Nashville is "America's new party town" (Memphis, Henry: airport, moving)

[Drake744]

Nashville isn't a big enough market to support 3 major sports teams, plus as said, MLB isn't exactly jumping to try and expand.

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by jjbradleynyc

What makes you so sure...?

1) Market size. Name another market our size with 3 major pro sports teams. You can't, because there aren't any. The only markets similar in size that have even just two teams (including MLB) have had those teams for a long time (Milwaukee and Cincinnati).

2) We're probably not at the top of the list for relocation. If you're MLB, why do you court Nashville? Nashville has long been considered Braves territory, but aside from that, is ~250 miles from St. Louis and Cincinnati as well, and both have fans in the area and market. I doubt you would see a huge spike in baseball viewership in the area, for that very reason (they're already watching....other teams). That wasn't so much the case when the NFL came to town....where most fans seemed to either be Cowboys fans or frontrunners.

3) The half billion dollar question....who is going to fund the stadium? Aside from dumping tens of millions on a new AAA level park, which would suddenly be a massive waste, how are you going to convince Davidson County taxpayers that they should foot the bill for another huge project (mind you, a $650 million convention center just opened a couple of years ago). I mean, I suppose that another county could try to land it (like Cobb stole away the Braves)...but who is going to do that?

[UKWildcat1981]

No way MLB is coming to Nashville, seriously MLB is an old man sport and they are done expanding. I am just happy Nashville has a NHL and NFL team thats amazing. If you want to check some baseball I already hit up Atlanta to see the Braves play this year, nobody goes to Braves games you can see a pin drop at Turner Field, great place for a date thou.

[bspray]

Originally Posted by UKWildcat1981

No way MLB is coming to Nashville, seriously MLB is an old man sport and they are done expanding. I am just happy Nashville has a NHL and NFL team thats amazing. If you want to check some baseball I already hit up Atlanta to see the Braves play this year, nobody goes to Braves games you can see a pin drop at Turner Field, great place for a date thou.

I completely agree with this. As a huge sports fan, Nashville has, by far, the two best major league sports in the NHL and NFL. I wouldn't want MLB and would flat out boycott the NBA coming to town. Having those two major league sports and, only those two, was actually a big draw for me.

I think there is something to be said for sports teams (and leagues) matching the ethos of a city. On that same note, I think minor league sports can and do fill gaps. Honestly, Nashville does have the very best combination of sports and leagues in the country with the NHL, NFL, AAA baseball and college basketball.

[UKWildcat1981]

Originally Posted by bspray

I completely agree with this. As a huge sports fan, Nashville has, by far, the two best major league sports in the NHL and NFL. I wouldn't want MLB and would flat out boycott the NBA coming to town. Having those two major league sports and, only those two, was actually a big draw for me.

I think there is something to be said for sports teams (and leagues) matching the ethos of a city. On that same note, I think minor league sports can and do fill gaps. Honestly, Nashville does have the very best combination of sports and leagues in the country with the NHL, NFL, AAA baseball and college basketball.

I find baseball boring but I like going to Vandy baseball games. I like going to baseball games with a girl, it is so slow moving its like a date, gives you a chance to talk to a girl and found more about her, baseball is not as fast moving as basketball or football.

[BayAreaDave]

Relocate the Grizzlies here please.

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by BayAreaDave

Relocate the Grizzlies here please.

No!

Memphis supports their Grizz. I don't want any part of that. Not that I don't want the NBA, but I don't want to steal a franchise that supports their team. I like the Grizz where they are. Memphis loves them. To me, they are Tennessee's NBA team, happily supported by their home base in Memphis. I am more than willing to throw my support behind them from here.

They will do better in Memphis than they will in Nashville IMHO. In Nashville they would complete directly with the Preds in both corporate and citizen support.

[BayAreaDave]

Originally Posted by nashvols

No!

Memphis supports their Grizz. I don't want any part of that. Not that I don't want the NBA, but I don't want to steal a franchise that supports their team. I like the Grizz where they are. Memphis loves them. To me, they are Tennessee's NBA team, happily supported by their home base in Memphis. I am more than willing to throw my support behind them from here.

They will do better in Memphis than they will in Nashville IMHO. In Nashville they would complete directly with the Preds in both corporate and citizen support.

Kick the preds out bring the Grizzlies here. No one even cares about hockey except cities with hockey teams.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by bspray

I completely agree with this. As a huge sports fan, Nashville has, by far, the two best major league sports in the NHL and NFL. I wouldn't want MLB and would flat out boycott the NBA coming to town. Having those two major league sports and, only those two, was actually a big draw for me.

I think there is something to be said for sports teams (and leagues) matching the ethos of a city. On that same note, I think minor league sports can and do fill gaps. Honestly, Nashville does have the very best combination of sports and leagues in the country with the NHL, NFL, AAA baseball and college basketball.

