‘Who Killed the Montreal Expos?’ Netflix documentary digs into demise of MLB team
October 22, 2025
‘Who Killed the Montreal Expos?’ Netflix documentary digs into demise of MLB team
31 comments
My main takeaway from this was that Pedro Martinez fucking loves Montreal.
Jeff Loria. That’s who.
Bret screwed Bret
Lots of blame to go around, but the biggest issue was that they were never going to secure public funds. It didn’t matter who the owner was.
Jeffery Loria…JEFFERY FUCKING LORIA
David Samson comes out of this documentary looking like a total douchebag. Overall, it was very good. A bit depressing, but worth the watch. I wished it had explored the geopolitical situation between Montreal and Toronto more, though.
Seeing 90 year old Felipe Alou on camera again being the same kind, affable guy I remember from childhood almost brought a tear to my eye.
I bet it crushes Jonah Keri’s bitchass more than anything that he’s not a part of this
I haven’t watched the doc yet, but as a Marlins fan who is all-too-familiar with Jeffrey Loria, I don’t know how you can single him (and Samson) out.
The writing was on the wall before 1999 and MLB already wanted the Expos to move. I genuinely think Loria wanted a ballpark in Montreal. It was just an impossible battle.
Money and the local environment of who had money in French Canada killed them. Claude Brochu came off very nice in the documentary but he should have never own a North American sports team. Everyone close to him seemed to have shares but no one seemed to have any money to fix the issues. After a good 1994 season, he okayed a massive fire sale for which they never recovered from.
Brochu removal lead to the aquistion by Loria and Samson who were slime balls. Even if Samson actually got along with the French and doesn’t sabatoge the Labatt’s deal, the tv rights, and kept the old stadium plans, none of it was funded anyway. They went on to piss people off in Florida but the Expos were already gutted when they came in.
This was an era where most were threating to move to DC or Tampa at the time and most got their stadium. As much of a white elephant as the Olympic stadium was, Montreal said no deal to a baseball team that was hemoraging money.
Just saw it and was dissapointed on the documentary not mentioning anything about the Expos playing some series in Puerto Rico during those last years. I knew it would be impossible for a franchise in the island, but growing up and seeing MLB games being played minutes from my house was great. Especially when the Expos had Vazquez & Vidró playing in their homeland.
Why didn’t they talk about the immense role the Blue Jays played in the downfall of Les Expos? They stole the tv rights, signed for them to fuck off to Washington so they could be “Canada’s team”. Roger’s is responsible as well.
Montreal is possibly North America’s coolest city. Just a little bit of that Eurotrash swag mixed in with endearing Canadian earnestness.
David fuckin Samson
Spoiler Alert: It was Jacques Parizeau
Montreal deserve their team back
JE ME SOUVIENS!
Mon Couer :'(
My great pepe loved the Expos and Red Sox.
French Canadians love baseball,
Bud Selig
I honestly wonder how Canadian history affected the Expos. They were a team named after Expo ’67, a huge milestone for Canadian patriotism in Montreal. Yet in 1976, Quebec elected a separatist government, which scared a lot of businesses away from Montreal to Toronto, just in time for the 1977 Blue Jays to come into play.
They made the playoffs in 1981, just a year after the first Quebec referendum failed 40-60. However, the Canadian economy that was looming over like a dark cloud suddenly went down the toilet in the 90s, right as Bronfman sold the Expos. Despite cheap ownership, the Expos build a team with excellent talent, and it peaks in the exact wrong time.
If they peak in 1993, they probably generate enough buzz for businesses to be more willing to pour more money into the organization. If they peak in 1995, their talent wouldn’t have been too expensive to keep and they generate enough fan interest to force the government to consider a stadium (ala Seattle).
Instead, they peak in 1994, get stopped in mid-August, and elect the separatist government again in 1994 a month later (the same people that would later reject the stadium deal). Montreal gets a double whammy as the NHL lockout prevents the Canadiens from playing until January 1995, leaving Montreal in absolute anger and no sports. Expos fans in Quebec City also get pissed off in 1995 when the Nordiques move to Denver after the shortened 1995 NHL season. All of this is before the 1995 Quebec referendum, which almost succeeds with a 49.3-50.7 result.
