total leverage ploy by the Marlins ownership to blackmail the city into giving them a new stadium - the team has no intent on moving. This strategy is so played out it's become cliche'.

And their owner Jeffrey Lauria is a greedy money grubbing art dealing jerk from New York, the same owner who ran the Expos out of Montreal. Would we really want a guy like that here?

[atlrvr]

I wonder how Mr. Beaver feels about now? To know that Parks Helms (his biggest supporter) would drop him in a second for MLB......I'd be rethinking spending $37M of my own money on a minor-league park if I was the Knights.