Most desirable markets for sports expansion

thelakelander · April 10, 2015, 10:07:20 AM

It would be interesting to see if Florida's other professional teams have older fan bases. My guess is, it would range, depending on if the franchises are known for winning or losing over an extended period of time. For example, the Heat pretty much still sell out all of their games but the Marlins still struggle to fill seats despite having a new ballpark.

ProjectMaximus · April 10, 2015, 10:12:40 AM

They also admitted they only looked at metro area, and not secondary markets or proximity to other markets. Clearly, many sports teams (professional and college) reach well outside their metro area.

I-10east · April 10, 2015, 10:19:16 AM

Austin is a very interesting city concerning sports expansion. It's still growing at a mind blowing astronomical rate, with no one even in the same stratosphere. However it's also a huge college town with UT there, and I could see some pushback against Austin being a 'major league sportsopolis'. Personally, I'll completely rule out the NFL, NBA, and MLB in Austin (SA which has NBA would get NFL before Austin). My guess it that Austin (or Houston) would get a NHL team; Austin would be Texas's version of the Columbus Blue Jackets. But what do I know, stranger things has happened...

Downtown Osprey · April 10, 2015, 10:22:41 AM

Given its demographics and culture, I think Austin would make for a great market for the MLS.

I-10east · April 10, 2015, 10:23:41 AM

^^^True.

pierre · April 10, 2015, 10:35:03 AM

The issue with Austin is San Antonio already has a soccer stadium. It seats 8-9k right now and is expandable to 20k. If the league expands in Texas, it will be San Antonio.

Tacachale · April 10, 2015, 10:45:45 AM

Keep in mind the list is only looking at economic potential based on total personal income in the cities' combined statistical areas. Once you factor in population and demographics, for instance, the picture changes. So, for instance, they're listing four markets with "borderline capacity" for MLB based on total personal income, Montreal, Hartford, Las Vegas and Virginia Beach-Norfolk. But the conventional wisdom is the city needs at least 2 million people to support baseball (as you need a big enough pool for people to actually go to and watch the games, among other things). That rules out Hartford and Virginia Beach. And Las Vegas has its own problems, namely legalized gambling. That leaves only Montreal, and Montreal already had a team that moved away. So, it's complicated.

I-10east · April 10, 2015, 10:50:03 AM

Maybe I'm too American or whatever, but I'm I the only one that hates the "Football Club (FC)" names in soccer? I'm not too wild about the "City" names either (like Orlando City). The Armada's inaugural game, which looks better "EDM vs JAX" or "FCE vs JAX"? Xfinity even got confused with the listing, thinking that Jax played the Fort Lauderdale Strikers (FTL). That's the end of my American whining.

I-10east · April 10, 2015, 11:00:19 AM

Quote from: Tacachale on April 10, 2015, 10:45:45 AM
Keep in mind the list is only looking at economic potential based on total personal income in the cities' combined statistical areas. Once you factor in population and demographics, for instance, the picture changes. So, for instance, they're listing four markets with "borderline capacity" for MLB based on total personal income, Montreal, Hartford, Las Vegas and Virginia Beach-Norfolk. But the conventional wisdom is the city needs at least 2 million people to support baseball (as you need a big enough pool for people to actually go to and watch the games, among other things). That rules out Hartford and Virginia Beach. And Las Vegas has its own problems, namely legalized gambling. That leaves only Montreal, and Montreal already had a team that moved away. So, it's complicated.

Very good points.

Ajax · April 10, 2015, 04:16:24 PM

Quote from: JaxJersey-licious on April 09, 2015, 08:26:29 PM
Better yet, why don't MLS just relegate the LA Chivas club and have the best USL/NASL team get promoted?

None of the North American leagues have promotion and relegation. MLS and NASL have no formal relationship, and USL is basically a feeder league for MLS.

Chivas USA was purchased by the league and folded, and that 2nd LA spot was awarded to a new group (for a $100M fee), so the LA2 expansion franchise will start play in 2017 or 2018 I believe.

Ajax · April 10, 2015, 04:21:40 PM

Quote from: Downtown Osprey on April 10, 2015, 10:22:41 AM
Given its demographics and culture, I think Austin would make for a great market for the MLS.

Yes it does seem that it would be a good fit. But the owner of their USL franchise (Austin Aztex) moved it to Orlando a few years ago because he wanted to join MLS, so I'm not sure what the backstory was with Austin. Orlando seems to have bent over backwards to facilitate building a stadium, etc., so maybe he just went to the city that offered the most lucrative deal and Austin didn't want to pony up.

Ajax · April 10, 2015, 04:24:06 PM

Quote from: pierre on April 10, 2015, 10:35:03 AM
The issue with Austin is San Antonio already has a soccer stadium. It seats 8-9k right now and is expandable to 20k. If the league expands in Texas, it will be San Antonio.

San Antonio has a head start on Austin and it looks like they will miss out on this round of MLS expansion. So that gives Austin plenty of time to play catch up. All it takes is a committed group with a lot of money and a stadium plan. San Antonio's owner is trying to bring in some equity partners because he doesn't have the financial means to join MLS alone.

Steve · April 10, 2015, 04:31:37 PM

The approach here is odd. I know they said that they didn't look at secondary markets. Without it, I don't know that it's valid. According to them, there is capacity for 5 NFL teams in Florida. From a TV Market perspective alone it wouldn't work.

I-10east · July 07, 2015, 09:22:30 AM

The Milwaukee Bucks president is threatening to move to Seattle or Vegas if they don't get an arena by 2017. It's not looking too good for MIL right now. The Seattle StarBucks?? The Las Vega$ MegaBucks?? just thoughts.

http://www.scrippsmedia.com/tmj4/wi-sports/milwaukee-bucks/WATCH-Joint-Finance-Committee-holds-Bucks-arena-hearing-311761741.html

http://www.foxsports.com/nba/story/bucks-president-threatens-move-to-vegas-seattle-070615

copperfiend · July 07, 2015, 10:06:45 AM

Quote from: I-10east on July 07, 2015, 09:22:30 AM
The Milwaukee Bucks president is threatening to move to Seattle or Vegas if they don't get an arena by 2017. It's not looking too good for MIL right now. The Seattle StarBucks?? The Las Vega$ MegaBucks?? just thoughts.

http://www.scrippsmedia.com/tmj4/wi-sports/milwaukee-bucks/WATCH-Joint-Finance-Committee-holds-Bucks-arena-hearing-311761741.html

http://www.foxsports.com/nba/story/bucks-president-threatens-move-to-vegas-seattle-070615

Just billionaire posturing trying to squeeze out money from the public.