Where Should UMEBA Expand?
Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2019 9:34 pm
Where Should UMEBA Expand?
In the years since it’s founding, the UMEBA has been a successful venture that not only continues to export baseball to emerging areas of the world, but also allows players to continue to play at a high level as a second act in their careers. It also means that if this success continues, there is going to be questions about looking into expanding the league. There are plenty of Middle Eastern cities that would add to the flavor of the league and keep it unique. Let’s take a look at a couple of possible candidates.
The first candidate is Athens. The Greek capital has a lot of history, and would be a comfortable flight for the UMEBA teams. There would be plenty of space in the city to build a suitable ballpark, and would fit in as a team that would represent the whole of the country as other teams in the UMEBA seem to do. The problem is that Greece already has a popular basketball and soccer league, meaning that an Athens team would have to fight in a crowded sports marketplace to succeed. Perhaps the biggest challenge is that once the baseball novelty wears off, the team would have to be successful in order to keep attendances high. Expansion teams are well-known for taking time to build up momentum, so it is questionable how long that build up would take.
Another notable choice is Alexandria. The Egyptian port city has a beautiful harbor, and would form a natural rivalry with Cairo that would make things very spicy for the great baseball fans that live in Egypt. Cairo is far enough away that there should be less competition for fans, and could lead to an increase in UMEBA rights fees. The problem that I see is that we don’t know if Cairo would be willing to share their own market, as they would likely be lodging protests. In addition, there are other countries that would like to get their own teams first, and Alexandria would not add a new market to exploit for the UMEBA.
The most intriguing city in my eyes is Riyadh. The capital of Saudi Arabia would expand the UMEBA into a city that does not have a baseball team, and would provide useful links to the ruling royal family that can increase the amount of wealth flowing into the game. Riyadh would also raise interesting questions if the league wants to try and corner the market in areas that the BBA does not already have, and could be a cool place to work. The problem is that Saudi Arabia is a country that relies on oil, and that can be problematic considering that green energy always could take over. I don’t know what would happen, but it would be a fun thought exercise.
The UMEBA does not have to expand, and is becoming healthier every single year. Expansion might not be the way to go, but if it is the way to go then these cities should be thought about.
In the years since it’s founding, the UMEBA has been a successful venture that not only continues to export baseball to emerging areas of the world, but also allows players to continue to play at a high level as a second act in their careers. It also means that if this success continues, there is going to be questions about looking into expanding the league. There are plenty of Middle Eastern cities that would add to the flavor of the league and keep it unique. Let’s take a look at a couple of possible candidates.
The first candidate is Athens. The Greek capital has a lot of history, and would be a comfortable flight for the UMEBA teams. There would be plenty of space in the city to build a suitable ballpark, and would fit in as a team that would represent the whole of the country as other teams in the UMEBA seem to do. The problem is that Greece already has a popular basketball and soccer league, meaning that an Athens team would have to fight in a crowded sports marketplace to succeed. Perhaps the biggest challenge is that once the baseball novelty wears off, the team would have to be successful in order to keep attendances high. Expansion teams are well-known for taking time to build up momentum, so it is questionable how long that build up would take.
Another notable choice is Alexandria. The Egyptian port city has a beautiful harbor, and would form a natural rivalry with Cairo that would make things very spicy for the great baseball fans that live in Egypt. Cairo is far enough away that there should be less competition for fans, and could lead to an increase in UMEBA rights fees. The problem that I see is that we don’t know if Cairo would be willing to share their own market, as they would likely be lodging protests. In addition, there are other countries that would like to get their own teams first, and Alexandria would not add a new market to exploit for the UMEBA.
The most intriguing city in my eyes is Riyadh. The capital of Saudi Arabia would expand the UMEBA into a city that does not have a baseball team, and would provide useful links to the ruling royal family that can increase the amount of wealth flowing into the game. Riyadh would also raise interesting questions if the league wants to try and corner the market in areas that the BBA does not already have, and could be a cool place to work. The problem is that Saudi Arabia is a country that relies on oil, and that can be problematic considering that green energy always could take over. I don’t know what would happen, but it would be a fun thought exercise.
The UMEBA does not have to expand, and is becoming healthier every single year. Expansion might not be the way to go, but if it is the way to go then these cities should be thought about.