Review: Who Killed the Montreal Expos Netflix documentary

"Who Killed the Montreal Expos" features celebrated members of the MLB's former team the Montreal Expos. (Credit: Netflix)

On Oct. 21, Netflix released a new documentary looking into the history and downfall of the first Canadian Major League Baseball team, the Montreal Expos.

Directed by Québécois filmmaker Jean-François Poisson, “Who Killed the Montreal Expos” is a fast-paced documentary that interviews former players, sports journalists, owners and fans telling the story of how the team folded and relocated to Washington, D.C. in 2004.

Baseball is an important part of the culture of Quebec. Played in the province for nearly 150 years, famous players such as Jackie Robinson found it as a haven before desegregation happened in the MLB. 

All in all, the reason why the team left was money. The documentary shows how the Canadian dollar is  not as strong as the American and by the late ‘90s, the Expos were last in revenue for the entire league. 

After that, it shows multiple different viewpoints and opinions on who is responsible for not finding the money and essentially, the collapse of the team. 

One take is that starting in 1991, the team had been owned by a group of investors known as “Quebec Inc,” as no single person was rich enough to outwardly own the team in the province. Their leader, Claude Brochu, is blamed by some, as he couldn’t deliver on the promise of a new stadium.

The film shows many clips of Olympic Stadium falling apart and how it wasn’t suited for baseball. The provincial government had no interest in helping pay for a new venue, as it was struggling to keep public facilities like hospitals open at the time.

Another group that may own part of the blame is the MLB itself. In 1994, the Expos were the best team in baseball with stars like Larry Walker, Marquis Grissom and Pedro Martinez. They were favoured to win the World Series. 

Towards the end of the season, a player’s strike happened due to the owners not wanting to raise player salaries. This ended the season early and cancelled the playoffs, without a champion.

The revenue that the World Series could’ve brought to Montreal could have given the team good financial standing. But that didn’t happen, so the next year they traded their best players to save $20 million.

After Brochu was kicked from the investment group, the team was bought by American art-dealer Jeffrey Loria for $75 million. The first thing he does is bring in step-son Mark Samson as vice president. Samson is painted as the major villain who killed the team by most Expos fans, but may not be entirely to blame in the end.

The documentary does a great job of showing all the possible people at fault for the mishandling of finances. It jumps from different points in history cohesively, being able to show multiple ideas.

It is fairly balanced when showing all the differing views. It doesn’t show bias, even when the interviewees are.

It also ends fairly hopeful that professional baseball may return to Montreal, showing the optimism that hasn’t died for the team after 20 years. Expo fans are still around and they are still proud of their team.