Bringing baseball back to Montreal viable: study

MONTREAL A group of investors trying to bring Major League Baseball back to Montreal released a market study Thursday concluding the project would be viable and would generate strong interest among fans and the city’s business community.

“Montreal has the market characteristics to support an MLB team effectively over the long term,” the group led by Stephen Bronfman, executive chairman of Claridge Inc., said in a statement.

Its television market would be in the top half of existing MLB TV markets, ranking 12th out of 27.

The study also places Montreal as the strongest among cities considered potential expansion sites, with the largest population, TV market and corporate base, and the secondlargest median household income. It doesn’t name the other cities, but in the past Charlotte, N.C., Portland, Ore., Las Vegas, San Antonio and Monterrey, Mexico have been identified as contenders.

Montreal would have the 15thlargest metropolitan population among MLB cities, the 18th-highest median household income, and the 19th-most corporations with annual sales of at least $5 million and 25 or more employees.

Interviews with 13 Montreal executives revealed that they would all purchase season’s tickets and three-quarters of them would buy premium seating. About half would buy a luxury suite.

They said a downtown location for a new stadium would be very important and access by public transit essential. They prefer a ballpark with 35,000 seats or less.

The study found a seating capacity of 32,000 would be the preferred size of stadium, with an average ticket price of $41.

Bronfman said the findings have been shared with Major League Baseball.

“We have the right figures to build our business plan even better,” he said.