Launch of a Feasibility Study to Explore Major League Baseball's Possible Return to Montreal

Launch of a Feasibility Study to Explore Major League Baseball's Possible Return to Montreal

Montreal, March 20, 2013 – The Montreal Baseball Project (MBP), in collaboration with the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal (BTMM), Ernst & Young and BCF LLP, today launched a feasibility study that will examine the possible return of a professional baseball team to Montreal.

“I am pleased to see that the idea of bringing a Major League Baseball franchise back to Montreal is being taken seriously by a group of talented business people who are dedicated to the city's economic development and success. I would like to thank the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal for mobilizing the business community,” said Warren Cromartie, President and Founder of the Montreal Baseball Project. In addition to producing a financial model, the feasibility study will evaluate the long-term financial viability of a baseball franchise in Montreal.

“We want to determine if Quebec's largest city has the necessary conditions to welcome back a Major League Baseball team. Step by step, we will explore the possibility and we expect to have the results of the feasibility study by the end of 2013,” explained Michel Leblanc, President and CEO of the BTMM.

Mr. Cromartie and Mr. Leblanc want to emphasize the firms involved in the project that are providing their time and expertise. Ernst & Young's project team in charge of analyzing the related financial aspects will be overseen by Sylvain Vincent, Managing Partner for Eastern Canada, and led by Daniel Roth and William Jegher, Quebec leaders for Ernst & Young's Infrastructure Advisory and Transaction Real Estate practices, respectively. Richard Epstein, a business lawyer at BCF and co-leader of the firm’s Mergers and Acquisitions practice, will be leading a team to examine the legal and financing structures of the project and real estate matters. Polling firm Leger Marketing will evaluate the perceptions and opinion of the public and the business community. The BTMM, which is acting as a facilitator for the study, is providing 50% of the funding, while the other half is being provided by a group of individuals in the business community.

About the Montreal Baseball Project

Founded in 2012 by former Montreal Expos player Warren Cromartie, the Montreal Baseball Project's goal is to bring Major League Baseball back to Montreal.

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