with the emergence of NBA cities like OKC and Memphis..

[i am that dude]

I guess that should be reevaluated then, because we/they can get 18k out to an NBA game nightly. It'll take A LOT to get OKC to the point of like a Memphis or somebody selling 80%. Bible belt, generally Republican population, so if we start signing a bunch of "thugs," I could see people getting turned off. But again, we have KD thanking the Lord to open his postgame interview tonight and kisses his mom and grandmom before every home game and talking about reading the Bible on his twitter. Westbrook is a knucklehead on the court right now, but by all accounts is a good guy. No player has ever had an off court incident, except there was something about Earl Watson not being admitted into a club and he felt it was because of his race.

It's just a lot of factors in what makes a suitable town and I think people put too much stock into how big of a name a city has.

St Louis is a city I keep hearing, mainly because of the Sprint Center. I don't know. But seeing how OKC did, I'm all for giving them a shot. "Small" cities want to do well supporting sports, because they want to therefore be able to bring more sports, and events, and business, and name recognition and prove they aren't just country, or "flyover" locales.

Does Vegas have an NBA caliber arena though? And not the Thomas & Mack center either.

I hope that we see the Europe expansion soon. I think the logistics of it will actually be quite easy. You just schedule a long @@% homestand for them of 41 games, then they do their stateside roadtrip for the rest of the season. For domestic teams before you go there, give them maybe like 3 days before and after their next game and it's easy money. NYC to London is only 7 hrs anyways

 

[i am that dude]

I guess that should be reevaluated then, because we/they can get 18k out to an NBA game nightly. It'll take A LOT to get OKC to the point of like a Memphis or somebody selling 80%. Bible belt, generally Republican population, so if we start signing a bunch of "thugs," I could see people getting turned off. But again, we have KD thanking the Lord to open his postgame interview tonight and kisses his mom and grandmom before every home game and talking about reading the Bible on his twitter. Westbrook is a knucklehead on the court right now, but by all accounts is a good guy. No player has ever had an off court incident, except there was something about Earl Watson not being admitted into a club and he felt it was because of his race.

It's just a lot of factors in what makes a suitable town and I think people put too much stock into how big of a name a city has.

St Louis is a city I keep hearing, mainly because of the Sprint Center. I don't know. But seeing how OKC did, I'm all for giving them a shot. "Small" cities want to do well supporting sports, because they want to therefore be able to bring more sports, and events, and business, and name recognition and prove they aren't just country, or "flyover" locales.

Does Vegas have an NBA caliber arena though? And not the Thomas & Mack center either.

I hope that we see the Europe expansion soon. I think the logistics of it will actually be quite easy. You just schedule a long @@% homestand for them of 41 games, then they do their stateside roadtrip for the rest of the season. For domestic teams before you go there, give them maybe like 3 days before and after their next game and it's easy money. NYC to London is only 7 hrs anyways

 

[nicedudewithnicedreams]

Originally Posted by Statis22

Simple, if you win, people will come.

I laugh when somebody says *insert small market team here* has the best fans in the league.

The Sacramento Kings have the best fans in the league.

 

[nicedudewithnicedreams]

Originally Posted by Statis22

Simple, if you win, people will come.

I laugh when somebody says *insert small market team here* has the best fans in the league.

The Sacramento Kings have the best fans in the league.

 

[statis22]

 

[statis22]

 

[furrell]

Originally Posted by I AM THAT DUDE

Originally Posted by Furrell

When did Memphis emerge? The bandwagon fans that showed during the playoffs don't represent how poor the Grizzlies attendance was this year and in past seasons.

The verdict is still out on OKC.

Verdict still out? Dude they sold out damn near every regular season game plus had to put a cap on season ticket holders (16k) because otherwise the whole arena would be season ticket owned.

I think what it proves is that people need to stop thinking city size and NAME RECOGNITION has anything to do with the culpability of a city as a sports market.

I have people from Detroit calling me talking !+## to me about how Oklahoma and Texas shouldn't have NBA teams and I'm like why? Your city looks like someone dropped a nuke on it and nobody there has any money.

Meanwhile Atlanta and New Orleans have disappointing attendance figures yet somehow get to keep their teams, in fact the NBA fights to keep the team there despite the fact they only sell 13k seats for a playoff team with 2 all stars, 1 being a future hall of famer. 

Verdict still out meaning they are a relatively new franchise. Yes, they are selling out NOW but when the novelty of the Thunder wears off (it will wear off) that's when attendance will start decreasing.

 

[furrell]

Originally Posted by I AM THAT DUDE

Originally Posted by Furrell

When did Memphis emerge? The bandwagon fans that showed during the playoffs don't represent how poor the Grizzlies attendance was this year and in past seasons.

The verdict is still out on OKC.

Verdict still out? Dude they sold out damn near every regular season game plus had to put a cap on season ticket holders (16k) because otherwise the whole arena would be season ticket owned.

I think what it proves is that people need to stop thinking city size and NAME RECOGNITION has anything to do with the culpability of a city as a sports market.

I have people from Detroit calling me talking !+## to me about how Oklahoma and Texas shouldn't have NBA teams and I'm like why? Your city looks like someone dropped a nuke on it and nobody there has any money.

