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1). Once I see the words Andy Strickland, I stop reading or listening because his history is not of credible journalism. Gotta have better sources than Strickland for anyone to take a discussion seriously. I don't need to prove Strickland is lying, nor did I say he was...I said repeatedly he isn't credible. That means anything he writes, I won't read, and anything he discusses I won't hear.
You have to begin with credible people. 2). Dave Checketts has said in countless public interviews that St. Louis cannot support all 4 of the major sports teams.
3). The Blues are not going anywhere. The Blues are not going to be dropped for an NBA team. The only question that's yeeeaaaawn that anyone will humor you with is adding a 4th team. And, that isn't going to happen.
4). I didn't compare Rush Limbaugh to Dave Checketts. I said whom Dave Checketts partners with matters to people. Rams fans were LOUD, and FAST on the trigger when Checketts partnered with Limbaugh. Checketts had to admit he made a mistake. He underestimated the negative reaction he'd receive for partnering with Limbaugh, so he dumped Limbaugh. You said owner's behavior doesn't matter. But it does matter and with Checketts that example happened very recently. It matters. He could never in a million years move the Blues or sell to someone who will and think for a millisecond he'll get a local Stl sport NBA team. No one compared Checketts to Limbaugh. No one discussed the content of Andy Strickland....etc...you don't seem to understand. If more corporations chipped in more money, less Rams games would have been blacked out. No one is saying the Rams haven't had excellent fan support. However, ....that's different than corporations not always forking over the money to scoop up those extra tickets so the games can be on tv. Sometimes they have saved games for tv and other times no. The point again, is that it's one more strain on local sports corporate dollar. Six figure suite sales are not an easy sell at multiple venues especially in times when teams struggle. St. Louis has shown it can support 3 major pro sports teams. However, it cannot support a 4th of the 4 major sports teams.
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Could you please show us where these interviews are? Did you hear them on kmox, fox, read them in print? What time period? I think people would really appreciate it if you showed us these countless interviews.
There's only one Rush Limbaugh, people reacted to Rush Limbaugh as a person. Checketts isn't going to hop from Rush Limbaugh to Howard Stern to the next Shock Jock or divisive public figure looking for a partner. It was an isolated incident. People aren't going to find the same things to say about, "Joe Smith" as they did with Limbaugh. You do understand there's a difference between how Limbaugh made his money and how other billionaires made theirs right?
I also have to say I agree with Arch_Genesis if St. Louis lost hockey it would only want it back or something to replace it. Checketts doesn't have to be the guy to replace the Blues with an NBA team. Checketts would almost certainly be ran out of town but I don't think there'd be any animosity towards an NBA team coming in afterwards. You both tie too much of this to Checketts. According to one of you he's considering an NBA team in St. Louis and the other he isn't. He might not even be in the picture when all the dust settles.
I still think that St. Louis, and other 2 and 3-team cities are a hard sell when investors can put a pro team in an emerging market where there might be only 1 or no other pro teams to compete with.
That, to me, doesn't mean that St. Louis (or any other place) can't support another team, simply that there is more money to be made in a smaller city with less competition.
I would like very much to have an NBA team, and I believe that with good management and a couple of winning seasons, any team could be quite profitable in St. Louis, but if a team can be more profitable elsewhere, I wouldn't expect a team to come rolling in any time soon.
Now if we could just get an MLS finally!
I think people need to understand that there is a big difference between special events and a full season of games. St. Louis will attend you tractor pull, figure skating championships, and on and on in one game or few day format. The sport doesn't even matter all that much. 40 plus home dates not counting pre-season and post-season for two teams at the same time of year in St. Louis, not counting Rams and Cardinals...a lot to ask for fans money, corporate money, etc...
The NHL has a long loyal following in St. Louis, mostly of middle class and blue collar types...I.e.upper bowl. However the league has a terrible tv deal and it's the least profitable of the four major sports teams. Deep discounted tickets and marketing deals have helped the Blues rebound in attendance. Unfortunately that doesn't help the team make any money.
There are too many games in NBA and NHL and they'd be competing for the same dollars from fans and corporations. And, there's only so much money to go around.
Did anyone notice the huge amounts of no show empty seats at Busch this past season when Cards were out of contention later in year. Yipes! And we are talking about the almighty Cardinals...who have had strong success in recent memory.
It's different with 8 home dates for NFl. And, it'd be different with limited home games for MLS at much better prices.
^That Cardinals stuff is nonsense. We had our 7th highest average attendance in franchise history in 2010 and were 4th in the league for attendance behind much larger cities New York (Yankees), Los Angeles, and Philadelphia.
The average game was at 93% capacity, and the team recorded 27 sellouts.
And the answer is maybe. Bill Laurie tried several times on a few different teams. The issues were mostly with him and not STL getting a team. It would be a squeeze on local sports dollars....it won't happen soon, but down the road is always a possibility.The Blues current owner Dave Checketts has a lot of NBA experience.