I think the straw that really broke the camel’s back was the 1996 season, when they missed the Wild Card by 2 games. Flip a loss to the Dodgers to a win, and that creates a tie-breaker, generating buzz around this seemingly impossible team, gutted yet still competitive. Does that create a Seattle situation that pushes the government towards a stadium deal? Do the consortium surrounding Brochu actually invest money?
Instead, the shitshow happens. By 2004, the Expos not only leave Montreal, but for one last kick in the nuts, the 2004-05 NHL lockout cancels hockey for a year, so they don’t even have the Canadiens to watch.
What I would give for the Expos to return (in the NL)…
Jean Coutu and Hydroquebec. Those are the two most egregious murderers of Les Expos
Very similar to how the Nordiques left.
1. Terrible ownership that didn’t want to invest in a competitive team.
2. Weak Canadian Dollar while players were paid in USD.
3. Refusal to fund new facilities by politicians.
4. Lack of on-field success leading to low attendance and viewership.
5. Lack of English national broadcasting. Most Canadian baseball fans outside of Quebec were Jays fans.
6. Playing little brother to the more successful Blue Jays, like how the Nordiques played second fiddle to the Canadiens.
It sucks, but I don’t think anything could’ve saved the Expos unless a billionaire had come along, financed a new park, and turned the roster around.
I’m super happy this was made but I’m not sure my heart can take watching it
This is why I only wear my Expos hat to Nationals games.
The dubbing in this doc is WEIRD. Good otherwise.
I watched this last night and it completely ignored the political climate in Quebec and Canada at the time, which led to an independence referendum in 1995. It seems pretty irresponsible to ignore all of that, but I guess it was made for an American audience.
Interested to watch this, though I did watch the ESPN 30 For 30 on it.
The talking heads would be like “Montreal was such a baseball town and supported the team”, and then they’d show clips from the 90’s with like 5k people in the stands.
So it felt a lot like revisionist history and nostalgia more than it was accurate.
I went to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame to watch the documentary along with some others. As a lifelong Expos fan, it was informative and depressing. Reliving the highs of ‘94 until the strike was rough. What could’ve been! Great to see the old footage of legendary players and Alou!
Damn this is a documentary?? I thought we were getting a classic whodunnit mystery movie:(
31 comments
My main takeaway from this was that Pedro Martinez fucking loves Montreal.
Jeff Loria. That’s who.
Bret screwed Bret
Lots of blame to go around, but the biggest issue was that they were never going to secure public funds. It didn’t matter who the owner was.
Jeffery Loria…JEFFERY FUCKING LORIA
David Samson comes out of this documentary looking like a total douchebag. Overall, it was very good. A bit depressing, but worth the watch. I wished it had explored the geopolitical situation between Montreal and Toronto more, though.
Seeing 90 year old Felipe Alou on camera again being the same kind, affable guy I remember from childhood almost brought a tear to my eye.
I bet it crushes Jonah Keri’s bitchass more than anything that he’s not a part of this
I haven’t watched the doc yet, but as a Marlins fan who is all-too-familiar with Jeffrey Loria, I don’t know how you can single him (and Samson) out.
The writing was on the wall before 1999 and MLB already wanted the Expos to move. I genuinely think Loria wanted a ballpark in Montreal. It was just an impossible battle.
Money and the local environment of who had money in French Canada killed them. Claude Brochu came off very nice in the documentary but he should have never own a North American sports team. Everyone close to him seemed to have shares but no one seemed to have any money to fix the issues. After a good 1994 season, he okayed a massive fire sale for which they never recovered from.
Brochu removal lead to the aquistion by Loria and Samson who were slime balls. Even if Samson actually got along with the French and doesn’t sabatoge the Labatt’s deal, the tv rights, and kept the old stadium plans, none of it was funded anyway. They went on to piss people off in Florida but the Expos were already gutted when they came in.
This was an era where most were threating to move to DC or Tampa at the time and most got their stadium. As much of a white elephant as the Olympic stadium was, Montreal said no deal to a baseball team that was hemoraging money.
Just saw it and was dissapointed on the documentary not mentioning anything about the Expos playing some series in Puerto Rico during those last years. I knew it would be impossible for a franchise in the island, but growing up and seeing MLB games being played minutes from my house was great. Especially when the Expos had Vazquez & Vidró playing in their homeland.
