Next Move Or Expansion

[Gothamite]

Naming rights of a stadium that doesn't exist, for a team that is not there and might choose a different stadium? This is getting ridiculous

It is all about getting your financing in line before you hit the city/county. Sadly, the 49ers did not do this with their Santa Clara project. The city voted for their share and their contribution should not go up every year this project is delayed. The 49ers, on the other hand, are still looking for primary financing, not just naming rights.

Not only that, but it speaks to how ready the LA market is, that just the serious promise of a stadium brings money out of the woodwork.

[DustDevil61]

Sense it relates to stadiums and possible relocations, the Vikings are in talks about funding for a stadium in Minnesota, saying that they'll pay 1/3 of an outdoor stadium.

[CubsFanBudMan]

This is a decent rundown on what it would take to move the Sacramento Kings to Anaheim for next year. I guess the Ducks' owner has a $100 million loan offer on the table...

http://m.espn.go.com/nba/story?storyId=6024719

[TBGKon]

This is a decent rundown on what it would take to move the Sacramento Kings to Anaheim for next year. I guess the Ducks' owner has a $100 million loan offer on the table...

http://m.espn.go.com/nba/story?storyId=6024719

I'm sorry, but why go to a saturated market with not 1 but 2 existing NBA teams. Personally Vegas or KC should have a better shot than Anaheim.

[GriffinM6]

MLB

2 expansion teams-Vancouver Beavers,and Las Vegas Gamblers

NBA

NOLA moves to Seattle

NHL

2 moves-Phoenix moves back to Winnipeg,and Atlanta to Quebec

NFL

2 expansion teams-Las Vegas Jackpots,and Portland Axmen

edit:I take that back,Los Angeles instead of Portland,maybe the Los Angeles Stars

[McCall]

MLB

2 expansion teams-Vancouver Beavers,and Las Vegas Gamblers

NBA

NOLA moves to Seattle

NHL

2 moves-Phoenix moves back to Winnipeg,and Atlanta to Quebec

NFL

2 expansion teams-Las Vegas Jackpots,and Portland Axmen

edit:I take that back,Los Angeles instead of Portland,maybe the Los Angeles Stars

MLB: Las Vegas - not as high a possibility as 5 or 6 years ago.

Vancouver - not gonna happen... Probably ever. Definately not with more deserving markets available that are more than likely gonna be far more successful.

NFL is not gonna expand to 34 teams. 32 is like the ceiling for number of teams in a league and they're fine there at this time. Relocation is the only way "new" teams are coming to the NFL.

And as for the nicknames of your Las Vegas teams, neither league is gonna ever allow nicknames with such an obvious, or any, gambling reference.

[TxRangersFan]

MLB

2 expansion teams-Vancouver Beavers,and Las Vegas Gamblers

NBA

NOLA moves to Seattle

NHL

2 moves-Phoenix moves back to Winnipeg,and Atlanta to Quebec

NFL

2 expansion teams-Las Vegas Jackpots,and Portland Axmen

edit:I take that back,Los Angeles instead of Portland,maybe the Los Angeles Stars

MLB: Las Vegas - not as high a possibility as 5 or 6 years ago.

Vancouver - not gonna happen... Probably ever. Definately not with more deserving markets available that are more than likely gonna be far more successful.

NFL is not gonna expand to 34 teams. 32 is like the ceiling for number of teams in a league and they're fine there at this time. Relocation is the only way "new" teams are coming to the NFL.

And as for the nicknames of your Las Vegas teams, neither league is gonna ever allow nicknames with such an obvious, or any, gambling reference.

I could see a possible scenario (EXTREMELY unlikely, but remotely possible) where the NFL could go to 36 teams. It would necessitate a return to having THREE divisions in each conference (six teams per division, obviously). The chances of this happening? Slightly better than Bluto Blutarsky's GPA. I mean SLIGHTLY.

[GriffinM6]

You guys are right about the expansions,I'm not the best when coming up with names for teams.

