(10-03-2012 08:37 AM)TripleA Wrote:  It would also give Louisville a recruiting advantage over UK that they don't have right now. And I seriously doubt UL would lose any fans to a pro team, and the pro team could generate more basketball fans in the city.

Let me put it this way. Any time you see the coach of a bitter rival campaigning for something in your backyard, it makes you raise your eyebrows as to whether or not it'd be good for you. Especially when that something would almost be guaranteed to have a negative financial impact on your program (UofL's revenue stream in the Yum Center would be nowhere what it is currently if it shared the building with an NBA team).

(10-03-2012 06:39 PM)UofLgrad07 Wrote:  

(10-03-2012 06:27 PM)aTxTIGER Wrote:  hmmmm, within 3 hours of Memphis we have an NHL and NFL team and if you extend that 3.5 hours you have another NFL team and an MLB team.

I was just going off of Google maps. Based on that, Memphis' two closest competing pro sports markets (unless I am forgetting one) are:

Memphis to Nashville 3 hours 30 minutes
Memphis to St Louis 4 hours 40 minutes

I drive Memphis to Nashville every week for work. I40 exit in Memphis to I40 exit in Nashville is 2.5 hours without speeding. (Well, 74mph in a 70mph)

(10-03-2012 06:47 PM)UofLgrad07 Wrote:  

(10-03-2012 08:37 AM)TripleA Wrote:  It would also give Louisville a recruiting advantage over UK that they don't have right now. And I seriously doubt UL would lose any fans to a pro team, and the pro team could generate more basketball fans in the city.

Let me put it this way. Any time you see the coach of a bitter rival campaigning for something in your backyard, it makes you raise your eyebrows as to whether or not it'd be good for you. Especially when that something would almost be guaranteed to have a negative financial impact on your program (UofL's revenue stream in the Yum Center would be nowhere what it is currently if it shared the building with an NBA team).

My assumption is that Calipari knew it was good for Memphis. And I know nothing about Louisville finances. I only can relate Memphis' experience to you. Nothing you said invalidates that.

(10-03-2012 06:39 PM)UofLgrad07 Wrote:  

(10-03-2012 06:27 PM)aTxTIGER Wrote:  hmmmm, within 3 hours of Memphis we have an NHL and NFL team and if you extend that 3.5 hours you have another NFL team and an MLB team.

I was just going off of Google maps. Based on that, Memphis' two closest competing pro sports markets (unless I am forgetting one) are:

Memphis to Nashville 3 hours 30 minutes
Memphis to St Louis 4 hours 40 minutes

(10-03-2012 06:27 PM)aTxTIGER Wrote:  Besides, living in Memphis you get used to driving a long way to get anywhere.

Which emphasizes the point I was trying to make. Memphis doesn't really have any close competing pro-sports markets other than Nashville (3.5 hours by google maps). So in terms having to compete to draw fans into the city, there isn't a lot to go up against.

Louisville has two pro sports markets with two hours drive (Indy and Cincy) and 4 pro sports teams. When you extend that out to a 3 hour drive, you pick up Nashville and two more pro sports teams. So in terms of having to compete to draw fans into the city, there is a lot more competition to go up against (e.g. it is going to be hard to convince people in northern Kentucky to drive down to Louisville for a game when they already have numerous pro sports options in their back yard).

Google Maps always gives you the time as if an 80 year old woman were driving. I find a better way to estimate the time is to take the mileage and divide it by 75-80 mph.

the biggest drawback i have seen is in home game scheduling. the way the FEF contract is set up, the grizzlies get first option of playing times, which means on saturdays when both are at home, the tigers are forced to early tip offs. not a huge deal and i dont mind getting the games out of the way, but having a saturday night out downtown is a fun thing too.

(10-03-2012 06:26 PM)UofLgrad07 Wrote:  (...)I'll actually post more recent studies:

http://college.holycross.edu/RePEc/spe/M...Sports.pdf

(...)

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.11...x/abstract

(...)

The problem is that most pro sports simply aren't going to draw much of an influx of new spending into a city. The majority of spending following a pro-sport arriving is shifted spending (i.e. people either change their budget or move their spending from one part of the city to another).

(...)

Exactly.

It looks like I hacked your post up quite a bit, but I wanted to remove the comments that were specific to Louisville that I don't have an intelligent opinion and remove the comments that were more personal in nature.

However, the referenced links and your comments are right on target. Major league sports franchises add to the quality of life for a number of a city's residents, but the city's population won't see a significant increase in added overall income.

(10-03-2012 06:26 PM)UofLgrad07 Wrote:  The Mayor also hasn't set out any concrete details of what it would take to land an NBA team. For example, what type of tax breaks are going to be given to lure a team in? Is the city going to give up all of its shares of revenue it gets from the arena and how is the city going to make it financially worthwhile to the current tenant to restructure the lease?

Don't think anyone suggested he/she had....as anyone that has followed professional sports...especially those teams that have relocated or straight up expansion teams all know that its a LONG PROCESS to get it done.

Louisville is basically starting out right now...as the early revenue returns of the new arena on the spillover to downtown businesses is not coming close to paying the bills.

Of course, Louisville, even if they put on a full-court press, may not even get a team that might relocate...as there are suitors in other markets, plus, most NBA owners do not want 22,000 seat arenas (outside of Chicago), as not only is it much more difficult to sellout a majority of the games (once the "new" factor wears off), but brand new NBA Arenas (like Orlando's), put a much greater emphasis on premium seating...which bring in a ton of more $$$$ vs general seating areas. (Louisville has some...but not the same percentage as other NBA areas...as UL has a TON of "general seating" compared to the newest NBA arenas).

It's a long-process...might take years...and even after years there is zero guarantee that you will land a pro team...but the effort to try has to start somewhere, which the city of Louisville is doing right now.

(10-03-2012 07:06 PM)TripleA Wrote:  

(10-03-2012 06:47 PM)UofLgrad07 Wrote:  

(10-03-2012 08:37 AM)TripleA Wrote:  It would also give Louisville a recruiting advantage over UK that they don't have right now. And I seriously doubt UL would lose any fans to a pro team, and the pro team could generate more basketball fans in the city.

Let me put it this way. Any time you see the coach of a bitter rival campaigning for something in your backyard, it makes you raise your eyebrows as to whether or not it'd be good for you. Especially when that something would almost be guaranteed to have a negative financial impact on your program (UofL's revenue stream in the Yum Center would be nowhere what it is currently if it shared the building with an NBA team).

My assumption is that Calipari knew it was good for Memphis. And I know nothing about Louisville finances. I only can relate Memphis' experience to you. Nothing you said invalidates that.

Great point...and while each situation might be different, Calipari and Memphis' program benefited GREATLY from sharing an arena with their local NBA counterpart.

(10-03-2012 08:48 PM)tigerjeb Wrote:  the biggest drawback i have seen is in home game scheduling. the way the FEF contract is set up, the grizzlies get first option of playing times, which means on saturdays when both are at home, the tigers are forced to early tip offs. not a huge deal and i dont mind getting the games out of the way, but having a saturday night out downtown is a fun thing too.

Since most college teams play around 17-20 home games per year...while each NBA team normally plays at least 45 home games (41 regular season and 4 preseason games), the NBA is really a 7-day a week league...as there are games on every night...while College seems to play a majority of their games (depending on their TV contract) on Mon, Wed, and Saturdays.