Jump to content

First SC metro to get a major league professional sports team


krazeeboi

Which SC metropolitan area will be first to land a major league pro sports team?  

58 members have voted

  1. 1. Make your selection

    • Columbia
      19
    • Charleston-North Charleston
      15
    • Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson
      15
    • Myrtle Beach
      5
    • Other
      4


Recommended Posts

Realistically, the population density is not available for any SC city to support a team.

And Charlotte is :lol: I love Charlotte and it has more to offer than Columbia but it's still small with a 5 block downtown....I don't think Charlotte would have had the chance if they didn't market to s.c. cities for attendance. Let's not forget Charlotte lost the Hornets due to attendance. No people no money generated. So if Columbia is 45-1hr from Charlotte and Greenville the same distance.All 3 metros and Charlotte still lost the Hornets.Luckily they found someone who believes they can capitalize from a baskett ball franchise. I hope this time eveything works out. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Replies 121
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Thats true. He was accused of rape I believe and while that wasn't proven in court it did come out that he was cheating on his wife and they subsequently broke up. That along with him demanding that the city build him a new arena, and the city saying no, is the reason he left Charlotte. It had nothing to do with SC. If anything it was Charlotteans that quit going to the games.

It should be noted that Shinn lived in SC.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Didn't know he was accused of rape. Wow. At any rate, I think for a while, the Hornets actually had some of the highest attendance figures in the NBA.

But I don't think that a city's population density has anything to do with supporting a team per se. Although Charlotte is a relatively large city, it's not that dense. There are very few cities that can support major league teams by themselves; they must rely on the outlying areas. GSP is already over 1 million, Columbia is centrally located, and the Charleston metro area is growing rapidly. I don't think our cities are that far off from being viable candidates for major league pro sports teams.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was not suggesting that Charlotte is an extremely dense city, but my point was that professional sports leagues do their research to see what kind of draw a franchise would be in an area. In addition to population, measures like the number of people who live within a certain radius of the arena as well as the per capita income are taken into account. I have not looked, but I would assume that Charlotte is still much more dense than the cities/metros in SC.

I think an SC city could probably support a pro franchise reasonably well, but I think it will be awhile simply because there are other cities that are perceived to be more deserving. Places like Oklahoma City, Louisville, and Birmingham are probably candidates before a city like Greenville. Unless a league decides to go on a major expansion campaign, it will probably be 15-20 years at least before an SC metro is considered for a franchise.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Greenville will probably be the first to be to 1 million in SC. Already over 400,000. Columbia is still in the 300,000 range.

That is some disinformation. Greenville County is indeed over 400k. However, Columbia effectively exists in 2 counties, so you have to take both into consideration if you are going to use those numbers (575,000) in that fashion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And Charlotte is :lol: I love Charlotte and it has more to offer than Columbia but it's still small with a 5 block downtown....I don't think Charlotte would have had the chance if they didn't market to s.c. cities for attendance. Let's not forget Charlotte lost the Hornets due to attendance. No people no money generated. So if Columbia is 45-1hr from Charlotte and Greenville the same distance.All 3 metros and Charlotte still lost the Hornets.Luckily they found someone who believes they can capitalize from a baskett ball franchise. I hope this time eveything works out. ;)

The Hornets actually had like 5 or 6 years of consecutive sellouts (41 games pre year). As was mentioned earlier, the owner pissed off everybody in the city. Openly shopping the team to other cities while still in negotiations with Charlotte. He basically lost the city and at that point attendance became an issue, but never before that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

The Carolina Panthers do represent both Carolinas but in reality the name really is the Charlotte Panthers. They do make a great deal of income off of South Carolina; especially York, Lancaster, and Chester. In the furture I suspect that the name will be changed from Carolina to Charlotte Panthers.

I would like to see Columbia get a professional baseball team. It has an excellent baseball atmosphere. Plus, Metro Columbia is growing at an alarming rate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How long were the Bombers in town before they moved to Greenville? And was there a team in place before the Bombers?

Cola did have the Capital City Mets (farm team of the NY Mets). In the earlier years, minor league teams were usually named after the team that they were affiliated under. Of course now, that would sound crazy, especially in my hometown's case. The Charleston Yankees?!?! :lol:

The Mets here in Cola were here for awhile, and I think they were converted to the Cap City Bombers in the 90s. I don't know if Cola has had any other periods besides now where the city didn't have minor league baseball. However, considering how Cola is growing, it is peculiar to see a metro area this size without a team. Yet, when you think about USC's huge presence in this town, it makes sense.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cola did have the Capital City Mets (farm team of the NY Mets). In the earlier years, minor league teams were usually named after the team that they were affiliated under. Of course now, that would sound crazy, especially in my hometown's case. The Charleston Yankees?!?! :lol:

Man, that would start an insurrection in Charleston! :D

The Mets here in Cola were here for awhile, and I think they were converted to the Cap City Bombers in the 90s. I don't know if Cola has had any other periods besides now where the city didn't have minor league baseball. However, considering how Cola is growing, it is peculiar to see a metro area this size without a team. Yet, when you think about USC's huge presence in this town, it makes sense.

I asked because, aside from the Bombers deal that went sour (and I don't understand why they didn't just offer to pay for their own stadium in Columbia like they did in Greenville--it would have been done by now), it doesn't appear that Columbia has had any bad luck with baseball. I wouldn't be surprised to see another team interested in moving there. Now how the city responds and what the team actually offers would be different stories...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

...I asked because, aside from the Bombers deal that went sour (and I don't understand why they didn't just offer to pay for their own stadium in Columbia like they did in Greenville--it would have been done by now), it doesn't appear that Columbia has had any bad luck with baseball. I wouldn't be surprised to see another team interested in moving there. Now how the city responds and what the team actually offers would be different stories...

