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Next city to get a pro sports franchise?


eastsider

Which city will be the next to get pro sports?  

151 members have voted

  1. 1. Which city will be the next to get pro sports?

    • Las Vegas
      42
    • Norfolk/Virginia Beach
      15
    • Providence
      6
    • Austin
      5
    • Louisville
      9
    • Hartford
      23
    • Richmond
      1
    • Oklahoma City
      22
    • Birmingham
      3
    • Honolulu
      2
    • Grand Rapids
      14
    • Mexico City
      4
    • Monterrey
      4
    • San Juan
      1


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  • 4 weeks later...

everyone is saying that the redwings would not allow a team in grand rapids, but i think it would be quite the opposite..... that would be an excellent rival, there already is some sort of east vs. west thing in michigan.... I would love to see grand rapids versus detroit in major league sports.

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  • 2 weeks later...

In 2003 LV had a greater Gross Metro Product than GR & doubt things have reversed. Using 2003 #s, the largest economic areas without pro-sports are:

1). New Haven, CT

2). Hartford, CT

3). Norfolk-Virginia Beach, VA

4). Las Vegas, NV

5). Austin, TX

6). Greensboro--Winston-Salem, NC

7). Richmond, VA

8). Rochester, NY

9). Albany, NY

10). Grand Rapids, MI

11). Louisville, KY-IN

12). Providence, RI

13). Wilmington, DE-MD

14). Oklahoma City, OK

15). Honolulu, HI

16). Birmingham, AL

17). Dayton-Springfield, OH

18). Syracuse, NY

19). Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

20). Fresno, CA

Considering New Haven and Hartford are right next to each other and share the same media market, why would anyone go to any of these other cities with a new team? Who suggested Albequerqe should get a team and that a bunch of more worthy cities, including Hartford has no chance? It's not on this list, though it is one of the hanful of cities that makes regular contributions for the show COPS... IMHO Hartford-New Haven-Springfield should be able to support both an NBA and a NHL team....

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I second the mention of Hawaii being deserving of a pro sports franchise, more specifically Honolulu.

And I also don't believe Vegas will ever have much of a chance at pro sports, as someone else has already mentioned, because of the betting aspect. I've always heard this is the very reason there aren't already any pro sports teams in Vegas.

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I voted OKC because they'll probably be getting the Hornets from New Orleans.

The Whalers left Hartford for a brand new, never before tested market in the south. That speaks volumes. I don't see hockey expanding for awhile, either.

Providence is too close to the hub. That's it.

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The Whalers left Hartford for a brand new, never before tested market in the south. That speaks volumes.

That speaks volumes about the owner. From the day he bought the franchise it was a race to see where he could move the team, it had nothing to do with the Hartford market, our ability to support a team, our proximity to NYC and Boston, or the fans....

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That speaks volumes about the owner. From the day he bought the franchise it was a race to see where he could move the team, it had nothing to do with the Hartford market, our ability to support a team, our proximity to NYC and Boston, or the fans....

There should be enough people to support a team there, but as I remember the attendance was never that great at HCC for the Whale. If the team was making money then why move it? Also recall the lockout and why it happened. Only a handful of the teams were making money, it was a much tougher business keeping an NHL franchise in the black 10 years ago and other teams were forced to move from strong hockey towns (North Stars, Jets) or stay put and face bankruptcy. The worst owner in hockey is good old Jeremy Jacobs, whose business always makes money and whose team consistently underachieves. If only I had the cash to buy him out maybe we'd see a Cup in Boston in my lifetime.

I remember hearing from friends in Connecticut saying it was inevitable... too close to NY and Boston blah blah blah. I think the metro (damus? already made this point) between New Haven, Hartford, and Springfield, MA is large enough for NHL. I just don't think pro hockey is really that big in Hartford, like college basketball isn't really that big in Providence. But UConn is a powerhouse and the Whalers never won much.

Win games and they will come!

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That speaks volumes about the owner. From the day he bought the franchise it was a race to see where he could move the team, it had nothing to do with the Hartford market, our ability to support a team, our proximity to NYC and Boston, or the fans....

There should be enough people to support a team there, but as I remember the attendance was never that great at HCC for the Whale. If the team was making money then why move it? Also recall the lockout and why it happened. Only a handful of the teams were making money, it was a much tougher business keeping an NHL franchise in the black 10 years ago and other teams were forced to move from strong hockey towns (North Stars, Jets) or stay put and face bankruptcy. The worst owner in hockey is good old Jeremy Jacobs, whose business always makes money and whose team consistently underachieves. If only I had the cash to buy him out maybe we'd see a Cup in Boston in my lifetime.

