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Ok so the current composition of teams by state/province (with market at front) is as follows (announced teams that haven't played yet count):
use it as a reference point
But overall again I think that many of these are fine. I would say that in the future if I was a sports executive I would be tapping into markets like Las Vegas, Portland, Austin, San Antonio, and either Norfolk or Richmond, as these areas have sizeable populations, and in most cases do not have many teams near them or have any teams at all. The other locations are fine to me though.
Great list! I agree that most seem fine. It's also hard to predict. Like why would an NBA team want to be in OKC over Seattle? Or SLC over New Orleans? But that's what happened.
Another list that might help would be the three largest metros without a team for each league. That might simplify things, but I'm not up for it.
Green Bay Packers and to a lesser extent the Buffalo Bills jump out as legacy teams that wouldn't be established today. Jacksonville also seems borderline, although at least it is growing at a steady rate. Buffalo Sabers and the smaller Canadian teams would probably still be there given the regional nature of Hockey. The NBA and NHL has a fair number of small market teams Memphis, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, St Lake City, and Raleigh (too a lesser extent considering Durham is right next door). The all seem vulnerable to relocation, but they are fairly new team so they would probably be created again.
Exactly...People may not realize that the 2 cities are only a little over an hour from each other. So, this has to be considered, along with the fact that Canada's most affluent economic region is right next to it.
I forgot about the Golden Horseshoe...I know Toronto and Hamilton have their own football teams in the CFL, but I wonder if Toronto has a huge Bills fanbase. Also, I wonder if teams were established today, would Toronto have an NFL team instead of Buffalo.
Cleveland, OH (lose NBA)
Cincinnati, OH (lose MLB)
Detroit, MI (lose NBA or MLB)
Green Bay, WI (lose NFL)
Pittsburgh, PA (lose MLB or NHL)
Buffalo, NY (lose NFL)
Chicago, IL (1 less baseball team)
Milwaukee, WI (lose NBA)
GAIN 1 or more teams:
Austin, TX (add NFL or NBA)
Portland, OR (add NFL)
Charlotte, NC (add MLB)
Atlanta, GA (add NHL)
Nashville, TN (add MLB)
Houston, TX (add NHL)
Louisville, KY (add NBA)
Las Vegas, NV (add NBA)
Salt Lake City, UT (add NFL)
Seattle, WA (add NHL)
San Diego, CA (add NFL)
San Antonio, TX (add NFL or MLB)
Orlando, FL (add NFL or MLB or NHL)
Basically the trend to lose teams follows major loss in population in the northeast and midwest "rust belt," and follows major gains in population with the south and the west.
Packers are going nowhere, and neither are the Bucks. Considering the size of their markets, both performed quite a big better than much larger cities.
I forgot about the Golden Horseshoe...I know Toronto and Hamilton have their own football teams in the CFL, but I wonder if Toronto has a huge Bills fanbase. Also, I wonder if teams were established today, would Toronto have an NFL team instead of Buffalo.
Alabama says "Hello!" (Far more Crimson Tide fans there throughout the state than Falcons fans for example, and they did have a super-spreader celebration in Tuscaloosa the other night when they beat Ohio for the College Football Playoff National Championship) Kentucky too (for Basketball at least). Lots of Southern and Midwestern states are crazy about college sports (Iowa comes to mind for example) more than pro sports. Mississippi has a lot of New Orleans Saints fans, but they definitely prefer watching Ole Miss or Mississippi State Football. Columbus will probably never really have an NFL team due to the fact that it's between Detroit, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh, plus they're all about Ohio State sports there. Contrast that to Indianapolis next door.
Buffalo has a metro area of 1 million people, and Rochester (with a metro of about the same population) is close enough and has a major Bills fanbase there. Quiet as it's kept, one of the reasons why the Bills are still there is due to Rochester's white-collar based corporate base/sponsorships/wealth in comparison to Buffalo.
I know about the college sports culture-just can't imagine living in it.
Buffalo's metro is a lot smaller than Providence (1.6M), smaller than Hartford (1.2 M), and not much bigger than Worcester (947k) or Bridgeport (943k)... And its on a decline in population and economy-wise.
As an MSA Hartford would be a better investment than Buffalo, easily.
Honestly, all of Southern NE is part of an MSA except Cape Cod, It amazing CT and RI don't have one team between them aside from the WNBA. But I guess UCONN and Providence basketball fill the void...
I know about the college sports culture-just can't imagine living in it.
Buffalos metro is a lot smaller than Providence (1.6M), smaller than Hartford (1.2 M), and not much bigger than Worcester (947k) or Bridgeport (943k)... And its on a decline in population and economy-wise.
As an MSA Hartford would be a better investment than Buffalo, easily.
Come on man...We just went over this in the thread, but it is next to 2 areas with 1 million people or more, not including nearby smaller areas. If you just added the Rochester metro to the Buffalo metro, it is just the Pittsburgh metro area in population and a little bit less in terms of land area. So, you have to look beyond just the metro area, especially given the pro sports it has.
They'd just establish an NFL franchise in Toronto wayyyy before in Buffalo. Its 2021, no brainer. They're not even two hours apart.
Sure, but that doesn't have anything to do with Buffalo actually losing their team.
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