‘Who Killed the Montreal Expos?’ is a warning delivered too late

The documentary “Who Killed the Montreal Expos?” was released to Netflix on Tuesday, Oct. 21. Directed by Jean-François Poisson, the documentary takes a look at the factors that led to the Expos’ relocation across the border to Washington D.C., a story that’s timelier than one may think. 

The first quality of the film that quickly becomes evident is that it’s not exactly a sports documentary. Minimal time is spent talking about actual baseball gameplay. Instead, it’s a movie about two subjects: the business of sports and the role that a sports team plays in the life of its fans. 

Expos fans were “humiliated” when the team was relocated to D.C. to become the Washington Nationals in 2004 and felt that the team had been “stolen” from them. It is hard to make an argument that baseball in Montreal was a successful endeavor by that time financially, but that has a lot less to do with the fans and more with the ineptitude of management in finding viable paths to increasing the money put into the franchise.  

They were unable to secure a deal for a new stadium on multiple occasions. The stadium would have likely been placed in downtown Montreal and would have been a vast improvement over the aging and decaying Olympic Stadium. It would have increased attendance, ticket sales and overall revenue for the franchise. Instead, owner Jeffrey Loria decided to pull the cord and exit the franchise, leaving the team in the hands of the MLB. 

The documentary holds many parallels to the current landscape of the MLB and, in many ways, serves as a belated warning. For one, a similar scenario to the Expos’ relocation took place just one season ago. The Athletics, formerly of Oakland, played the 2025 season in Sacramento without a city in front of their nickname. They left the Oakland Coliseum following the 2024 season to leave for Las Vegas but are still waiting for a new stadium to be completed. The league did very little to stop owner John Fisher from spending the bare minimum on roster construction or to force him to negotiate in good faith with local governments in an effort to construct a new stadium, which are both details that should sound familiar to anyone who has watched the film.

Fans who have been watching baseball over the past decade are also likely already familiar with Loria. He owned the Miami Marlins until 2017, as detailed in the documentary, and seems to have made a hobby out of conducting fire sales. Though the Marlins saw far more success than the Expos under Loria’s management, winning two world series, that didn’t come without a pair of fire sales that helped to define baseball in the 2010s. His sale of the franchise in 2017 prompted yet another fire sale by new owner Bruce Sherman and confidant Derek Jeter.  

The 1994 strike, which interrupted the most successful season in franchise history, is the one warning that can be put into practice today. The current collective bargaining agreement is set to expire following the 2026 season, with a salary cap being a likely proposal from owners. The Los Angeles Dodgers recently earned their second straight birth to the World Series on the back of a league high payroll. Owners, like they did in 1994, will say that it is needed for competitive balance. A lockout is negative for any small market team that needs the revenue to stay afloat and, as seen with the Expos, can have dire effects on even medium-market clubs. 

So, who killed the Montreal Expos? The answer, rather unsatisfyingly, is a combination of individuals and outside players that forced the franchise into state of unviability in Canada. Loria had a large hand in their undoing, but right-hand man David Samson was by his side the whole time and was part of the lawsuit filed by Expos minority owners. MLB did nothing to stop Loria from jumping ship to Miami, while former premier of Quebec Lucien Bouchard refused public funding for a new stadium. Capitalistic interests were the undertone of all of the decisions made.  

No matter who was ultimately responsible for their demise, the documentary makes it clear that there is still a desire for Major League Baseball in Montreal. 

Rating: 4.1/5