Major League Baseball's search for a new home for the Montreal Expos took on the air of a game of chicken last week, as elected officials from Washington, D.C., and northern Virginia balked at approving public funding for a stadium without a guarantee that they would get the team.
MLB has told all suitors that it wanted a stadium funding package in place before it would agree to move the Expos, who are owned and operated by the league. It now appears unlikely that any of the three leading candidates will lock that funding down in the coming months.
MLB executives met with officials from Washington and northern Virginia on June 20. They also have met with city leaders in Portland. They plan to deliver the information they have gathered to Commissioner Bud Selig in the next two weeks.
Selig has said he wanted to make a decision on the Expos before the All-Star Game, scheduled for July 15. If MLB is not ready to sell and relocate the Expos, it could hold the team for another year. MLB executives already have looked into playing more games in San Juan, Puerto Rico, next year in anticipation of that possibility.
"All I can say is that they were clear about where they stand [on approving stadium funding], and it's what we will take to the commissioner and present to him," said John McHale, executive vice president of administration for MLB.
