Caution: LA is coming to steal your NFL team in 2011

[reednavy]

The NFL will never move to Las Vegas.

For a fact? Vegas is in the hunt for pro sports teams.

In all honesty, I can't rule out OKC, they've got a lot going on for them right now and are clearly moving in the right direction. They do fall under the Cowboys huge umbrella though.

Hell, toss Portland, OR out there, but I doubt they'd give it much support.

San Antonio really isn't that much of a reach, they're also fairly close to Austin and they've been mulling the idea for a while now about pro sprts in the capital city. The stick in the mud for Austin is the Univ. of Texas, which is basically their pro team.

[Wacca Pilatka]

The NFL will never move to Las Vegas.

For a fact? Vegas is in the hunt for pro sports teams.

In all honesty, I can't rule out OKC, they've got a lot going on for them right now and are clearly moving in the right direction. They do fall under the Cowboys huge umbrella though.

Hell, toss Portland, OR out there, but I doubt they'd give it much support.

San Antonio really isn't that much of a reach, they're also fairly close to Austin and they've been mulling the idea for a while now about pro sprts in the capital city. The stick in the mud for Austin is the Univ. of Texas, which is basically their pro team.

That's for sure.  UT dominates Austin's sports scene.

Portland has pro basketball and has actively pursued MLS and (occasionally) MLB.  I've never heard it talked about as a serious NFL candidate for any reason other than market size.  It seems to be Seahawks country to me, to whatever extent it pays attention to pro football.  Not that 1980s attendance stats for a pseudo-pro league should be definitive, but Portland was at the bottom of the attendance barrel with its USFL team.  7,000 or so per game vs. 45,000+ in Jacksonville and at least quintuple digits everywhere else except Los Angeles.

OKC would need a stadium first.  The Sooners' stadium is pro-sized for sure, but 1) too big for the market for the NFL and 2) possibly not up to NFL standards.  And as many positive strides as the area has made, it already has one pro team and is smaller than Jacksonville.  Tulsa might help as a secondary market but it's around 100 miles away (though I do know of Tulsans who attend Thunder games, and Tulsa did not do a bad job of supporting the short-lived USFL Outlaws despite some pretty dicey circumstances).  And OKC is very much Cowboys country, yes.

Vegas would need a stadium too.  Sam Boyd is nowhere close to NFL size or standards.  I think the NBA would make more sense for Vegas.

[copperfiend]

For a fact? Vegas is in the hunt for pro sports teams.

This is from a couple of years ago but speaks of the NFL's attitude towards Vegas.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2007/Feb-03-Sat-2007/sports/12371492.html

Even this past Super Bowl, the NFL was upset because a Kia commercial that aired during the game was partially filmed in a casino.

[kells904]

Thanks for having my back, Wacca, now I don't have to explain why I mentioned Alabama...since we're in the same area, we should hit Buffalo Wild Wings at least once this season so I'm not the only fool in there wearing a teal jersey.  

Somewhere like Birmingham does make sense, but I don't see it happening; the NFL wants the TV ratings that L.A. would provide. And the international thing might just be a pipe dream for now.  Brits do know about the NFL (they also know about our Tebow man-crush), but their football is king.  And putting a team in Mexico is like trying to get 53 men killed.  We all saw "Man on Fire", who the hell wants to deal with that mess?  It's best that the NFL leave well enough alone at this point with the billions it's already making.  Go international after you've already maxed your North American earnings, not before.

[Wacca Pilatka]

Thanks for having my back, Wacca, now I don't have to explain why I mentioned Alabama...since we're in the same area, we should hit Buffalo Wild Wings at least once this season so I'm not the only fool in there wearing a teal jersey.  

Where do you go to BWW?  The closest one to me is Newport News, but I'm usually at Kelsey's in Grafton.  I'm the one in the teal wig and cat head hat to go with the teal jersey...

[reednavy]

This is from a couple of years ago but speaks of the NFL's attitude towards Vegas.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2007/Feb-03-Sat-2007/sports/12371492.html

Even this past Super Bowl, the NFL was upset because a Kia commercial that aired during the game was partially filmed in a casino.

Oh yeah, duh, I forgot the NFL isn't a fan of the Vegas casino's and their betting on NFL games and such.

I'm trying to think of any other city that could potentially support a NFL franchise.

The San Antonio-Austin area would be about the only fit in the country to me. They're both big sports towns, regardless if it is pro in SA or the Longhorns in Austin and the their distance apart is easily traveled in about a hour up or down I-35. Besides SA and Austin, the only other viable market in any sense would be OKC-Tulsa, which can easily be traveled between in under 2 hours.

