Saturday, January 11, 2014

Dunedin Blue Jays probably not moving to West Palm Beach

While I am still setting up shop here and researching for future posts, here is another bit of news that caught my eye.

According to the Palm Beach Post (h/t MetsBlog), the Palm Beach Gardens City Council ordered the end of construction on a new spring training stadium. The proposed stadium would have be a new spring home for the Toronto Blue Jays and Houston Astros and possibly new home for the Dunedin Blue Jays.

From the Palm Beach Post:
The motion by council member Joe Russo in a city hall auditorium packed with 250 people, passed 4-1 with council member David Levy in the minority. Opponents of the stadium location, wearing red shirts, gave Russo a standing ovation.

Had the move happened, it would have spread out both the Grapefruit League and the Florida State League, which are both very Tampa-centric, to the dismay of teams on the east coast who have long travel times. Dunedin is also near the bottom of Florida State attendance, both in total attendees and per game average. A change in location might change that.