SPORTS

Montreal mayor asks MLB commissioner for 3 or 4 regular-season games

The Associated Press Published Thursday, May 28, 2015 7:37AM EDT Last Updated Thursday, May 28, 2015 4:07PM EDT

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre in exhibition play

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre during a pre-game ceremony in MLB exhibition play in Montreal, on April 3, 2015. (THE CANADIAN PRESS / Paul Chiasson)

Text:

NEW YORK -- The mayor of Montreal has asked the commissioner of Major League Baseball to consider playing three or four regular-season games in the city next year.

Mayor Denis Coderre met with commissioner Rob Manfred in New York on Thursday. Coderre says six or seven teams have expressed an interest in playing there in 2016.

Montreal had the Expos from 1969 through 2004. The team then moved to Washington and became the Nationals.

A pair of exhibition games in Montreal between the Blue Jays and Reds in early April drew a total of more than 96,000 fans to Olympic Stadium.

Manfred recently said the interest shown by Montreal meant the city had successfully passed the first test toward a return of baseball. Manfred has said the city would need a new stadium to get an expansion team or a club to relocate.