The last paragraph of this article is interesting as it appears that the Atlantic League is looking for ownership groups and cities in the Southwest:
- http://ballparkbiz.wordpress.com/2010/10/08/atlantic-league-seeks-more-teams-for-southwest-division/
According to Travelmath.com, the maximum travel distance between Bridgeport, CT (the Atlantic League’s Northern-most team) and Fairfax, VA (roughly the area of the new 2012 Loudon County team and likely Southern-most city) – as well as Waldorf, MD which is the home of the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs – is roughly 300 miles. Assuming a rough maximum of 400 miles from Sugar Land Texas, in order to keep travel costs reasonable, then the following markets could be options where no pro baseball exists:
- Wichita Falls, TX (population just above 100,000)
- one of the areas east of Dallas (Rockwall County, Garland/Mesquite, etc.)
- the southern area of Austin
- Abilene, TX (population 117,000)
- Denton, TX
- Waco, TX
- Kileen, TX
The Dallas-Fort Worth market is a tough one to crack due to several teams which have experienced financial trouble there in recent times (Grand Prairie, Fort Worth, the CBL teams in Lewisville and McKinney, and others who have looked at placing independent baseball in the area). This is not to say that it wouldn’t draw well with a new stadium, but it might be best for the Atlantic League to look outside the DFW area for its Southwestern expansion.
Of course, all of this is speculation! Several factors will come into play such as the willingness of the city to add a team, current stadiums, income and age demographics, if a municipality has the budget and willingness to finance part of a stadium, ease of getting a liquor license, etc.
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Atl League principals are no fools… You’ll see inclusion of Grand Prairie, Ft. Worth, and Amarillo. Kansas City KS draws solid crowds, These guys could probably get a stadium deal done in Baton Rouge too. It’s a good League.
East & Chesapeake playing Southwest/ TX for a real AAA inde championship series. No reason for intra-play during the season [saving expenses].