Philadelphia, PA (My Sportsbook) - When Major League Baseball owners get together Wednesday, May 14 and Thursday, May 15 at the league's Park Avenue headquarters in New York City, expect the Montreal Expos to be a hot topic.

The Expos certainly cannot survive in Montreal, where the fans will not support them. Attendance at Olympic Stadium resembles a small group of tourists hiking through the Grand Canyon and hearing their own voices echoing in the valley along the Colorado River.

A three-game set against San Diego this past week drew barely over 16,000 fans, and that wasn't for one game, that was for the entire series! The game on Thursday was played in front of just 5,274 observers. Aside from the team's first game at the Big O, April 22 when the Expos drew nearly 37,000 fans, crowds have been sparse to say the least as no more than 8,500 fans have been to a home game in Canada.

Last year, before a new collective bargaining agreement was reached, there was talk of contracting the Expos. However, now at least three areas are trying to woo the team that is owned by the 29 other major league clubs. Washington, Portland, Oregon and Northern Virginia are being examined by baseball officials, who have said they want to make a decision on the Expos' future by the All-Star break in mid-July.

Playing 22 games this year in San Juan, Puerto Rico has proven to be a positive change of scenery for the Expos. An average crowd of 14,282 came out during a 10-game homestand in April at Hiram Bithorn Stadium, which was filled at an average of 75 percent capacity.

There is little doubt the Expos will be out of Montreal after this season, but where will they end up? Let's examine the positive and negative aspects of the cities in the running for the team.

WASHINGTON

Moving the Expos to the nation's capital would no doubt bring in a lot of money from standout political figures, and would be an economic boom to a city that hasn't had a Major League Baseball team since 1971.

However, the Baltimore factor could play a big part in the owners' decisions to put a team in Washington. Peter Angelos, owner of the Baltimore Orioles, has vowed to fight a move of the Expos to the capital area, saying it would violate his franchise rights.

Washington DC mayor Anthony A. Williams asked City Council to approve $338 million in city government funding for a new ballpark and renovations to RFK Stadium. The DC group wants a new 41,000 seat stadium for a team to play in. The team would spend the first couple of years in RFK while the new ballpark is being built.

According to a published report, the total cost of bringing baseball to Washington is estimated at $463 million.

There are NFL teams in Baltimore and Washington, and both have been well supported, but one has to remember there are only eight regular season home games in football and 81 in baseball. That would bring 162 games within a 50- mile radius.

The draw of Camden Yards has apparently worn off as fans aren't flocking to see the Orioles play at home as in years past. In fact, on May 5, the announced crowd of 17,267 for a game against the Detroit Tigers was the smallest in the 12-year history of Camden Yards. Therefore, putting a competing team in DC could prove fatal for the Orioles, even though the Washington team would be in the National League.

Of course it doesn't help that the Orioles are once again struggling and have just one division title since 1983 and the magic of Cal Ripken Jr. is a distant memory.

A target site for a new ballpark in DC has been New York Avenue, less than two miles from the U.S. Capitol, in an area now dominated by fast-food restaurants and warehouses.

District officials are trying to ratify a $338 million financing package by July 1. Word is that $275 million of that money will come from public-sector bonds and will be supported by ballpark-related sales taxes, as well as an income tax on player salaries. However, the 2004 city budget must be settled first before any stadium financing can be even looked at, meaning there's not much time left for DC if Major League Baseball officials are going to decide the Expos' fate by the All-Star break.

NORTHERN VIRGINIA

On March 29, the Virginia Baseball Stadium Authority announced details of its ballpark design, site selection and financing plans to locate a new Major League Baseball stadium in Northern Virginia. Under this plan, a new stadium for the Expos could range from three Arlington County sites close to the Potomac River to two semi-urban sites.

According to the VBSA, construction and operation of a $300 million ballpark would produce an economic impact of nearly $11.5 billion in Virginia over the first 30 years. An economist at George Mason estimated that moving a baseball team to Northern Virginia would generate nearly $13 million in state tax revenue and about $8 million in local government tax revenue annually in Virginia.

The VBSA in its campaign noted that if the Expos were to move to DC, Virginia residents would spend over $71 million annually in the District of Columbia. So the campaigns between the two sites are harsh.

Extensive population growth would suggest that Northern Virginia would be able to support a Major League Baseball team.

The Northern Virginia plan is to issue $285 million in bonds to fund a $400 million ballpark, with the team paying the balance. However, additional government funding is also necessary.

The annual debt service of $16.2 million to $25.4 million from 2008 to 2033 would be funded through taxes already in place, but officials there estimate $4 million in additional annual government funding is necessary to service the debt.

PORTLAND

The Oregon House passed legislation on May 7 by a narrow 33-25 margin to bring a $150 million financing package that would lure the Expos to the state. The bill will go to the Oregon Senate for approval and governor Ted Kulongoski has expressed his support of the bill. The money from the state is slated to come from income taxes on the team's employees, mostly the players who make mostly at least a million dollars per season. That means the bill asks nothing of existing taxpayers.

However, according to a recent poll in a Salem, Oregon newspaper, readers overwhelmingly rejected the idea of the state helping pay for a major league ballpark in Portland.

Portland is the largest metropolitan area in the nation without a Major League Baseball franchise and the largest with only one major professional sports franchise. Portland has been known as an enthusiastic city for its NBA's Trail Blazers, but will the city support a big league baseball club?

Consider this, tickets to a March 29, 2002 Mariners-Padres exhibition game at PGE Park sold out in 15 minutes. The Beavers, the Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres, currently play at PGE Park and have drawn just about an average of 3,000 fans this year in the 20,000-seat complex, according to a spokesman for the team. Those figures are expected to rise as the weather gets better in the Portland area, which is traditionally rainy in the early spring but receives less rain than most other cities in the summer.

Portland is the only charter member of the Pacific Coast League that does not have Major League Baseball.

A newly renovated PGE Park would serve as an interim venue for Oregon's new team, until another stadium can be built.

Personally, I can't see the Expos playing Portland, although money-wise their initially low payroll may be just the ticket for a city on a smaller scale than the nation's capital.

VERDICT

When push comes to shove I think owners will want to move the Expos to a Northern Virginia site. Although most of the proposed sites put the stadium only about 60 miles from Camden Yards, the extensive fan base from southern Virginia and from DC itself could provide the club with its best chance to make money, even though Angelos won't like that idea either.