Which city most deserves a pro sports team? (football, basketball, baseball)

[maestro]

I'm talking of the 4 major sports (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL), and the city can't already have a team in any of these leagues.

My picks:

1. Hartford, CT -- Plenty of disposable income in this city. Bring back the Whalers!
2. Oklahoma City, OK -- they've proved they are a major league city with their great support for the displace Hornets. I think MLB or NFL would be great here.
3. Louisville, KY -- NBA would be a good fit.
4. Virginia Beach, VA -- plenty of population, probably could support a MLB team.
5. Las Vegas, NV -- NFL in Vegas? Or NBA? It would awesome.

[dullnboring]

I like your choices. I would pick many of the same. My top five would be:

1. Las Vegas - I believe the largest market without a major sports team
2. Virginia Beach/Norfolk
3. Louisville - it seems like it would be a good basketball city
4. Raleigh - they technically "have" the Carolina teams, but those teams play in Charlotte so I consider them more Charlotte teams, and Raleigh is a large metro area in it's own right
5. Austin - not sure if the market is there however

I also like OKC, Hartford, Providence and maybe even Honolulu.

[bellafinzi]

^I thought the NHL Carolina Hurricanes played in Raleigh. Did they move to Charlotte?

[wpotsie]

How about getting another team in San ANtonio, TX. We are the seventh largest city in the U.S. We just passed Dallas and are still growing like crazy! I definitely think that Vegas should be seriously considered. Austin might not be a bad choice, even though UT is there. It's also growing like crazy and the population is big enough to sustain a fan base for both the UT and a pro team.
Hartford, CT??!! Are you crazy? The population is only 129,000 and is declining. Privodence has only abouth 180,000 but at least is still growing. Albuquerque, NM has almost half a million and Oklahoma City might not be bad either. Memphis is quite large, too.

[dullnboring]

Originally Posted by bellafinzi

^I thought the NHL Carolina Hurricanes played in Raleigh. Did they move to Charlotte?

You know what, I just checked and apparently they do play in Raleigh. Honestly, I don't follow Hockey at all and prior to responding to this thread, I actually had to perform a search to see what cities had teams and when I saw "Carolina" I just assumed they played in Charlotte as the Carolina Panthers do. Whoops. So scratch Raleigh from my list and bump up Oklahoma City in it's place.

Originally Posted by wpotsie

How about getting another team in San ANtonio, TX. We are the seventh largest city in the U.S. We just passed Dallas and are still growing like crazy! I definitely think that Vegas should be seriously considered. Austin might not be a bad choice, even though UT is there. It's also growing like crazy and the population is big enough to sustain a fan base for both the UT and a pro team.
Hartford, CT??!! Are you crazy? The population is only 129,000 and is declining. Privodence has only abouth 180,000 but at least is still growing. Albuquerque, NM has almost half a million and Oklahoma City might not be bad either. Memphis is quite large, too.

I like the idea of Albuquerque as well.

As for the population figures, I think the metropolitan area's population matters more than the hub city. While relatively few people live in Hartford or Providence, both have approximately 1.2 million people in the metro area compared to around 760,000 in Albuquerque and 1.1 million in Oklahoma City. The ten largest metro areas without a team are actually:

Las Vegas - 2.0 million
Norfolk/Virginia Beach - 1.6 million
Austin - 1.5 million
Greensboro/Winston-Salem - 1.3 million
West Palm Beach - 1.2 million
Providence - 1.2 million
Hartford - 1.2 million
Grand Rapids - 1.1 million
Oklahoma City - 1.1 million
Rochester - 1.0 million

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Largest...n_the_Americas

[The Dissenter]

Norfolk/Va Beach is long overdue for a team. Louisville is a great idea too.

[dusesean1986]

Las Vegas has a gambling problem. It would never happen.

Boise, Id
Hartfort, Ct

[wpotsie]

Providence and Hartford would dip too much into the Boston or New York markets. It would never happen. That's why the Whalers left Hartford. THe city and area were losing population and most of the people j ust rooted for the Bruins, anyway.

Originally Posted by dullnboring

You know what, I just checked and apparently they do play in Raleigh. Honestly, I don't follow Hockey at all and prior to responding to this thread, I actually had to perform a search to see what cities had teams and when I saw "Carolina" I just assumed they played in Charlotte as the Carolina Panthers do. Whoops. So scratch Raleigh from my list and bump up Oklahoma City in it's place.

I like the idea of Albuquerque as well.

As for the population figures, I think the metropolitan area's population matters more than the hub city. While relatively few people live in Hartford or Providence, both have approximately 1.2 million people in the metro area compared to around 760,000 in Albuquerque and 1.1 million in Oklahoma City. The ten largest metro areas without a team are actually:

Las Vegas - 2.0 million
Norfolk/Virginia Beach - 1.6 million
Austin - 1.5 million
Greensboro/Winston-Salem - 1.3 million
West Palm Beach - 1.2 million
Providence - 1.2 million
Hartford - 1.2 million
Grand Rapids - 1.1 million
Oklahoma City - 1.1 million
Rochester - 1.0 million

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Largest...n_the_Americas

[EnjoyEP]

For folks who suggested Albuquerque, NM...having moved here 3+ years ago, I would highly concur.

Albuquerque isn't as big in population as some of the other cities mentioned, but it has some distinct advantages:

-Metro Population of 800,000+ (even though the city itself is around 500,000)...while shy of a million still, Albuquerque is one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S.; a suburb of Albuquerque is Rio Rancho, NM, which is the 3rd fastest growing town in the U.S.

-Albuquerque is the only "big city" in the state of New Mexico, and as such, would draw support from the entire state, not just the metro; also, El Paso, TX is only four-hours to the south of Albuquerque and is another city with a metro of approximately 800,000, which would also likely support a team in Albuquerque

-No "nearby" competitors...the nearest "big league" cities are Phoenix, AZ, Denver, CO, or cities in Texas many hundreds of miles away...unlike in the East or Midwest where huge cities near other big ones may overshadow the big cities, ABQ has no such competition in the area

-A proven track record of supporting well local college and minor league sports franchises

-Great year-round weather (for outdoor teams like MLB or NFL)

Albuquerque would be a great choice!

[christina0001]

I also think it's weird Raleigh doesn't have baseball or football.