Louisville falls between the Benglas, Colts, and Titans.
Omaha falls under the Chiefs' umbrella.
Sacramento is a no go period.
Orlando will not get a NFL franchise or anything else for that matter.
Raleigh-Durham falls under the Panthers' market.
Columbus is split between Bengals and Browns, and their main NFL like team is the Buckeyes.
Milwaukee is too close to Chicago and Wisconsin has the Packers, not to mention the Milwaukee area is relatively stagnant.

[BridgeTroll]

Salt Lake City?

[reednavy]

Salt Lake City?

They don't bring a whole lot to the table either, they're Broncos country.

[Wacca Pilatka]

I think Reed is right that the only real possibility besides L.A. is San Antonio right now.  Either market size, stadium size/quality, or both automatically disqualify everyone else.

[reednavy]

The NFL probably does have their eyes on the SA-Austin area, which are both growing towards each other, and both are continuing to grow very well, with Austin's market leading the pack. The San Antonio tv market is #37 and Austin is #48, with Austin rapidly moving up the DMA chart.

While not likely in the near term, the NFL would be stupid to not be looking at these two metro areas as combined the hold around 3.8 million combined, according to 2009 estimates. Both have added over 200,000 each since 2006 estimates.

A correction to earlier, Austin and San Antonio are only about 1.5 hours apart, with San Marcos in Hays County being the rough halfway point.

[aaapolito]

Vegas is better off without a pro sports team because the law does not permit gambling on games and sporting events within Las Vegas.  Therefore, casinos do better with teams in other cities.

[Wacca Pilatka]

The NFL probably does have their eyes on the SA-Austin area, which are both growing towards each other, and both are continuing to grow very well, with Austin's market leading the pack. The San Antonio tv market is #37 and Austin is #48, with Austin rapidly moving up the DMA chart.

While not likely in the near term, the NFL would be stupid to not be looking at these two metro areas as combined the hold around 3.8 million combined, according to 2009 estimates. Both have added over 200,000 each since 2006 estimates.

A correction to earlier, Austin and San Antonio are only about 1.5 hours apart, with San Marcos in Hays County being the rough halfway point.

Only thing is, I wonder whether they would ever be able to make a stadium happen.  I lived in Austin for 3 years and while Austinites didn't seem to have a problem with making the 1.5 hr drive to support the Spurs, I am not sure if they would have the same enthusiasm for driving that distance to support a football team that was not "theirs."  And I don't think San Antonio on its own can support an NFL team long-term on top of the Spurs--as I recall, the NFL concluded as much when San Antonio was dropped from the expansion derby in 1993, and I don't think San Antonio's subsequent growth exceeded projections at that time (though Austin's likely did). 

The Alamo Dome has 70,000 seats and would be a tall order to sell out drawing from San Antonio alone, with its not being a particularly wealthy market, having one well-supported major league team already, and having many residents with long-standing loyalties to the Cowboys.  Also, even though the Alamo Dome was built in 1990 or so, my understanding is that it's more utilitarian than NFL-caliber, so I'd assume it would need significant upgrades.

So that takes us back to building the stadium halfway between, around San Marcos, which would make a lot of sense.  But then I could foresee an identity issue--whose team is it?  Do you call it San Antonio-Austin?  Does Austin, which probably has major league aspirations to go with its rapid growth, not get behind a team that it sees as really belonging to San Antonio? 

Not that he's necessarily the most reliable source, but I can remember Ricky Williams' speculating on Austin's desire for a pro franchise of its own 8-9 years ago and proposing that the Saints (prior to their post-Katrina renaissance) relocate there.

[reednavy]

Austin honestly does have the upper hand, a still rapidly growing city with incredible amounts of wealth, heavily driven by high-tech industries and UT. Austin is a rapidly growing tv market and there are little signs of Austin-Round Rock Metro slowing anytime soon.

Like I said, definetly not a near-term thing, but in the next decade or so, Austin could very well pop up on the NFL's radar better. It would make more sense in Austin as well, because they're a heavy sports city and can likely make it work.

[kells904]

Where do you go to BWW?  The closest one to me is Newport News, but I'm usually at Kelsey's in Grafton.  I'm the one in the teal wig and cat head hat to go with the teal jersey...

I rotate between the BWW, Hooters, and AJ Gators scattered throughout the Norfolk/Va Beach area.  Newport News isn't much of a stretch, though....but I don't know WTH Grafton is.

[Wacca Pilatka]

Where do you go to BWW?  The closest one to me is Newport News, but I'm usually at Kelsey's in Grafton.  I'm the one in the teal wig and cat head hat to go with the teal jersey...

I rotate between the BWW, Hooters, and AJ Gators scattered throughout the Norfolk/Va Beach area.  Newport News isn't much of a stretch, though....but I don't know WTH Grafton is.

I wouldn't have a problem going to the southside either.  Grafton is on 17 halfway between Newport News and the colonial area of Yorktown.  No one on the Peninsula knows where it is either.

P.S.  I'm a hero member now...woo-hoo!