Agree 100%. I want no part of the ThugBA, and I am perfectly fine with AAA baseball. Plus, having both the NFL and NHL right downtown really helps with Nashville's image as a party town. Ever been downtown before a hockey game? The place is rocking. The NFL didn't need to do much of anything to win over fans, but for Nashville to become such a hot market for the NHL is saying something. Nashville is also a very popular away game for other NHL fans, and many stay an extra day or two just to experience Nashville.

The NHL experience in Nashville is very different from other NHL cities, and I'm convinced it's one reason Nashville has become such a party town. Here's how the NY Times described it:

NASHVILLE — Seven o’clock on a Tuesday, and the gold-clad, goose-calling, Tim McGraw-crooning fans of the Nashville Predators are offering an updated primer in Southern hospitality.

One by one, the starters for the Predators’ victim on this night, the Colorado Avalanche, are announced, and one by one, each is advised by the frothing crowd that — in somewhat more colorful language — he is not good at his job, not good at all. The Avalanche’s coach, Patrick Roy, is then introduced, and he is told the same, with a bit more fervor.

Bridgestone Arena, where the Predators skate, is a spaceship of a building perched on a stretch of Broadway downtown that evokes a hillbilly Bourbon Street — all boot joints and neon guitars and honky-tonks. By the opening face-off, all that energy is sucked inside, creating a rowdy atmosphere for a rowdy team, the N.H.L.’s unlikely juggernaut...

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/02/sp...ller.html?_r=0

And from the Toronto Star:

NASHVILLE, TENN.—Ken Hitchcock, coach of the St. Louis Blues, is fond of saying no NHL team should expect to go into Nashville and come out with a win.

“It’s like the Colosseum in Rome.”

Why? Well, the team is good — even great, maybe — but the fans are better.

“They’re all dressed in one colour. It’s a very bright colour,” Hitchcock says of the Preds’ home gold jersey. “I don’t know why, but the seats are full for the start of the game. It’s obviously not a corporate crowd in the lower bowl. It’s very intimidating . . . because the building is full before the puck drops. Everybody is in their seat and it’s like they’re waiting for you.”

Christians, meet the lions...

“What a great place to go,” adds Leafs coach Peter Horachek. “You stay downtown. You walk to the games. You walk to the honky tonks.”

Perhaps fuelled by those famous honky tonks surrounding the downtown arena, Predators fans started their own traditions, quite oblivious to the notion that these things just aren’t done in hockey.

“They do standing ovations before anything happens,” says Sean Henry, the Predators’ president.

They go wild during the third-period TV timeout, for no other reason than to get loud and support the Preds.

“The opposing team stops. They’re looking up, like, ‘What are they doing? Why are they on their feet,’ ” says Henry.

“I’ve never seen a city before (where) at a timeout, when the team needs a boost, (they) stand up and give them a standing ovation for 90 seconds,” says Horachek. “The whole team is going, ‘Come on, they got you, let’s go.’ It’s a special town that way. They’re vocal. They’re loud. They’re into it.”

The announcement of each opposing player’s name is greeted by “You suck” — with “You suck, too” reserved for the opposing coach.

Take a penalty and fans give you the middle finger. Let in a goal and the netminder hears: “It’s all your fault.”

Fans are up on their feet a lot, says colour commentator Stu Grimson, the former NHL enforcer who retired as a Predator.

“My dad always has his arms crossed, folded across his chest,” says Grimson. “Typical Canadian, annoyed (because) people are getting up and down in front of him. They’re obstructing his view of the game. But that’s the way we do hockey in Nashville. We get pretty excited.”

The in-game experience includes a live band, and sometimes top singers grab the microphone. The Gatlin Brothers, Tim McGraw and Alice Cooper have sung between periods...

http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey...tors-rise.html

Nashville's party atmosphere and excellent arena are also reasons why Nashville has become a semi-regular host of the NCAA Women's Final Four and the SEC Men's Tournament.

[jjbradleynyc]

Originally Posted by nashvols

1) Market size. Name another market our size with 3 major pro sports teams. You can't, because there aren't any. The only markets similar in size that have even just two teams (including MLB) have had those teams for a long time (Milwaukee and Cincinnati).

2) We're probably not at the top of the list for relocation. If you're MLB, why do you court Nashville? Nashville has long been considered Braves territory, but aside from that, is ~250 miles from St. Louis and Cincinnati as well, and both have fans in the area and market. I doubt you would see a huge spike in baseball viewership in the area, for that very reason (they're already watching....other teams). That wasn't so much the case when the NFL came to town....where most fans seemed to either be Cowboys fans or frontrunners.

3) The half billion dollar question....who is going to fund the stadium? Aside from dumping tens of millions on a new AAA level park, which would suddenly be a massive waste, how are you going to convince Davidson County taxpayers that they should foot the bill for another huge project (mind you, a $650 million convention center just opened a couple of years ago). I mean, I suppose that another county could try to land it (like Cobb stole away the Braves)...but who is going to do that?

Good points. I suppose if Nashville were about the size of Charlotte then they could be a bit more ready to talk! I wonder if the only cities getting new teams will be relocating from other cities...? Maybe MLB won't expand anytime soon, either.