Canadian Baseball League - Quick Demise

Quick Demise

However, despite early promises that the league could, and would, average over 2,000 fans per game, it was clear that the CBL was not remotely close to projections. Only two markets averaged over 1,000 fans per game: Victoria at 1,700 and Calgary at 1,000. Four teams averaged fewer than 300 per game: Kelowna (271), Saskatoon (256), Welland (181) and Trois-Rivières (163). The national TV deal was cancelled after only six weeks after the CBL was unable to find enough sponsors to cover the production costs.

The Montreal franchise never played a game in Montreal due to a lack of a playing field. Their home games were played at Stade Amedee Roy in Sherbrooke.

The CBL's swan song was the All-star game, held at Calgary. Unwilling to absorb any more losses, Mallett pulled the plug on the entire operation, suspending operations following the game. A crowd of over 5,700 watched the final game in CBL history end in a tie. Following the game, a home run derby was held that produced a combined total of zero home runs. Despite losing as much as $4 million on the CBL, Mallett initially promised to bring the league back in 2004. However, the remaining assets of the league were quietly auctioned off on December 1, 2003 in Vancouver and the league never returned.