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You don’t want municipal funds spent on an arena, and without an arena, there is no team. Any expansion will be Seattle + an Eastern/Midwestern city with an NBA-ready building. It’s going to be Pittsburgh, Columbus or Louisville...most likely the latter.
I don't see Louisville getting a team because it is too close to Indianapolis. Pittsburgh makes sense.
I don't see Louisville getting a team because it is too close to Indianapolis. Pittsburgh makes sense.
Why? Many teams are as close. Louisville already has a top tier NBA arena. It’s media market when combined with Lexington and NKY is similar to many middle of the road metros in the NBA...why not?
Between Louisville CSA and Lexington CSA you got 2.2 million people separated only by 40 miles of farmland between them with the growing state capital in the middle?
How about support from the Northern KY suburbs of Cincinnati adds 600k more
Why? Many teams are as close. Louisville already has a top tier NBA arena. It’s media market when combined with Lexington and NKY is similar to many middle of the road metros in the NBA...why not?
Between Louisville CSA and Lexington CSA you got 2.2 million people separated only by 40 miles of farmland between them with the growing state capital in the middle?
How about support from the Northern KY suburbs of Cincinnati adds 600k more
I don't know if the UL and UK diehards want somebody pushing into their territory. I have a friend who moved to Cincinnati and I've visited, its like you cross the river and you're in UK country
I don't know if the UL and UK diehards want somebody pushing into their territory. I have a friend who moved to Cincinnati and I've visited, its like you cross the river and you're in UK country
Exactly. Cincinnatians want nothing to do with Louisville or Lexington. I have family there lol. Columbus is a possibility, however.
You don’t want municipal funds spent on an arena, and without an arena, there is no team. Any expansion will be Seattle + an Eastern/Midwestern city with an NBA-ready building. It’s going to be Pittsburgh, Columbus or Louisville...most likely the latter.
We don't have to worry about that. Muncipal funds will likely go to the expansion of the convention center.
There are (27 South American stars) in the National Basketball Association as we speak manu Ginobili the first to come to mind + Nene.
Mexicans don't root for South Amnericans and they don't identify with everyone who has brown skin and speaks Spanish.
Basketball is just not that popular in Mexico. Sure, in a country of 120 million you can find a smattering here and there but kids don't play pickup basketball at the park. They don't follow the NBA on TV. And don't confuse curiousity with support - they might fill a stadium for an occasional exhibition game but won't turn out night after night.
Another thing is Mexicans aren't big on the "season ticket" model on which American pro sports is based.
Mexicans don't root for South Amnericans and they don't identify with everyone who has brown skin and speaks Spanish.
Basketball is just not that popular in Mexico. Sure, in a country of 120 million you can find a smattering here and there but kids don't play pickup basketball at the park. They don't follow the NBA on TV. And don't confuse curiousity with support - they might fill a stadium for an occasional exhibition game but won't turn out night after night.
Another thing is Mexicans aren't big on the "season ticket" model on which American pro sports is based.
I’ve played pickup basketball in Mexican parks. There’s also a weird winner-take-all-tournament scene. If I had to guess, I’d say it was their #4 sport.
In other words, the renovations to Key Arena isn't going to be enough to lure the NBA to Seattle according to several reports that have surfaced in recent days. There is a strong possibility that Seattle will have to find the means to build an entirely new arena anyways if it wants to get the NBA expansion team at some point in the latter half of next decade.
Meaning that Seattle will have to upkeep that prospective arena and the newly renovated Key Arena as well. Sounds like a complex situation.
Yeah, I don't believe a word of that. Especially since it's from Deadspin...
I’ve played pickup basketball in Mexican parks. There’s also a weird winner-take-all-tournament scene. If I had to guess, I’d say it was their #4 sport.
Fair enough but the list of negatives is long.
Travel would be logistically more difficult. Sure, it's a long flight from Houston to New York but road trips usually hit up 3 or 4 nearby cities, so when the Rockets head to New York they might play the Knicks, Nets, Celtics, and 76ers. And there are a lot of nearby road trips such as when they play the Spurs, Mavericks, and Hornets. Every single trip to and from Mexico City is going to be a long flight.
Few players are going to want to play there. Mexico will have a hard time attracting top free agents and re-signing top draft talent.
I’ve played pickup basketball in Mexican parks. There’s also a weird winner-take-all-tournament scene. If I had to guess, I’d say it was their #4 sport.
I was racking my brain and what’s #3? Soccer and baseball seem obvious, the only other one I could come up with is bullfighting. I’m not stereotyping, there’s a Bullring right on the ocean along the Tijuana/San Diego border. I was thinking Jai Alai, but the arena in TJ is now a concert hall, can’t speak or the rest of the country.
As for the question of NBA expansion I would’ve said Las Vegas, but I wonder if the fiasco of the Allstar game there a decade ago is still fresh in their minds. It does make the most sense with all the corporate money, a new area, and the Golden Knights in the NHL proving they can easily support pro sports.
I know the NBA is no stranger to going to smaller markets, especially if they can be the only game in town, but I don’t see it going to Louisville or Lexington, KY. I don’t know what cities are willing to finance arenas these days, but cities that have already proved they can support pro teams is my guess for expansion. KC seems like a good choice because unlike Pittsburgh or St. Louis it wouldn’t have to compete with the NHL for fans, or corporate dollars.
Many other cities talked about in this thread I don’t happening becaue of nearby owners not wanting to share the market/region. You can forget about Baltimore or northern Virginia. Texas is pretty saturated leaving Austin out, same goes for Tampa. Unless someone really rich wants to build an arena you can count San Diego out. The NBA has already failed in Vancouver, don’t see that happening again. I think that might make them weary of Montreal. Omaha is way too small. Mexico City is way too far besides countless other reasons. Not on the list, but intriguing is Buffalo. They lost their team to San Diego in the 70’s and are crazy for sports.
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