RE: XFL is back!!!
I'm not saying GR is a viable option in any way. It's just fun to speculate.
As far as population is concerned, professional football draws in fans from a considerable surrounding area, as was mentioned how Green Bay does. If we look at Combined Statistical Areas, which are bigger than the strict metropolitan area, the populations are as follows (2016 estimate):
Milwaukee-Racine-Waukesha, WI: 2,043,274
Jacksonville-St. Marys-Palatka, FL-GA: 1,603,497
Louisville/Jefferson County–Elizabethtown–Madison, KY-IN: 1,510,945
New Orleans-Metairie-Hammond, LA-MS: 1,501,213
Oklahoma City-Shawnee, OK: 1,445,501
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Muskegon, MI: 1,443,508
Memphis-Forrest City, TN-MS-AR: 1,369,038
Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY: 1,210,481
Albuquerque-Santa Fe-Las Vegas, NM: 1,171,991
Tulsa-Muskogee-Bartlesville, OK: 1,157,465
Fresno-Madera, CA: 1,134,612
Knoxville-Morristown-Sevierville, TN: 1,117,758
Kalamazoo-Battle Creek-Portage, MI: 532,116
Green Bay-Shawano, WI: 363,831
I added in a number of different cities for comparison's sake. Of course population isn't the only measure. Some very large cities have no interest in football, such as New York and LA. LA has two NFL teams already and they couldn't even fill their stadiums on a good day. New York also has two NFL teams, but a very small percentage of New Yorkers care about football. On the flip side, some teams can pull loyal fans from hundreds of miles around, such as in Green Bay and Buffalo.
Lots of different factors at play. Television markets, existing franchises, demographics, demand for professional sports, infrastructure and existing properties, etc...
I will say that one thing GR has is a demand for high-level professional sports. They've got the Griffins and the Whitecaps, that's about it. Something bigger could do very well. They don't even have division 1 college athletics there.
But even with the facilities and everything in place, it would still take a long time to build a fanbase and legitimize the league. So they'll likely go with larger cities that have a higher capability to support the team. And hey, if the league survives and does well...who knows where they'll expand to?
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