2007-06-05 05:05:07 · 27 answers · asked by Yahoo Man 1 in Sports ➔ Basketball
To ajaaron5000:
How about the St. Louis Thunder?
2007-06-05 05:12:58 · update #1
To Cub_Fanatic:
Oh yeah? Strictly a baseball town?
Then, how do you explain the NFL's St. Louis Rams and the NHL's St. Louis Blues?
2007-06-05 05:46:45 · update #2
Actually, this is one of the greatest business deals ever done in sports, or anywhere else.
In exchange for NOT participating in the NBA merger, the owners of the ABA St Louis Spirits, got a guarantee that:
1. They and there estates would own all rights to any future team that might be contemplated in St Louis.
---AND---
2. EQUAL SHARE of the TV Revenues for eternity!!
The owners (two brothers) could have taken the above deal (which they did) or a one-time payment of $25 million.
So, they actually make more money for NOT Having a team or any risk than ANY OTHER NBA OWNER.
2007-06-12 02:01:21 · answer #1 · answered by Sportsguy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is a question best answered by Nelly (the rapper-St. Lunatics) since he is part owner of an NBA team and a St. Louis native. Maybe he has something in the works.
Someone said there isn't "enough interest" in basketball in St. Louis to support a team. WHAT A JOKE! THE SINGLE BIGGEST SPORT IN THE ENTIRE MIDWEST IS BASKETBALL!!! PERIOD!
A city must first of all have a TOP NOTCH FACILITY before the NBA will even consider that city for a franchise. That is the biggest hurdle. The Scottrade Center, built in 1994 holds 20,000 which means its capacity is roughly the same as the Staples Center in L.A. (Lakers/Clippers). That doesn't necessarily mean that the NBA would be happy with the Scottrade's "Box Seating". Those things cost fans tons of money and that is what they want to sell. It is reasonable to assume that the boxes are probably adequate.
Then the population base must be able to support it. There are about 355,000 people living in the city of St. Louis and another 2.4 million in the metro area of St. Louis. That sounds like a reasonable number since Sacramento has a team. If you have never been to Sac, it looks like a large city in the Midwest.
Next question, do the "city officials" WANT an NBA franchise? The CITY will be on the hook to keep the team in a facility. Here in San Diego, that is a major point of contention. I was running the mixing board at the press conference when the Commissioner of the NFL said there would never be another Super Bowl in QuallComm Stadium (Jack Murphy) basically because it is too old and raggedy with inadequate box seat arrangements. St. Louis would be VERY UNHAPPY if they had a franchise and knew they would never be considered for an "all star" game host. The reason? It is called "Transit Occupancy Tax [TOT]". This is a tax collected by hotels and given to local government. It means millions in tax revenue for professional franchises that are able to host all star games/playoff games.
The "easiest" way for any city to get a franchise is to buy an existing one. Say for instance, the New Orleans Hornets would seem the most likely candidate due to all the trouble with the Katrina catastrophe.
Sports teams are like thoroughbred horses for their owners. The owners are all mega-rich and they just own the teams because they can. People think the athletes are rich.
Ha! The owners are clocking the MAJOR CHIPS!
In the meantime, St. Louis sounds like an excellent city for a NBDL or CBA team. That shouldn't be too hard to pull off. What's more, any ownership group could point out interests in these lower tier professional teams as a reason to move or start an NBA franchise to St. Louis.
Resonatingfrequency - providing educated, unbiased basketball "Answers" unlike the usual chickenhead, homer "clucking" that normally takes place here.
2007-06-05 06:37:11 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
St. Louis' ABA franchise, "The Spirit of St. Louis," was not one of the franchises that was transferred to the NBA when the two leagues merged.
It really is too bad because the city is really a great sports town with knowledgeable fans. The ABA had problems with attendance and the leagues finally merged after the 1975-76 season.
The Spirit of St. Louis was one of those franchises. The ABA had moved the franchise from St. Louis to Utah for the 1976-77 season, but they never played a game because the franchise was one of the three -Kentucky Colonels, Spirits of St. Louis, and Virginia Squires - that were disbanded.
The four remaining teams from the ABA - Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, New York Nets (eventually becoming the New Jersey Nets) and San Antonio Spurs - moved into the NBA.
The rest is NBA history.
2007-06-05 05:22:28 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am not sure why they don't. It is a large city with 2 other major sports franchises. They used to have a team a long time ago called The Spirit of St. Louis (cool name!)
The NBA is in no hurry to expand so it will be a while before they ever get a team--especially with other cities wanting a team.
2007-06-05 05:10:18 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Cities like St. Louis and Pittsburgh have NHL teams but no NBA teams for the same reasons cities like Indianapolis, Cleveland and Milwaukee have NBA teams but no NHL team. It would be difficult for those cities to support both to a large amount during the same time of the season.
2016-06-11 14:32:43 · answer #5 · answered by Milo 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
St. Louis could get a team, but its not about the fans as much as it is about what the city and new owners are willing to do....take the NFL for example....the last expansion team was supposed to go to LA, but Houston was willing to build a new stadium and LA wasn't so guess where the team went.
2016-05-17 08:41:31 · answer #6 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe that St. Louis and Louisville should both get NBA teams. Louisville would represent the eastern conference, while St. Louis would represent the western conference.
2007-06-10 20:22:26 · answer #7 · answered by Ultimate Fighter 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
look here st louis have team yes gone now fans st louis say go away we dont care go hang out with aaron and mathews we dont want you we have our blues we have our cards baseball we got rings yes 1926 1942 1946 1964 1967 1982 2006 and football call team you stink too go to phoenix yes too many cards here nba cardinals maybe maybe not we dont need no stinkin hawks go south young men
2007-06-11 19:41:02 · answer #8 · answered by slambag 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That city is all about Baseball.....I was shocked when I went to visit for some games(St.Louis vs Philly), because we could care less about the Rangers here in Dallas... I should've known before I started cheering for the Phillies... :0) Oh well they won both the games...... :0)
2007-06-05 05:26:09 · answer #9 · answered by M. Geneva 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I live near STL and wish they had one. This guy has been trying to start one for about 15 years and is about to give up. The city says its because they already have a D-1 College Team, Pro indoor soccer team, pro baseball, pro football, and pro hockey even though nobody likes hockey.
2007-06-05 05:37:08 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