Why didn’t they talk about the immense role the Blue Jays played in the downfall of Les Expos? They stole the tv rights, signed for them to fuck off to Washington so they could be “Canada’s team”. Roger’s is responsible as well.
Montreal is possibly North America’s coolest city. Just a little bit of that Eurotrash swag mixed in with endearing Canadian earnestness.
David fuckin Samson
Spoiler Alert: It was Jacques Parizeau
Montreal deserve their team back
JE ME SOUVIENS!
Mon Couer :'(
My great pepe loved the Expos and Red Sox.
French Canadians love baseball,
Bud Selig
I honestly wonder how Canadian history affected the Expos. They were a team named after Expo ’67, a huge milestone for Canadian patriotism in Montreal. Yet in 1976, Quebec elected a separatist government, which scared a lot of businesses away from Montreal to Toronto, just in time for the 1977 Blue Jays to come into play.
They made the playoffs in 1981, just a year after the first Quebec referendum failed 40-60. However, the Canadian economy that was looming over like a dark cloud suddenly went down the toilet in the 90s, right as Bronfman sold the Expos. Despite cheap ownership, the Expos build a team with excellent talent, and it peaks in the exact wrong time.
If they peak in 1993, they probably generate enough buzz for businesses to be more willing to pour more money into the organization. If they peak in 1995, their talent wouldn’t have been too expensive to keep and they generate enough fan interest to force the government to consider a stadium (ala Seattle).
Instead, they peak in 1994, get stopped in mid-August, and elect the separatist government again in 1994 a month later (the same people that would later reject the stadium deal). Montreal gets a double whammy as the NHL lockout prevents the Canadiens from playing until January 1995, leaving Montreal in absolute anger and no sports. Expos fans in Quebec City also get pissed off in 1995 when the Nordiques move to Denver after the shortened 1995 NHL season. All of this is before the 1995 Quebec referendum, which almost succeeds with a 49.3-50.7 result.
I think the straw that really broke the camel’s back was the 1996 season, when they missed the Wild Card by 2 games. Flip a loss to the Dodgers to a win, and that creates a tie-breaker, generating buzz around this seemingly impossible team, gutted yet still competitive. Does that create a Seattle situation that pushes the government towards a stadium deal? Do the consortium surrounding Brochu actually invest money?
Instead, the shitshow happens. By 2004, the Expos not only leave Montreal, but for one last kick in the nuts, the 2004-05 NHL lockout cancels hockey for a year, so they don’t even have the Canadiens to watch.
What I would give for the Expos to return (in the NL)…
Jean Coutu and Hydroquebec. Those are the two most egregious murderers of Les Expos
Very similar to how the Nordiques left.
1. Terrible ownership that didn’t want to invest in a competitive team.
2. Weak Canadian Dollar while players were paid in USD.
3. Refusal to fund new facilities by politicians.
4. Lack of on-field success leading to low attendance and viewership.
5. Lack of English national broadcasting. Most Canadian baseball fans outside of Quebec were Jays fans.
6. Playing little brother to the more successful Blue Jays, like how the Nordiques played second fiddle to the Canadiens.
It sucks, but I don’t think anything could’ve saved the Expos unless a billionaire had come along, financed a new park, and turned the roster around.
I’m super happy this was made but I’m not sure my heart can take watching it
This is why I only wear my Expos hat to Nationals games.
The dubbing in this doc is WEIRD. Good otherwise.
I watched this last night and it completely ignored the political climate in Quebec and Canada at the time, which led to an independence referendum in 1995. It seems pretty irresponsible to ignore all of that, but I guess it was made for an American audience.
Interested to watch this, though I did watch the ESPN 30 For 30 on it.
The talking heads would be like “Montreal was such a baseball town and supported the team”, and then they’d show clips from the 90’s with like 5k people in the stands.
So it felt a lot like revisionist history and nostalgia more than it was accurate.
I went to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame to watch the documentary along with some others. As a lifelong Expos fan, it was informative and depressing. Reliving the highs of ‘94 until the strike was rough. What could’ve been! Great to see the old footage of legendary players and Alou!
Damn this is a documentary?? I thought we were getting a classic whodunnit mystery movie:(
I cried at the end. Great doc