Could Vancouver support a baseball team?

It’s undeniable that Vancouver has a rich sports history. Whether it is hockey, basketball, football, or soccer, Vancouver seems to always have a presence. The sole exception seems to be America’s pastime, baseball. 

Don’t get us wrong, we here in Van love the minor league Canadians over at Nat Bailey Stadium and appreciate our cross country team in the Blue Jays, but there is not currently a major league team that welcomes stars like Aaron Judge, Shohei Otani, and Marcell Ozuna into YVR nor has there ever been a team. That brings us to the main topic, can B.C. support a baseball team?

The first matter of business would be figuring out stadium logistics. While the aforementioned Nat Bailey Stadium is the closest comparable, it is not up to Major League standards. It's also not clear where a stadium would go. While BC place could serve as a home venue, it was designed for football and soccer, not baseball. The only areas it seems a stadium could in theory go to would be the PNE site or somewhere near the Burrard Inlet. 

The second hurdle is fan interest. While the Canadians enjoy a high attendance record, they can only hold 4,000 people a game. This is a far cry from Roger’s centre in Toronto which has over 39,000 seats to house spectators as they watch the Blue Jays. That being said, tons of Vancouver Blue Jay fans go down south to Seattle when the Blue Jays are in town to play the Mariners, meaning there is perhaps enough to support a team. 

The final issue is ownership. Baseball famously has no salary cap, and while Vancouver has quite a few billionaires who could in theory own a team, whether that team would be good enough to invest in is another question. After all, Teams like the Dodgers and Yankees throw contracts worth hundreds of millions towards players and it's unlikely Vancouver billionaires could keep up.

In conclusion, while it seems Vancouver could support a team and give us some sports action in between NHL seasons, a team likely isn’t coming anytime soon.