Manfred says Montreal needs a firm commitment for stadium

MONTREAL - Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said Monday that Montreal needs a new stadium to have any chance of bringing the sport back to the city.

''The key thing in Montreal would be to have a plan for an adequate facility that could support baseball over the long haul,'' he told The Canadian Press just a few days before Montreal hosts two exhibition games between the Toronto Blue Jays and Cincinnati Reds at Olympic Stadium.

Manfred said the league would need a strong commitment from Montreal for a new stadium before the league could seriously consider relocating a team or expanding there.

While the Expos failed to draw 1 million spectators to Olympic Stadium in any of their final seven seasons, a total of 96,350 fans attended a pair of exhibition games there in March 2014 between the New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays.

''The exhibition games last year, and how well they were attended and at least the early reports on the games this year demonstrate a real interest in Major League Baseball and the Montreal market,'' Manfred said. ''We find that to be very interesting and exciting.''

According to Manfred, exhibition games in non-MLB cities are an important litmus test for the potential viability of a market.

''When you have the kind of success you've had in Montreal," he said, "you kind of pass the first initial test of whether it's a market that could support baseball.''

More than 80,000 tickets have already been sold for the upcoming exhibition games between Toronto and Cincinnati. Olympic Stadium, built for the 1976 Games and home to the Expos starting in 1977, holds 45,757 fans when configured for baseball.