Could you please show us where these interviews are? Did you hear them on kmox, fox, read them in print? What time period? I think people would really appreciate it if you showed us these countless interviews.
There's only one Rush Limbaugh, people reacted to Rush Limbaugh as a person. Checketts isn't going to hop from Rush Limbaugh to Howard Stern to the next Shock Jock or divisive public figure looking for a partner. It was an isolated incident. People aren't going to find the same things to say about, "Joe Smith" as they did with Limbaugh. You do understand there's a difference between how Limbaugh made his money and how other billionaires made theirs right?
I also have to say I agree with Arch_Genesis if St. Louis lost hockey it would only want it back or something to replace it. Checketts doesn't have to be the guy to replace the Blues with an NBA team. Checketts would almost certainly be ran out of town but I don't think there'd be any animosity towards an NBA team coming in afterwards. You both tie too much of this to Checketts. According to one of you he's considering an NBA team in St. Louis and the other he isn't. He might not even be in the picture when all the dust settles.
Rush Limbaugh was the example that Dave Checketts cannot partner with anyone or do anything he wants and St. Louis people will say, "Oh sure Dave, no big deal.". I responded to a post saying if Dave Checketts was responsible for the Blues leaving town, which I do not think will ever happen by the way...that Checketts would not ever be welcomed back to town with a new NBA team. NHL team, underwater basket weaving team. Any team. The animosity would be such that he would be smart enough to try his luck in another town. Sure, someone else could bring a team to town...what I said was that it wouldn't be Checketts. The other poster implied Checketts could sell and move the Blues and bring an NBA team to town and people would support that team. I say not a chance as long as Checketts was involved with both situations. This would go for any owner doing that.
I tie this in to Checketts because again, my original post in this recycled old thread in response to Checketts brining an NBA team to town...was that Checketts has his hands full raising money for the Blues and fielding a more competitive team with the Blues. He inherited a poor situation but he's yet to turn the corner with that difficult situation. The NBA is far from his mind. He already has a tough situation.
I never once said or implied that Checketts would ne the only one to bring an NBA team to town or try. The comments I responded to were specifically about Checketts. So, yep he's relevant to the discussion.
6I didn't even get the impression it was St. Louisans who were particularly up in arms over the Rushie controversy. When the national media got ahold of it, it became a huge story and there was no way the NFL was going to allow it.
But I do have to agree with your point. Checketts has been very well liked in St. Louis, but I have no doubt that high opinion would change very quickly were he to have anything to do with the Blues leaving St. Louis.
^That Cardinals stuff is nonsense. We had our 7th highest average attendance in franchise history in 2010 and were 4th in the league for attendance behind much larger cities New York (Yankees), Los Angeles, and Philadelphia.
The average game was at 93% capacity, and the team recorded 27 sellouts.
Butts in the seats. Not tickets sold. Butts in the seats. Lots and lots of no shows later in season.
Those tix were bought earlier. The Cardinals have such a huge far and wide fan base that they will always get fans. However, with their near top of league pricing and concessions, and in today's world, even the Cardinals would see attendance drop if they do not produce high levels on the field.
The amount of no shows imo was very, very interesting later in the season for a team that wasn't that bad.
But what does that have to do with an argument of oversaturation then? If people paid for the seats before knowing, or in spite of, their difficult season, doesn't that show a great deal of demand?
And let's be honest. I adore the Cardinals. But they had a really rough end to the season. People were waiting on them to get hot and make a move that simply never happened. You say they weren't that bad, and obviously they're no Orioles, but they were still way below par.
Down the road isn't today. 101.1 ESPN among others. Call and ask for archives. Or email Randy Karraker or Bernie Miklasz...two of several to interview him publicly with the same quotes.
St. Louis will need Billionaire ownership, a better economy, and population influx of those with disposable income to make that happen. ...anything is possible.
St. Louis isn't going to swap an NHL team for NBA team. Dave Checketts is on record with his opinions regarding all four teams in the current Stl market.
Things always change$ You could inherit billions tommorrow and bring the St. Louis Orangefuscias to town with dreamsickle uniforms, orange julius stands and everything.
Down the road isn't today. 101.1 ESPN among others. Call and ask for archives. Or email Randy Karraker or Bernie Miklasz...two of several to interview him publicly with the same quotes.
St. Louis will need Billionaire ownership, a better economy, and population influx of those with disposable income to make that happen. ...anything is possible.
St. Louis isn't going to swap an NHL team for NBA team. Dave Checketts is on record with his opinions regarding all four teams in the current Stl market.
Things always change$ You could inherit billions tommorrow and bring the St. Louis Orangefuscias to town with dreamsickle uniforms, orange julius stands and everything.
Nobody ever said today, so no one was really discussing St. Louis as it is today. Yet of course Moorlander slammed the door on it for a full 50 years.
Also, could you find those archives please, since you brought it up?
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