Pittsburgh interest level in Cavaliers? (Harrisburg, Duquesne: luxury, construction, casino)

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by trackstar13

Good post gladhands and here is some more information to back up your point:

Revenue of Major US Professional Sports Leagues

1) NFL $9.6 billion
2) MLB $7.9 billion
3) NBA $4.8 billion
4) NHL $3.7 billion

Source: https://www.plunkettresearch.com/sta...orts-industry/

While I am a fan of both basketball and hockey, basketball is an international sport with broad appeal that is significantly more popular than hockey in the U.S. and many other parts of the world.

Nobody's arguing the point of NBA being the 3rd most popular pro sport. That's been obvious for years.

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by gladhands

This really serves to show what a juggernaut the NFL is. He disparity between MLB and NBA revenue should be expected since baseball stadiums have nearly twice the seating capacity and teams play twice as many games.

Yes. To me those numbers looked to be saying there's the NFL and MLB at the top level and the NBA and NHL at the second level. Not quite tied, but very similar compared to the big sports.

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by Moby Hick

Yes. To me those numbers looked to be saying there's the NFL and MLB at the top level and the NBA and NHL at the second level. Not quite tied, but very similar compared to the big sports.

Yep. Been the same way for years.

[gladhands]

Originally Posted by Moby Hick

Yes. To me those numbers looked to be saying there's the NFL and MLB at the top level and the NBA and NHL at the second level. Not quite tied, but very similar compared to the big sports.

I think one could make an argument that the NFL stands alone and that MLB and NBA share the second tier.

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by gladhands

I think one could make an argument that the NFL stands alone and that MLB and NBA share the second tier.

If you're using those figures as your standard then $3 billion says otherwise. MLB stands alone at 2nd and the NBA and NHL are very close in popularity.

[gladhands]

Originally Posted by erieguy

If you're using those figures as your standard then $3 billion says otherwise. MLB stands alone at 2nd and the NBA and NHL are very close in popularity.

The NBA (3.9M) generates more revenue per game than MLB (3.25M), with little more than half of the stadium capacity. Now, it's foolish to think the NBA could scale up 40k seat stadiums or double the season length, but in terms of popularity, it's at or above MLB. The TV numbers don't lie. NHL revenue is 3M/game or roughly 25% less than the NBA, playing the same season length in the same or similar venues.

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by gladhands

The NBA (3.9M) generates more revenue per game than MLB (3.25M), with little more than half of the stadium capacity. Now, it's foolish to think the NBA could scale up 40k seat stadiums or double the season length, but in terms of popularity, it's at or above MLB. The TV numbers don't lie.

Not just the playoffs, do you have the tv numbers?

If the NBA could fill 40k more seats a game, there would be more seats. It's just not popular enough to support more.

Considering the MLB and NBA don't play at the same time, I'm sure there's no way to compare the 2 head to head. But looking at popularity and revenue it's easy to tell who fans would be watching should that happen and it would be MLB.

The NBA is obviously your sport of choice which is awesome...but trying to rationalize its popularity or think it could survive in da 'burgh just doesn't add up.

[RonSantoRules]

The NBA is in a unique position in that, if it can capitalize on the international interest in the game (i.e., turn that into money in the owner's pockets), it could easily overtake the MLB in terms of total league revenues. I'm not sure they've figured out how to do that yet (you see the NHL and NHLPA trying to do this with the World Cup of Hockey). One-off preseason games, and a few regular season games in London, haven't really turned into huge paydays for the league, but the league has more than 100 players born outside the United States. This is about 20% of the players in the league. And, unlike in the NHL where they are all from Canada and Eastern Europe, there are players from all over the globe.

For better or worse, NBA teams still remain hugely dependent on season tickets and local television dollars to create a huge chunk of its revenues, although less so with the new TV deal coming up. This means that, even if Pittsburgh cannot sell out Consol for every one of the 41 home dates, an owner could find it beneficial to locate a team here given that Pittsburgh has a turnkey arena ready to host an NBA team.

The real hurdle, however, is the fact that the NBA has a revenue sharing program in which Pittsburgh would likely be an annual recipient of significant revenue sharing funds derived primarily from the Lakers, Knicks, and Bulls of the world. Right now, all teams contribute annually a fixed percentage of their total local revenue, roughly 50 percent, minus certain expenses such as arena operating costs, into a revenue-sharing pool. That money is then divided back out among the league’s 30 clubs in such a fashion that some end up as net recipients while others are net payers. Pittsburgh would undoubtedly be a "taker" and not a "giver." I can't imagine adding another mouth to feed would be an enticing proposal.

I would actually be interested in someone linking to the studies that show Pittsburgh cannot support a fourth sports team. I haven't seen this before.

[sskink]

Originally Posted by gladhands

I think one could make an argument that the NFL stands alone and that MLB and NBA share the second tier.

Not if you're going by standard deviations.

The major difference between MLB and the NFL is that while the NFL continues to be of national interest, MLB in declining in viewership on a national level (note the declining World Series ratings that detractors always point to), but at the same time has posted increases in regional viewership, attendance and revenue on a local level. MLB owners are printing money.

The NBA has better national ratings than the NHL. The NBA does a better job than any league in selling its stars and putting the national spotlight on them (see ratings for any Golden State Currys game this season). But similarities to the NFL/MLB ratings can be drawn. Nationally, many markets don't care about the NHL. However, locally, ratings in many markets that have NHL teams are huge.

[sskink]

Originally Posted by RonSantoRules

I would actually be interested in someone linking to the studies that show Pittsburgh cannot support a fourth sports team. I haven't seen this before.

Try this overview of a study which looked at total market sizes, regional economies and potential for expansion in the NBA/NHL or MLB.

No matter what one's opinion of Pittsburgh's ability to host a 4th league, it would be foolish to argue that there aren't multiple markets better equipped for that task than Pittsburgh. And with the NBA, that starts with Seattle.