I remember hearing from friends in Connecticut saying it was inevitable... too close to NY and Boston blah blah blah. I think the metro (damus? already made this point) between New Haven, Hartford, and Springfield, MA is large enough for NHL. I just don't think pro hockey is really that big in Hartford, like college basketball isn't really that big in Providence. But UConn is a powerhouse and the Whalers never won much.

Win games and they will come!

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There should be enough people to support a team there, but as I remember the attendance was never that great at HCC for the Whale. If the team was making money then why move it? Also recall the lockout and why it happened. Only a handful of the teams were making money, it was a much tougher business keeping an NHL franchise in the black 10 years ago and other teams were forced to move from strong hockey towns (North Stars, Jets) or stay put and face bankruptcy. The worst owner in hockey is good old Jeremy Jacobs, whose business always makes money and whose team consistently underachieves. If only I had the cash to buy him out maybe we'd see a Cup in Boston in my lifetime.

I remember hearing from friends in Connecticut saying it was inevitable... too close to NY and Boston blah blah blah. I think the metro (damus? already made this point) between New Haven, Hartford, and Springfield, MA is large enough for NHL. I just don't think pro hockey is really that big in Hartford, like college basketball isn't really that big in Providence. But UConn is a powerhouse and the Whalers never won much.

Win games and they will come!

Again, the move had nothing to do with the fans, the proximity to NYC/Boston, the Hartford market, or the attendance. The team was bought with the plan to move it, plain and simple. Peter Karmanos began to skew numbers (he never included the skybox receipts in official head counts, so I guess those thousand or so people didn't count?). It was the way the team had been run for years, the never marketed, they cut themselves bad TV deals, and put a winning products on the ice 2 years out of 20. The market/fan base is fine. The state was willing to give Karmanos the same arena deal on a new arena that Raleigh did, but by then he was pissed at Hartford and was willing to move to an airport hangar in Columbus than stay in the city. :rolleyes: Again, same deal, in an established market, moving to a place where he wouldn't even be able to play in the home city for 2 years, and a non established market. It's been lauded by a lot of people as one of the more.... curious moves in pro-sports.

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There should be enough people to support a team there, but as I remember the attendance was never that great at HCC for the Whale. If the team was making money then why move it? Also recall the lockout and why it happened. Only a handful of the teams were making money, it was a much tougher business keeping an NHL franchise in the black 10 years ago and other teams were forced to move from strong hockey towns (North Stars, Jets) or stay put and face bankruptcy. The worst owner in hockey is good old Jeremy Jacobs, whose business always makes money and whose team consistently underachieves. If only I had the cash to buy him out maybe we'd see a Cup in Boston in my lifetime.

I remember hearing from friends in Connecticut saying it was inevitable... too close to NY and Boston blah blah blah. I think the metro (damus? already made this point) between New Haven, Hartford, and Springfield, MA is large enough for NHL. I just don't think pro hockey is really that big in Hartford, like college basketball isn't really that big in Providence. But UConn is a powerhouse and the Whalers never won much.

Win games and they will come!

Pro hockey was plenty big in Hartford. Look at our attendance for a really bad team, then compare it to other cities with really bad teams. You are right in saying win games, and they will come, but that to me says that even if attendance wasn't as good as it could be, the owners and management let down the city by putting a bad product on the ice. That doesn't reflect on the fans or the numbers, that reflects on the management. These arguements on why Hartford shouldn't have a team are insane.

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Again, the move had nothing to do with the fans, the proximity to NYC/Boston, the Hartford market, or the attendance. The team was bought with the plan to move it, plain and simple. Peter Karmanos began to skew numbers (he never included the skybox receipts in official head counts, so I guess those thousand or so people didn't count?). It was the way the team had been run for years, the never marketed, they cut themselves bad TV deals, and put a winning products on the ice 2 years out of 20. The market/fan base is fine. The state was willing to give Karmanos the same arena deal on a new arena that Raleigh did, but by then he was pissed at Hartford and was willing to move to an airport hangar in Columbus than stay in the city. :rolleyes: Again, same deal, in an established market, moving to a place where he wouldn't even be able to play in the home city for 2 years, and a non established market. It's been lauded by a lot of people as one of the more.... curious moves in pro-sports.

Are you still laughing?

We'll actually make money. I made [chief financial officer]Mike Amendola say that: "Mike, we're actually going to make some money?" It took him about 15 seconds. He went, "Yes. That's the first time in 18 years I can say that."

Still think karmanos is an idiot?

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