By Geoff Walter / SNY.tv

 

 

At last count there are nine major professional sports teams in the Metro area, not to mention any Minor League or Independent clubs and the plethora of college teams. Chances are that sports fans will find something that appeals to them in what many describe as an oversaturated market. With all those choices, can you ever have too much of a good thing? Not when it comes to baseball. New York is a baseball town in the purest sense. We live it, breathe it and can't stop obsessing about it. So what's one more baseball team where the Yankees and Mets currently hold sway? Here's your chance to see my take on the feasibility of having three baseball teams in New York again, and respond with some thoughts of your own.

If you build it, they will come -- or so the line goes. Last season, over seven million people passed through the gates of Yankee and Shea Stadiums. In 2007, projections say as many as eight million fans will attend home games in New York. The Bombers alone have set new attendance records in each of the past two years. Compare that to the combined 5.4 million that the Yanks, Dodgers and Giants drew at their 1947 height.

The problem is that when both teams move into their new stadiums in 2009, there will be about 20,000 fewer seats in New York baseball stadiums than there are currently. With that kind of a drop-off, the teams will probably not be able to set new attendance records each season. Simple market forces dictate that when supply goes down, demand goes up and so does the asking price. Why either team would even consider this is beyond me -- it shows little regard for the average fan.

Sadly, the move in recent years has been toward selling more luxury and skybox-style seats, up near places that I like to refer to as nosebleed heaven. The best seats are always the ones closest to the field, where you can see the players up close without the use of binoculars. That's why you have to pay through the nose just to get them. Either way, better bring some tissues.

New York had three baseball teams -- the Yankees, Giants and (Brooklyn) Dodgers -- for 54 years. Both the Dodgers and Giants packed up and headed West in 1957 and left the Yankees to reign over New York until the Mets started play in 1962.

Critics say that you can't cram any more teams into the New York marketplace, but they look at the sports scene in terms of 12 months. Baseball only lasts seven -- eight if you count Spring Training. Football is only about six months, while basketball goes from October to April, and hockey starts in September and lasts until April. The summer months are the least crowded if you consider all the fall and winter sports. The point is that New York can handle three baseball teams very easily in the summer.

Saturation of the market is a concern for some, and too much competition is another fear for others -- namely the Yankees and the Mets. If a third team does come back to New York, the first question will be: Which league will the team be apart of? Neither the Bombers nor the Mets would like sharing their money or their monopolies over New York's respective American and National leaguers.

The great debate over the past couple of seasons has been whether or not MLB expanded to 30 teams too quickly. Needless to say, the attendance figures of several expansion teams are dwindling, and calls for contraction have been made. In their crosshairs were the two Florida teams -- the Marlins and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. It wasn't long before a few began to throw around the idea of moving the Marlins to New York.

One need only to look at the Montreal Expos turned Washington Nationals to see what might happen in the Big Apple. Montreal was hurting badly in attendance and was faced with two choices: disband the team, or move to another market. When Washington was chosen to be their new home, the Baltimore Orioles objected, fearing that they would lose attendance and revenue since Washington fans now had their own team.

New York fans are a tough lot. They take a lot of beatings and pay a lot of money to see their teams year after year, even if the ticket prices go up faster than George Steinbrenner's blood pressure during the month of October. A third team means more supply, and means more competition both on the field and off, which is why it won't be happening anytime soon. Besides, when was the last time that you saw a Marlin swimming in the Hudson?

Wanna argue with the Ref? Don't like the call? Go ahead and make your own!