But there is the issue of how can you expand when you have 2 teams that aren't even interesting in their own market. One of them is in the playoff chase every single year, but in order to do that has to trade any star players before they start getting star money (making it harder for even the few fans who care to form connections with players). The other team did the big spending thing and won the world series twice only to very quickly sell the team off - another way to alienate a fan base. Nashville is practically begging for a team, and I have to be honest, though it's not the biggest market, I am guessing a playoff game gets more than 19K to show up.
After Nashville..........then where? Vegas is taken.
Montreal? Do they have the stadium? Can they even renovate Olympic? Kind of doubtful that taxpayers are goin to foot the bill for a new stadium and the infrastructure it takes. I sympathize with Expos fans. Closest they came to a World Series, a team full of stars and the strike ends the season and then Jeffrey Loria pulls his crap and does what Oakland's owner is doing to the A's now, you know, Rachel Phelpsing a team. Not sure Vegas is any better than Miami when it comes to baseball fans.
Portland? Sorry, the city is a political nightmare.
Charlotte? Maybe. The money is there, but is the interest? It fills a little void there. Gives the Braves a regional rival.
I think there are two places that would be great, but owners of other teams nearby would block it - and that's Indianapolis and New Jersey.
If you move Tampa to Nashville, I don't see any really good options for expansion and if you expand with Nashville and one other you're still going to have the Rays and Marlins failing.
We're really into sports in this region, partly because in the cold months watching sports is something to do. Much of the U.S. doesn't have that problem and just doesn't get into sports (outside of football) like we do.