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No way San Antonio gets a team in a state largely owned by the Cowboys. The Panthers do not own the Carolinas since they're lacking in any long term legacies and anyone with any familiarity of NC would tell you that the Charlotte-Raleigh divide is fairly wide and based primarily on outdoing the other. The Raleigh-Durham CSA is among the most deep pocketed in the country in terms of disposable income unlike San Antonio, and certainly not loyal to or following far flung options like the Redskins.
I was using San Antonio as a comparison. And no, "Raleigh" will not get a team unless the NFL goes to 40 or something. The Panthers are the team of the Carolinas. Raleigh getting a team is not outdoing Charlotte by any stretch. And btw I'm pretty familiar with North Carolina, considering I'm a Carolinian.
Louisville continues to sell itself short. Louisville won the USL soccer championship with 15k fans in attendance. They are building a 10k seat stadium with intention of keeping minor league, not MLS team.
Why would any team care about the municipal population? Do the people outside the city limits not matter? Every team cares about the total by whatever measures they use...metro, media market, radius, whatever.
The Panthers do not own the Carolinas since they're lacking in any long term legacies and anyone with any familiarity of NC would tell you that the Charlotte-Raleigh divide is fairly wide and based primarily on outdoing the other.
I don't think this is true. I'm familiar with NC. I don't think most people in Raleigh and Charlotte are thinking about the other city that much and don't hold animosity for the other city.
A NFL team in Raleigh would definitely hurt the Panthers. In my view, the NFL should reduce the number of teams because there are so many bad and mediocre teams. Given the shrinking fan attendance, they won't be adding any teams.
I didn't scroll through the 70+ previous pages in this thread, so probably it's been mentioned before, but: Columbus OH.
It's the third largest state capital in the US (800,000+ population), with a metro area population of almost 2 million. Probably it would have more pro sports already if it didn't happen to be sandwiched between two historically larger metros (Cleveland & Cinncinatti). And of course, college sports are huge in Columbus. But it does have an MLS team.... maybe it could support a womens' pro soccer team too. The league doesn't have one anywhere between Chicago and DC.
Last edited by NW4me; 12-13-2017 at 09:37 PM..
Reason: spelling
Louisville continues to sell itself short. Louisville won the USL soccer championship with 15k fans in attendance. They are building a 10k seat stadium with intention of keeping minor league, not MLS team.
The lead in was Lou vs Indiana MBB so that has something to do with Indianapolis and Louisville being up there in ratings.
Why would any team care about the municipal population? Do the people outside the city limits not matter? Every team cares about the total by whatever measures they use...metro, media market, radius, whatever.
What's your point? Besides Austin and VA tidewater, what are the largest metro markets without pro sports? The answer is Louisville. Louisville as large or is larger than several pro markets. Louisville's TV DMA is smaller than its metro rank as it is literally cut in half by encroaching TV markets from Lexington and Cincinnati....two more metros with no NBA.
The Louisville-Lexington corridor has well over 2 million people separated by under 70 miles in arguably the most basketball crazed state in the world. Only IN and NC can even be mentioned in the same category. So, there are 4.5 million people in a state without a pro team to call their own. I find it simply ludicrous and a testament to decades of failed leadership in Louisville...but that is starting to change.
I was using San Antonio as a comparison. And no, "Raleigh" will not get a team unless the NFL goes to 40 or something. The Panthers are the team of the Carolinas. Raleigh getting a team is not outdoing Charlotte by any stretch. And btw I'm pretty familiar with North Carolina, considering I'm a Carolinian.
It's pretty ridiculous to consider that the Carolinas can only willingly support one NFL team considering the combined population exceeds both Ohio and Pennsylvania which have two NFL teams each plus what amounts to dwindling economies/populations overall, versus North Carolina and South Carolina which are among the top several states in growth.
What's your point? Besides Austin and VA tidewater, what are the largest metro markets without pro sports? The answer is Louisville. Louisville as large or is larger than several pro markets. Louisville's TV DMA is smaller than its metro rank as it is literally cut in half by encroaching TV markets from Lexington and Cincinnati....two more metros with no NBA.
The Louisville-Lexington corridor has well over 2 million people separated by under 70 miles in arguably the most basketball crazed state in the world. Only IN and NC can even be mentioned in the same category. So, there are 4.5 million people in a state without a pro team to call their own. I find it simply ludicrous and a testament to decades of failed leadership in Louisville...but that is starting to change.
If you can take off your booster hat for a second and realize that pro sports leagues are about one thing. Making $$$. Hence the reason Louisville doesn't have a NBA franchise, even though its in a basketball hotbed. Any franchise there would have to compete with UL and UK basketball, which no owner would want to take a chance doing. Birmingham has a better chance of landing a NBA franchise than Louisville does at this point.
It's the same reason Birmingham doesn't have a NFL franchise despite being in one of the most football crazed markets in the nation. No serious owner doesn't want to compete with two championship level college football programs in the same state.
It's pretty ridiculous to consider that the Carolinas can only willingly support one NFL team considering the combined population exceeds both Ohio and Pennsylvania which have two NFL teams each plus what amounts to dwindling economies/populations overall, versus North Carolina and South Carolina which are among the top several states in growth.
Look, it's not happening. Population or not, the Carolinas is not Ohio and Pennsylvania. And I never said we won't support two teams, because we already like more than one: Dallas, Washington, Pittsburgh, and Atlanta by a slim degree. But the Panthers are the team and that's not up for debate. They are not niche like Jacksonville.
They're marketed as "two states, one team", and it has been a successful marketing attempt. Also helps that the stadium is 9.5 miles from the state line. Charlotte is not only the largest city in the Carolinas, by far, but also is in the near geographic center, and the games are aired on all the local Fox affiliates, not just Charlotte's.
Raleigh can probably get NBA one day, or an MLS team, as many people outside Charlotte don't care about the Hornets, at least until they start winning again, but barring a mass expansion, NFL is never happening. And I'm willing to bet most people in Raleigh will sleep fine at night knowing that.
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