Next Metro to gain a Professional Sports Team? (finals, cup, NFL)

[CTownNative]

Las Vegas will get the SuperSonics,Austin is to close to San Antonio,I don't think Virginia as a state could support a team,the market there is not very well known,Providence can't support one,Louisville not a well enough known.I think Charlotte could already support 3,they have the Bobcats right now.

[Spade]

I don't think Austin will ever get a pro team. UT dominates that city and they are content with it.

[Spade]

Originally Posted by CTownNative

Las Vegas will get the SuperSonics,Austin is to close to San Antonio,I don't think Virginia as a state could support a team,the market there is not very well known,Providence can't support one,Louisville not a well enough known.I think Charlotte could already support 3,they have the Bobcats right now.

I think Stern is about to do with Tagliablue did to Las Vegas and simply say NO to Las Vegas as far as the NBA goes. He will not approve of it. The little thing going on with the ref really hurts Vegas chances now.

I disagree with you on Virginia. I think the Hampton Roads could easily support an NBA team as well as Richmond. NOVA will have to live with DC teams and I don't think NOVA minds that.

[Lucidus]

Oil City, Pa.

[CortlandGirl79]

Ummm.........Indy already has 2 major sports teams, the colts and pacers........duh!

[tenken627]

Yeah, NoVA is definately D.C. territory as is Southern Maryland.

The Baltimore-Washington area already supports 5 teams: Orioles, Ravens, Redskins, Wizards, Nationals.

I don't know if adding another one in NoVA would be good idea.

Hampton Roads though on the other hand, I heard is the largest metro area without a team after Vegas?

[tenken627]

Originally Posted by CTownNative

Las Vegas will get the SuperSonics,Austin is to close to San Antonio,I don't think Virginia as a state could support a team,the market there is not very well known,Providence can't support one,Louisville not a well enough known.I think Charlotte could already support 3,they have the Bobcats right now.

How is the attendance with Charlotte's 3 teams?

[krudmonk]

San Jose has the Sharks and will soon have the Earthquakes back. Columbus currently has the same two sports (Blue Jackets and Crew). SJ metro could soon have the 49ers (Santa Clara) and the A's would be in Fremont, which is stupidly considered SF-OAK metro because it lies across county lines.

[Frank the Tank]

Originally Posted by tenken627

What metro area that does not have a current top professional sports team (Not Arena Football or Indoor Soccer, I'm not sure if even Hockey counts) should get one?

If you don't count Hockey, then San Jose will be the largest metro without one.

Las Vegas would be next.

Others would include Hampton Roads (Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Newport News) in Virginia, Columbus in Ohio, Nashville in Tennessee, Providence in Rhode Island, Austin in Texas, Richmond in Virginia, Louisville in Kentucky, Oklahoma City in Oklahoma and others I can't think of right now.

Do you think any of those areas could support a top 3 professional sports team (MLB, NBA, NFL)? Or should we just move around the teams in cities that currently have one?

San Jose is really part of the San Francisco metro area for sports purposes, so they aren't getting anyone other than an "intra-market" move (i.e. the A's moving to Fremont).

I would have said Las Vegas would get an NBA team very soon, but the gambling referee scandal might put the kabosh on it for the time being. Still, unlike what some other people have commented, I think David Stern really believes Vegas would be a good fit for the NBA (which I agree with) as evidenced by the holding of the All-Star Game there this year and, assuming the town can put up an adequate arena (that's the real issue as opposed to gambling), we'll see pro basketball there soon. The growth of Las Vegas in population and wealth, not to mention its unparalleled draw as a tourist destination, makes it a no-brainer. I would be shocked if the next team that moves markets goes anywhere other than Las Vegas.

All of the other cities that have been mentioned are nice enough on paper, but any reasonable business person that's going to either buy a team or move a team for maximum profit knows that Vegas is the real giant whale waiting out there.

[ajf131]

Las Vegas...ABSOLUTELY!!! they could support MANY teams IMO with the endless booming they continue to experience. I'd say Louisville might have a decent chance. I'd also say that Tulsa or Oklahoma City stand a chance. Any place in Iowa, New Mexico, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, West Virginia, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, or Maine IMO stands about the same chance of getting a professional sports team as a person does getting struck by lightning twice in the same day Louisiana's chances of getting new sports teams have been severely damaged also due to Katrina...New Orleans no longer has the same population it once had to possibly support more than two professional teams...they may even have a hard time i think hanging on to both the Hornets and the Saints.