Hollywood superstar starts bid for MLB franchise in NHL city

The city of Vancouver may get its MLB franchise after all... just 40 years late.

Vancouver previously put in a bid with the MLB to land a professional baseball team way, way, way back in 1986 with the construction of now CFL stadium BC Place as the crown jewel in its application. Now, after decades of inaction it sounds like there's momentum once again for a second MLB team in Canada.

Hollywood superstar turned sports investment guru Ryan Reynolds, a Vancouver native, is reportedly interested in ownership of a potential Vancouver MLB team and has partnered with 49ers Enterprises, which owns the NFL'S San Francisco 49ers, along with other professional sports clubs, like Leeds United in the English Premier League.

Vancouver City Council approved a motion for the city to seek prospective owners of an MLB franchise.

This, despite the fact that the city's Vancouver Whitecaps MLS team has been rumored to be moving and, of course, the fact that the city already lost the NBA's Vancouver Grizzlies 25 years ago. The Whitecaps, the Vancouver Canucks and the CFL's BC Lions are the town's only premier pro sports teams currently.

For what it's worth, the Toronto Blue Jays have lended their support for another Canadian MLB team.

“We are supportive of any effort to grow baseball in Canada, and that would include the opportunity to bring MLB to Vancouver,” Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro told Sportsnet.

As for Canadian fans that fear the new team would be taking away support from the Blue Jays, that's nonsense says Shapiro.

“There's no place you're going to go where you're not splitting the market,” Shapiro said. “I've got probably four clubs that think Nashville's part of their market. I'm not being funny. Literally, they do. So whenever you expand, you're growing the business, you've got another revenue-generating point. You're going to get a big payment on the way in and one of the things that happens is somebody's market gets nicked a little bit. So this market, Canada, is no different. The advantages that Canada has is there are places you can go that are distant geographically from Toronto."

“There are certainly other cities in Canada that would be viable expansion candidates.”

What do you think, Vancouver fans? Could the team support an MLB franchise?

And if so, where would they play?

BC Place? Or a new building?