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Could a NBA team work in Raleigh-Durham?


ERJ170

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I don't think this has been asked for a while cause I didn't see it. Does anyone think a professional NBA basketball team could work in the Triangle? I mean, I know there's Charlotte, but how many people East of Hillsborough actually goes to a Bobcats game? The Triangle is home to one of the best college basketball nations ever... yet, there is not a professional basketball team here.

I can envision a stadium in RTP attached to a hotel, rail stop, and bus stop. I can envision players from the local universities (UNC, Duke, NCSU, NCCU, Campbell, St Aug, Shaw, WF, ECU) filling the team. I can envision going to a college basketball game on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and a professional game on Wednesday, Friday, Sunday. I think with the NHL Carolina Hurricanes to add to the excitement, I think an NBA team is what the area needs to help boost BOTH professional sports..

Is that a far fetched vision?

I believe there is a population base and the good think about having an NBA team in RTP is that it can pull from Greensboro and Fayetteville and South Virigina and the East Coast and capture at least 60% of the population.. much more than Charlotte can.

Let me know what you think...

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I simply can't see the NBA expanding or agreeing to relocate a team so close to an existing smaller market franchise. Charlotte would definitely be against it. When NC State realized they need a pro team for their planned arena, they obviously made a choice with hockey after flirting with Shinn about relocated the Hornets, which didn't obviously sit well in Charlotte.

I doubt there's enough corporate dollars for suites/tickets in the market to support both the Hurricanes, NC State and an NBA team. I also doubt the team could sell 10-15K season tickets. I'm not sure there's any/enough interest in pro basketball in this market with college basketball being king.

If the area did get a team, having a separate arena for the NBA makes no sense tome when the RBC Center with it's suites and amenities already exists. I doubt the arena group would ever want this since it would compete with the Hurricanes.

The RBC Center is routinely criticized for being out in the middle of nowhere instead of downtown Raleigh, so arena in RTP where technically few people live would be even worse.

On the other hand, I'm dying to invest in a spring football league that plays in Carter-Finley, but doesn't allow alcohol sales... Just kidding.

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The answer to this is easy.... No. It's not so much about Charlotte being a factor as it is with Raleigh's NHL team, the Hurricanes... especially since their seasons occur during the same time of year. A big thing to consider too is corporate dollars. You need it to support the luxury suites. I'd think the Hurricanes take most of that now. If there was no NHL in Raleigh, it would probably be a much more viable question. However, I'd be shocked if the NBA would even consider two NBA teams in the state of North Carolina. A better question would maybe be an MLS expansion team. Also, MLB since there's no team between Atlanta and DC. MLB would have to come from a relo such as the Rays.

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i agree NBA would not work because there would be home game conflicts at the RBC Center since the NBA and NHL play games at the same time, not to mention NC State home games in the mix. There would need to be a separate arena which isn't going to happen. North Carolina doesn't have enough people for a second NBA team and Charlotte is too close to Raleigh. Remember a factor in Charlotte having an NBA team is drawing fans from surrounding areas like the Triad so there are territory issues right there. Major League Baseball isn't likely because The Triangle market is too small. In fact it would be the smallest market in major league baseball and small market teams have struggled to survive. Major League Baseball is the most difficult pro sports franchise to support mainly because there are more games being played and more spectators are needed to fill the ballpark than an arena for an NBA game. Major League Soccer is a possibility but it doesn't get the national attention as the other major league sports. However Raleigh may have to compete with the Triad for a major league soccer team. There is an unofficial effort to lure a MLS team to the Triad. A big league soccer stadium is a part of the "heart of the Triad concept" which would call for a major league sports complex. This complex would be built on the Guilford/Forsyth County line and include a big league soccer stadium and a new PGA golf course for Greensboro's Wyndham Championship. In the early 2000's there was an official effort to build a major league soccer stadium in downtown Winston-Salem but that never really got off the ground but computer generated renderings were produced. So it will be interesting to see the Triad and Triangle duke it out for a MLS team. Both regions have a strong above average following for soccer and MLS would do well in either region. As for NBA, im sure there would be those who would love to use that as a reason for a downtown arena to right a wrong that was made in the late 90s building an arena in the boon docks. Does anyone know what the value of the RBC is? because there could be one way Raleigh could get its downtown arena using a strategy Winston-Salem used to get a downtown ballpark. Winston-Salem had a nice stadium (Ernie Shore Field) but it wasn't brand new like Greensboro's downtown ballpark and Erie Shore wasn't downtown. Since Ernie Shore was in good shape it was difficult to sell the idea to the public for building a downtown ballpark. But Winston-Salem got its new downtown ballpark. The city sold Ernie Shore Field to Wake Forest University which helped tremendously in the Twin City getting a new downtown ballpark. Since NC State already plays its home games at the RBC Center, NC State could purchase the RBC Center from the city so the city could use the money for a downtown arena. That depends on how much the RBC Center is worth. The value of the property could be too steep for NC State to purchase unlike a minor league ballpark which cost much less to build.

But lol don't forget Charlotte tore down an arena that wasn't even 20 years old just to get a downtown arena. Anything and everything seems to happen in Charlotte. The politics are different there. In another 8 years the RBC Center will be 20 years old (boy how time flies!). No one would entertain the notion of tearing down the RBC 8 years from now. Here in Greensboro we don't build new arenas. Our coliseum was built in 1959 but today it looks brand new and you would never know it was originally built in 1959. The Greensboro Coliseum is actually tied with the United Center in Chicago as being the largest civic/private "arena" in the country, not counting indoor domed stadiums like the Georgia Dome or Metrodome. We just upgraded and expanded our facility over the years and a downtown coliseum was never an issue here because the Greensboro Coliseum is less than 2 miles from downtown. So we feel like we already have an urban arena of sorts LOL

But don't forget there was a short period of time the city of Charlotte had 3 arenas. Time Warner Cable Arena, The Charlotte Coliseum (the old coliseum) and Bojangles Arena (the old old coliseum). That changed when the Charlotte Coliseum was torn down.

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I'm going to have to say no on this, like the others above. I second what dbull75 said on this and I want to also add that this is the mecca of NCAA basketball, so any team that located here with have to compete with the college teams for ticket sales and sponsors.

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^I think that's one of the big factors as to why Charlotte has the NBA and NFL over the Raleigh-Durham area. We don't have UNC, NC State and Duke for basketball and football. Yes, UNC-Charlotte and Davidson both play basketball but it's no where near the class of the schools in the Triangle. The NHL works well because it doesn't compete against college hockey fan bases (do any schools in NC play hockey btw?).

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At this point in time North Carolina teams are pieces of the same jigsaw puzzle. Hockey fits here, basketball basketball there, but the same piece can't go in two places. There simply aren't enough people to support multiple teams from the same sport. There is one interesting exception. North Carolina is probably big enough to support two MLS teams, given that those teams play in smaller venues and require less "market space." Considering the fact that neither city has an MLS team, and an MLS expansion doesn't seem imminent, I doubt we'll see that happen any time soon.

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At the current time, I would have to say no. NC's population and economic demography could not support two NBA teams in such close proximity. I think that MLB is another story, and we have the perfect location for a new stadium. The area just south of downtown off S. Saunders street (around the Red Roof Inn) would work well.

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