Next Major League Expansion Team: Try the travel Tag Team model in the Minor Leagues of Sports first.

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Try the travel Tag Team model in the Minor Leagues of Sports first.

The home/camp team model is essentially a team at least playing in two places like the Kansas City-Omaha Kings did in the NBA by playing in Nebraska and Missouri.

I think it could come in handy for a team like the Tampa Rays. They could play in Monterrey, Mexico and retain their television market, in the face of their poor attendance, and even gain Mexican television shares. I think like part-timing a team in certain locations is better than the team vacating altogether.

Would we apply it to the minor leagues first before the big leagues would embrace it? Let's look at the Big Five Sports.

wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnstorm_%28sports%29 Get your bearings via wikipedia.

wikipedia.org/wiki/Traveling_team

Travel Team Baseball. A baseball tag team in the Minors

Are there any markets without a good heaping of baseball? From what I can think, the city of Portland Oregon could use some good showmen. Columbia South Carolina is working something out with a stadium being built. A part-time team in Portland and Columbia called the Coasters or Travelers could be an idea to fill time in the parks by camping some "home" games in each place. And from coast to coast they could take on teams from MLB affiliates or those in independent leagues.
Call a team that belongs to more than one town any number of names:

The Barnstormers
Journeyman
The American Journeyman, American Truckers, Home Runs
Trotters (neat name for a Brooklyn or Harlem team?)
Gamblers
Ramblers
Road Warriors
Road Dawgs
Travel Agents
Underdawgs: obviously because the players are passed up by other pipelines.

Some links below:
Any cities that could use pro (minor league) ball?
milb.com/milb/info/geographical.jsp

ballparkdigest.com/2014/10/23/milb-approves-team-move-to-columbia/
Ground broke January 6, 2015.

And there was a naming contest. www.columbiaproball.com/

If ever MINOR League Baseball in Cincinnati

Pictures of a Dallas metro minor league baseball park

At the back porch of the Texas Rangers is the city of Frisco, Texas. Their Double-A ball park is quite a site to see.

Try some of these team ideas on for size:

Basketball:

I wouldn't mind seeing a Louisville/Las Vegas or a Cincinnati/Las Vegas team in the D-League.
Call them the Wild Cards?
RiverCards
Las Vegas/Louisville/Cincinnati collaborative.

Look at these links:

NBA D-League Expansion Thought. Travel Teams. And Outdoor Action.

NBA D-League and the Expansion of Basketball and Big Times

Football:

What about a football team called the Ohio Railroad playing in the likes of Youngstown, Toledo and Dayton?

In below-link league, there a travel team in a minor league experiment for the big time:
wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_Experimental_Football_League
www.fxfl.com/

For something more west, Las Vegas, Boise, SLC and Portland should give it a go if there's market room.
( see: West Coast Whales NHL Team in Seattle, Portland and Las Vegas, West Coast team name in each of the Big Five Sports ... and more Index: http://prosportsexpansion.blogspot.com/p/key.html )

Any place pairings you can come up with?

Here is a little minor league American aesthetic for you:
Personally, I think Dayton got snubbed in all their sell-out game greatness: houston.cbslocal.com/top-lists/best-minor-league-baseball-stadiums-to-catch-a-game/

Am I silly?

thatsbush-league.com/about/

http://........minor-league-baseball-in-major-league.html
some-mapping-of-minor-league-baseball.html
http://prosports.................the-minors-ready-for-majors.html
http://prosportsexpansion.............minor-to-major-team-proximity-

See more expansion, co-location and relocation talk for football, baseball, basketball, hockey and soccer on my blog http://prosportsexpansion.blogspot.com/