Meanwhile Atlanta and New Orleans have disappointing attendance figures yet somehow get to keep their teams, in fact the NBA fights to keep the team there despite the fact they only sell 13k seats for a playoff team with 2 all stars, 1 being a future hall of famer. 

Verdict still out meaning they are a relatively new franchise. Yes, they are selling out NOW but when the novelty of the Thunder wears off (it will wear off) that's when attendance will start decreasing.

 

[dakid23]

Originally Posted by DMan14

seattle and vancouver

  

 

[dakid23]

Originally Posted by DMan14

seattle and vancouver

  

 

[sonoftony]

vancouver is a hockey town, they dont need a basketball team IMO.

but im all in for seatlle getting the sonics back.

 

[sonoftony]

vancouver is a hockey town, they dont need a basketball team IMO.

but im all in for seatlle getting the sonics back.

 

[bigtomgetsgwap]

A franchise in Vegas would be insane

But you kno Stern is not having it especially after all the crazy stuff that happened on All Star weekend

 

[bigtomgetsgwap]

A franchise in Vegas would be insane

But you kno Stern is not having it especially after all the crazy stuff that happened on All Star weekend

 

[furrell]

Originally Posted by bigtomgetsgwap

A franchise in Vegas would be insane

But you kno Stern is not having it especially after all the crazy stuff that happened on All Star weekend

No NBA players caused trouble though but I see what you're saying. Stern won't have a team in Vegas because of gambling plus Vegas is a UNLV town.

 

[furrell]

Originally Posted by bigtomgetsgwap

A franchise in Vegas would be insane

But you kno Stern is not having it especially after all the crazy stuff that happened on All Star weekend

No NBA players caused trouble though but I see what you're saying. Stern won't have a team in Vegas because of gambling plus Vegas is a UNLV town.

 

[airjordan jb23]

Gotta appreciate the Nets getting moved to Newark because of attendance only to have worse attendance numbers than last year at Izod. 

 

[airjordan jb23]

Gotta appreciate the Nets getting moved to Newark because of attendance only to have worse attendance numbers than last year at Izod. 

 

[krazy88s]

Originally Posted by AIRJORDAN JB23

Gotta appreciate the Nets getting moved to Newark because of attendance only to have worse attendance numbers than last year at Izod. 

I don't think we finished dead last this year tho. Went up a little after the DWill trade I think

 

[krazy88s]

Originally Posted by AIRJORDAN JB23

Gotta appreciate the Nets getting moved to Newark because of attendance only to have worse attendance numbers than last year at Izod. 

I don't think we finished dead last this year tho. Went up a little after the DWill trade I think

 

[scuse7]

These markets only are emerging because there teams are good....I would like to see seattle get a team back, they would obviously put people in the stands...(they have before)

The NBA doesn't need more markets or more teams at all though.

 

[scuse7]

These markets only are emerging because there teams are good....I would like to see seattle get a team back, they would obviously put people in the stands...(they have before)

The NBA doesn't need more markets or more teams at all though.

 

[thunderup35]

This is the third year for the Thunder to be in OKC. They have been almost top ten in attendance every year and have one of the rowdiest fan bases in basketball. Fortunately, we caught a break with a once-in-a-lifetime player such as Kevin Durant. Their first year in OKC they had an abysmal year starting the season 3-27 however the crowds never seemed to disappoint, however a large part of that is because it was the inaugural season. Year two, the crowds became even better and really broke out on the national scene when the Thunder almost upset the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs. Now it is year three and we have earned the respect from around the league as one of the best crowds in basketball. Fortunately, success looks to be on the horizon for many years to come so the jury might have to wait it out awhile (Durant is already locked in for 6-years) to make a fair judgement on this fan base in Oklahoma City. When the time comes when we don't always find success and these young stars start to part ways (hopefully not) then we will really see how this city will rally around a losing team. Hopefully this will not happen for many, many years to come.

 

[thunderup35]

This is the third year for the Thunder to be in OKC. They have been almost top ten in attendance every year and have one of the rowdiest fan bases in basketball. Fortunately, we caught a break with a once-in-a-lifetime player such as Kevin Durant. Their first year in OKC they had an abysmal year starting the season 3-27 however the crowds never seemed to disappoint, however a large part of that is because it was the inaugural season. Year two, the crowds became even better and really broke out on the national scene when the Thunder almost upset the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs. Now it is year three and we have earned the respect from around the league as one of the best crowds in basketball. Fortunately, success looks to be on the horizon for many years to come so the jury might have to wait it out awhile (Durant is already locked in for 6-years) to make a fair judgement on this fan base in Oklahoma City. When the time comes when we don't always find success and these young stars start to part ways (hopefully not) then we will really see how this city will rally around a losing team. Hopefully this will not happen for many, many years to come.

 

[651akathepaul]

You're damn right the verdict is still out on OKC. They couldn't have had better timing with their theft of the Sonics. Any market can sellout a crowd when you have two marquee guys like Durant and Westbrook and a Finals contender.

When this team starts falling off we'll see just how market friendly OKC is. Could be a long wait though.