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KC is the most likely, they have an arena in place and College Basketball is popular there. I am a bit surprised Nashville or Cincinnati aren't on this list. As for the rest, in order
2. Las Vegas
3. Pittsburgh
4. Virginia Beach
5. St. Louis
6. Louisville
7. The Rest
Last edited by 123MoltenCore; 10-16-2016 at 09:45 PM..
The only reason Kansas City is not a serious contender is because there is nobody with deep pockets in KC that wants to bring a team to KC. Most of KC’s extremely wealthy are not interested in sports and spend their money on arts and culture instead.
But if KC did have a potential owner, I think the city could easily support an NBA or NHL team.
Relatively new arena that is NBA/NHL ready and part of a new downtown entertainment district.
KC has a lot to do in the summer (zoo, amusement parks, sports etc), but not much going on in the winter so a pro team would have little competition.
KC is a sports town. KC’s sports teams draw well in the MLB, NFL, MLS (all with very high local TV ratings) and is also a top attendance market for minor league baseball and hockey.
KC’s CSA is over 2.5 million, but it has a much larger regional market for things such as pro sports. An NBA team would likely draw fans from as far away as Omaha, Wichita etc.
KC area is college basketball crazy, but I think that only helps create NBA fans.
Had the KC Kings stayed in town a few more years, they would still be in KC today. The Kings left right before the NBA became popular and were competing with a wildly popular MISL pro indoor soccer team (KC Comets) that was outdrawing nearly all NBA/NHL teams at the time.
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While San Diego, Seattle, Vancouver, or Mexico City would be the obvious plays due to their size I wouldn't count out the smaller metros. Just look what happened in OKC. At first it seemed like a crazy idea to put a NBA team in a city with no history of professional sports, but it has worked. They've been at or near the top in attendance from day one. Given the smaller crowd sizes compared to NFL or MLB, i can totally see this work in a >1 million metro.
While San Diego, Seattle, Vancouver, or Mexico City would be the obvious plays due to their size I wouldn't count out the smaller metros. Just look what happened in OKC. At first it seemed like a crazy idea to put a NBA team in a city with no history of professional sports, but it has worked. They've been at or near the top in attendance from day one. Given the smaller crowd sizes compared to NFL or MLB, i can totally see this work in a >1 million metro.
I don't think OKC would have ever gotten a team had it not been for the city successfully serving as the temporary home of the Hornets.
Voted Mexico City just because it's be quite interesting to see one of the 4 major sports leagues in the USA/Canada (NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB) expand into Mexico.
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