Major League

[Carter 1977]

I'm a little late on this party. Truth is that Alabama will never have a pro sports team because of Atlanta. The ATL based team owners (Braves, Hawks, Falcons) would go scortched earth in any owners meeting where a BHM relocation/expansion team is up for debate. Can Birmingham support a pro team... maybe 2? Absolutely. Similarly sized markets like NOLA, Memphis, and Jacksonville support pro trams. Having a pro sports team in town would change BHM's national image quite a bit and it's culture. That will not fly with our neighbors two hours east. To them, our place is in ATL's shadow....permanently

[Atlanta Scientist]

Originally Posted by Carter 1977

I'm a little late on this party. Truth is that Alabama will never have a pro sports team because of Atlanta. The ATL based team owners (Braves, Hawks, Falcons) would go scortched earth in any owners meeting where a BHM relocation/expansion team is up for debate. Can Birmingham support a pro team... maybe 2? Absolutely. Similarly sized markets like NOLA, Memphis, and Jacksonville support pro trams. Having a pro sports team in town would change BHM's national image quite a bit and it's culture. That will not fly with our neighbors two hours east. To them, our place is in ATL's shadow....permanently

Charlotte and Nashville say hello.

[carpe777]

Originally Posted by steveklein

OKC metro area has more people and a higher median income than Birmingham.

You can tell everyone who will listen to you that "OKC is considered to be a smaller tier market area than Birmingham" but the population and money numbers are objective and not in your favor.


Birmingham 1.14m (~52k median household income)
Oklahoma City 1.35m (~55k median household income)

Now what were you saying about numbers not lying?

Late, very late, chiming in. From what I read, with media control as it has these days, DMA rankings often carry more weight than population, and in 2020, OKC and Birmingham are a dead heat at the 43/44 position in Nielsen DMA Rankings, ahead of New Orleans, Memphis, Buffalo and Louisville, and not far behind Jacksonville. https://mediatracks.com/resources/ni...rankings-2020/

As a Birmingham native, as strange as it may sound ( but Bhamians 50 years and older will understand ), I've always thought the NHL would do best in Birmingham, and I don't even think it would matter that the Predators are so close..... would be a great rivalry actually. Not so much now ( well, I may have to rethink this ), but in past, Birmingham was so spoiled with winning ( especially in sports with few games per season , like football ) because of the success of and overwhelming influence of Alabama and Auburn football. that a sport where the team is expected to lose a fair number of games each year, I thought, would always do better overall than a football team. We saw this in the past, even with the relative success of the WFL and USFL, when the attendance at games would take a major dive if the team lost too many games.

So, it'd be great if Birmingham got an NFL franchise in the future, and I'd say there is a chance, but there is really going to need to be a population surge for that to happen, and Birmingham's national image and/or reputation ( which has improved ) will need to improve a good bit more, especially in the business community.

I believe Birmingham could support an NBA team or an NHL team ( but not both ), along with an MLS team. NBA is unlikely especially in Nashville gets a team within 5 years which is probably not likely either.

Finally I personally think Birmingham blew it when they decided to build a nice, but not top tier outdoor stadium. Birmingham should have built a unique 40,000-55,000 seat retractable roof stadium that could have been perfectly fitted for NBA, NHL or MLS , and even football, and would have allowed Birmingham to routinely get the NCAA basketball regional finals which it cannot even get any longer.

Carpe

[Carter 1977]

Originally Posted by carpe777

Late, very late, chiming in. From what I read, with media control as it has these days, DMA rankings often carry more weight than population, and in 2020, OKC and Birmingham are a dead heat at the 43/44 position in Nielsen DMA Rankings, ahead of New Orleans, Memphis, Buffalo and Louisville, and not far behind Jacksonville. https://mediatracks.com/resources/ni...rankings-2020/

As a Birmingham native, as strange as it may sound ( but Bhamians 50 years and older will understand ), I've always thought the NHL would do best in Birmingham, and I don't even think it would matter that the Predators are so close..... would be a great rivalry actually. Not so much now ( well, I may have to rethink this ), but in past, Birmingham was so spoiled with winning ( especially in sports with few games per season , like football ) because of the success of and overwhelming influence of Alabama and Auburn football. that a sport where the team is expected to lose a fair number of games each year, I thought, would always do better overall than a football team. We saw this in the past, even with the relative success of the WFL and USFL, when the attendance at games would take a major dive if the team lost too many games.

So, it'd be great if Birmingham got an NFL franchise in the future, and I'd say there is a chance, but there is really going to need to be a population surge for that to happen, and Birmingham's national image and/or reputation ( which has improved ) will need to improve a good bit more, especially in the business community.

I believe Birmingham could support an NBA team or an NHL team ( but not both ), along with an MLS team. NBA is unlikely especially in Nashville gets a team within 5 years which is probably not likely either.

Finally I personally think Birmingham blew it when they decided to build a nice, but not top tier outdoor stadium. Birmingham should have built a unique 40,000-55,000 seat retractable roof stadium that could have been perfectly fitted for NBA, NHL or MLS , and even football, and would have allowed Birmingham to routinely get the NCAA basketball regional finals which it cannot even get any longer.

Carpe

The NHL passed on the Bulls when they merged with the WHA in 1979 not because the Bulls were suffering (they weren't and actually drew decent crowds), but because the Flames were tanking and not drawing well in Atlanta. We were passed over because of the performance of a team in another city and they took a "well, if it's not working there, it won't work here because they are both in the Deep South" bull**** approach. Who knows, the Bulls in the NHL could have been something like the Preds in Nashville 20-30 years early. It just seems like this city never gets the opportunity/benefit of the doubt that other cities get. When the over the mountain people voted down MAPS in 97 that would have built the dome... when the Vikings were seriously considering moving here... that likely sealed Alabama's fate as a minor league/college athletics only state. If people in Bham have any sense... they'd pack out Legacy Arena when the G League comes and support it like its an NBA team. It's not like there are any other fall sports options in Birmingham. Nashville is never getting the NBA. Memphis has the NBA, Nashville has the MLS, NHL, NFL and will likely get MLB before its over with. That would live Tennessee a team in all 5 pro leagues... and yes, I'm going to put salt in the wound... When MAPS failed in 1997, both Alabama and Tennessee had 0 pro sports teams. Now Tennessee has 4. Birmingham has really done a lot to help other cities. I've heard several older people in Birmingham call Atlanta the "city that Birmingham built"