who deserves the next expansion team (pay, Comcast, Warriors, Kings)

[ckhthankgod]

Maybe Kansas City, St. Louis, Las Vegas, Louisville, Cincinnati, Columbus, Nashville, Hampton Roads/Tidewater area of Virginia and San Diego. Maybe Honolulu?

[TNKY]

Hmmm, Hampton Roads VA? I used to live in VA Beach and while the population is there, I just can't see them getting an NBA (or any major sports) team. At least they will now have college football with Old Dominion soon. I'd love to see em land a major sports team but, much like Louisville, I'm not holding my breath.

[pbergen]

Originally Posted by DC 38

Hockey might as well never be on; I only get the Blues and Blackhawks on "local" tv; and I have zero interest in watching those teams. Hockey is barely on national tv is a more accurate statement. No one watches versus. Hockey is a regional sport and nothing more.

I am not trying to hate on hockey; I grew up a hockey fan and love watching it live. But lets be real about where it stands on the national landscape. In a few cities it is very popular, in most, it is an afterthought.

i don't disagree with what you've said, but the original post to which i was replying had asserted (incorrectly, IMO) that the nhl and mls don't count as legit top-level pro sports leagues, and by extension that columbus is not a major league town with major league sports.

clearly, hockey has a niche following in the u.s., but that doesn't take away from its status as one of the "big 4" top-level professional team sports leagues in north america. and mls has solidified itself to the point where it's become far more credible with soccer enthusiasts than in the '90s. even though it's less popular than the nhl, it is now stable and successful enough that we're on the verge of talking about a "big 5" for team sports rather than a big 4.

[xxxtobymac]

Pittsburgh should be the next city to have a nba team, and then I would expand to to forign nations first would be london, then berlin, moscow, benjing, tokyo. I dont' agree with the fact there are too many teams right now, but they would have to adjust the playoff entries a little.

[txstate]

Seattle should bring the sonics back by expansion. Kansas City is another and Louisville KY.

[desert sun]

I say Kansas City should be the next team, other cities that should be considered are-Louisville,Norfolk,Las Vegas,Cincinnati,San Diego,St.Louis

[Spade]

Originally Posted by xxxtobymac

Pittsburgh should be the next city to have a nba team, and then I would expand to to forign nations first would be london, then berlin, moscow, benjing, tokyo. I dont' agree with the fact there are too many teams right now, but they would have to adjust the playoff entries a little.

first off. Pittsburgh's market is too small. It only has what 2.5 million people? The market would be oversaturated. In fact, it's already oversaturated.

2. there should be no team overseas. If people want to see London or Berlin or whatever, they need to go to Europe and see them play. The NBA cannot afford to do that anyway.

[Buckeye in SC]

Originally Posted by Spade

first off. Pittsburgh's market is too small. It only has what 2.5 million people? The market would be oversaturated. In fact, it's already oversaturated.

I don't think the next team should be in Pittsburgh either, but not b/c it's market is too small, compared to the other markets mentioned, it's actually pretty big:

Pittsburgh's MSA is somewhere between 2.3-2.4 million
Greater Cincinnati is around 2.15 million
Louisville-Jefferson Co., KY MSA is between 1.2-1.3 million
Las Vegas MSA is a bit bigger, but not much, around 2.5 million
Kansas City MSA is right around 2 million
San Diego Co. is really the only one that is significantly bigger around 3 million.

And if you look at some of the current NBA markets such as Milwaukee (around 1.7 million), Orlando (around 2 million), Charlotte (around 1.5 million), Salt Lake City (around 1.1 million), New Orleans (1.1 million - even before Katrina it was only about 1.3 million) and Oklahoma City (around 1.3 million) just to name a few, Pittsburgh would be much bigger than already established franchises.

I think Pittsburgh could and would support a franchise seeing how they back the Steelers & Penguins and even the Pirates to some extent despite going on like 16 or 17 straight losing seasons. However, w/the Pitt Panthers basketball program already very established, not sure how much support they would garner out of the gates, not ot mention that they'd be going up against the Penguins who are just coming off a Stanley Cup win. Just don't think it would be a good fit.

The NBA really seems to want to be in Las Vegas, so I still see that and another team returning to Seattle being the next realistic possibilities for expansion. I would see San Diego in line following that, w/the Clippers relocating back there as the logical move.

I one day could see them form an NBA overseas type league, and eventually maybe have the American champion take on the European league or whatever champion for the World championship, but it's a long ways off still I think, and you'd have too look at it as we already kind of get that kind of competition w/the Olympics, so not sure how high the intrigue would be of that type of set-up. But Stern really seems to be pushing the European thing, so who knows.

[desert sun]

all I know is I would hate to see the NBA expanding to Europe, there are already too many foreigners in the league the way it is, lets leave the NBA our(American)game.

[Spade]

But Buckeye, my reply wasn't only based on market size. But saturation as well. Pittsburgh has three teams. Neither of those other similar sized metros including San Diego does not have three teams. That's what makes Pittsburgh different than those other areas. Putting a team in KC wouldn't oversaturate the market that much. Same with Cincinatti. Louisville doesn't even have a pro team. NBA would be great there but it won't happen, it's a college basketball state.

Charlotte only has 2 teams
Salt Lake City only has 1 team
New Orleans only has 2 teams and there is talks of them even losing the Hornets but I don't see it happening.
OKC only has 1 team.

Neither of these cities will likely get another team in another sport anytime soon. Pittsburgh is bigger. But they don't have the amount of teams as Pittsburgh does either.