I believe Cola has had a pretty good history with baseball, but the Bombers deal is indicative of the situation in the city, IMO. Interest for the Bombers had been waning in recent years, and it just wasn't the kind of draw that USC baseball is, or that matter, Chas and G'ville's teams. I remember driving by the stadium during the season and seeing empty bleachers. 1,000-2,000 people averaged in attendance. However, if you drove by the USC stadium during games, the bleachers would be packed. It just shows how strong USC's presence is here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the biggest problem with the "mets/bombers" leaving Columbia was basically because of the crappy condition of the stadium and its location. I think that was pretty much it. USC baseball is big in Columbia but the metro is large enough to support a minor league team, which it almost had at sandhill. Who knows maybe still a team can convince USC that a stadium in the vista will still be a good idea for Columbia. If a team were smart they would build on the riverfront of west columbia, I'm sure lexington county would be for it. It became obvious once the bombers left and offered to pay for their stadium in full that they were only interested in a city where they could be the only show in town.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Columbia Mets were around for a long time, at least 20+ years. They changed their name in the late 80's/early 90s to the Capital City Bombers to "better reflect the local area". For the longest the Mets organization had complained about the subpar field condtions at the old ballfield. They put them off until they changed affiliation a couple of years ago, but the problem persists. Attendance also was not the best, but it was OK. Given the dynamics of the situation (competing with USC for fans), the owners did not think they could fully fund a stadium in Columbia and be profitable. In Greenville they thought they could.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If a team were smart they would build on the riverfront of west columbia, I'm sure lexington county would be for it.

You make an excellent point here. In the Little Rock metro area, both the basketball arena and the baseball stadium are located along the riverfront in North Little Rock. I think in time another minor league team will express interest in Columbia. As the metro continues to grow and people begin to want more and more options (which they already to), it's inevitable. Knoxville, a city similar to Columbia in size and university presence (Univ. of TN), has an AA baseball team located in one of its suburbs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just some numbers to throw out there...

I was fooling around with a new demographics program at work...

Taking a look at the population of different cities and a 50-mile ring around their respective downtowns...

Greenville - 1,555,145

Columbia - 1,038,309

Charleston - 665,805

Myrtle Beach - 447,898

Charlotte - 2,391,370

Atlanta - 4,877,754

Since the NFL is probably the easiest sport to support, I looked at a couple of the smaller NFL markets as well...

Green Bay - 891,738

Jacksonville - 1,383,912

Buffalo - 1,401,928

Of course, population isn't the only criteria to judge whether a city is able to support a professional-league, but it is a significant one. At first I was surprised by how low the Charleston number is, but when you consider that very few people live in the ocean and that population numbers do not include the constant presence of tourists, I guess it can be explained.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I feel that population is key in many aspects of determining which city receives a professional sports team. Population is key but it also isn't everything. Football probably would be best for a city like Columbia. I feel that the city missed out on a grand opportunity when the University of South Carolina rejected The Carolina Panthers' request to use William's Brice Stadium for one season while Bank of America/Ericsson Stadium was being constructed in Charlotte. This would have given the city the opportunity to manifest that they could accomodate a football franchise sufficiently. Don't forget even when the Gamecocks were 1-22 a few years back the football team was still supported heavily.

I really don't know if any city in South Carolina will receive a professional team without a population boom. I state this point because look at the state of New Jersey. New Jersey has a population of 8.7 million inhabitants. It is the most populous state in the United States without a team in each of the Major leagues; largely due to its close neigbors Philadelphia and New York City.

Soon we may be reading South Carolina has a population of 6.5 million. It is the third most populous state without a team in the major leagues; largely due to its close neighbors Atlanta and Charlotte.

But you never know, hopefully the state of South Carolina will receive a professional team.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

New Jersey has several professional teams:

  • New Jersey Devils (NHL)

  • New Jersey Nets (NBA)

  • NY Giants (NFL)

  • NY/NJ MetroStars (MLS)

  • New Jersey Pride (MLL)

  • NJ Sharks (USRL)

  • New Jersey Stallions (USL)

  • Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies (ECHL)

  • Trenton Titans (ECHL)

  • Atlantic City Card Sharks (Pro Indoor Football)

  • New Jersey Fire (Pro Cricket)

Also, there are eight minor league baseball teams I did not include in the list.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just some numbers to throw out there...

I was fooling around with a new demographics program at work...

Taking a look at the population of different cities and a 50-mile ring around their respective downtowns...

Greenville - 1,555,145

Columbia - 1,038,309

Charleston - 665,805

Myrtle Beach - 447,898

Charlotte - 2,391,370

Atlanta - 4,877,754

Since the NFL is probably the easiest sport to support, I looked at a couple of the smaller NFL markets as well...

Green Bay - 891,738

Jacksonville - 1,383,912

Buffalo - 1,401,928

Of course, population isn't the only criteria to judge whether a city is able to support a professional-league, but it is a significant one. At first I was surprised by how low the Charleston number is, but when you consider that very few people live in the ocean and that population numbers do not include the constant presence of tourists, I guess it can be explained.

Thanks for this breed. :thumbsup: Not sure when or if an SC city will get a major league team, but those numbers within the 50 mile radius are interesting. The 1.5 million for Greenville is the reason major national retailers have taken notice and opened up shop here: Whole Foods, Coach, Westin Hotels, Pottery Barn, PF Changs, etc, etc. Your demograpphic figures are on the mark.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.