[dfwabel]

MLB

2 expansion teams-Vancouver Beavers,and Las Vegas Gamblers

NBA

NOLA moves to Seattle

NHL

2 moves-Phoenix moves back to Winnipeg,and Atlanta to Quebec

NFL

2 expansion teams-Las Vegas Jackpots,and Portland Axmen

edit:I take that back,Los Angeles instead of Portland,maybe the Los Angeles Stars

Two teams for Las Vegas? Great.

It's not like the city and county have said no public financing for facilities as late as June 2010.

It's not also like the area's unemployment rate is over 14% or anything.

Oh wait, it is.

[TxRangersFan]

There won't be ANY expansion in the big-four leagues for the next two or three years, probably many more. In fact, I would think that contraction (also unlikely) is more likely than expansion. A couple of teams relocating? Definitely possible, but even that is unlikely as of now.

[The_Admiral]

Even the hotels in Las Vegas are being foreclosed. There's not going to be a team there. So watch the NHL put a team there

[Norva]

There won't be ANY expansion in the big-four leagues for the next two or three years, probably many more. In fact, I would think that contraction (also unlikely) is more likely than expansion. A couple of teams relocating? Definitely possible, but even that is unlikely as of now.

Relocation is not unlikely in the NFL, someone is going to LA but otherwise I agree I don't think there will be any other changes unless the Hornets go to Seattle or something.

[CubsFanBudMan]

Just a little update on the Hornets' situation...

Larry Ellison, who lost out in buying the Golden State Warriors, has mentioned buying the New Orleans Hornets and moving them to San Jose. I'm surprised that nobody else noticed this yet.

The Hornets' average attendance (at the time of this posting) is at 14,116, while, according to this article at Bleacher Report, the benchmark seems to have been lowered to 14,213 from 14,735. According to the article, they have until January 17 to reach over 14,213. The home games up to (and including) that date are:

Orlando, Jan. 12 and

Toronto, Jan. 17.

If my math is right, for these next 2 games, the Hornets would need to average 14,262 to hit that lower mark. If it's the older mark, then they need to average 15,045 to hit that mark.

Interesting. Thanks for the stats, I'd been meaning to look those up. Seems they're close enough to get it done. If New Orleans can't sellout two games to lock the franchise in...

As for San Jose, that wasn't on anyone's short list that I saw, and understanably so as you'd think the N. Calif. market is already at capacity. Money talks though, and that article makes some sense out of the Warriors' high sale price.

Perhaps the thought is that any Warriors fanbase lost in one direction might be made up for by an eventual Kings exit from another?

EDIT: Found the edit button on mobile and cleaned up this sloppy post.

13,688 for the first game.

So if I'm adjusting DustDevil's numbers correctly, now they need either 14,836 or 16,402 on Jan. 17, depending on which target they must hit (14,213 from 14,735).

The Hornets-Raptors game drew 15,155, so I guess if the NO benchmark was lowered, as suggested above, they made it. If not, then they didn't make it. Glad we cleared that up.

Haven't seen much mentioned about it.

[Gothamite]

There won't be ANY expansion in the big-four leagues for the next two or three years, probably many more. In fact, I would think that contraction (also unlikely) is more likely than expansion. A couple of teams relocating? Definitely possible, but even that is unlikely as of now.

Relocation is not unlikely in the NFL, someone is going to LA

Not only likely, but probable. I'd go even farther and say probable that there will be two relocations to LA.

[illwauk]

This is a decent rundown on what it would take to move the Sacramento Kings to Anaheim for next year. I guess the Ducks' owner has a $100 million loan offer on the table...

http://m.espn.go.com/nba/story?storyId=6024719

I'm sorry, but why go to a saturated market with not 1 but 2 existing NBA teams. Personally Vegas or KC should have a better shot than Anaheim.

Maybe a dumb question for some, but do the Clippers actually have a fanbase in SoCal? I was always under the impression that the people who went to Clippers games were those who couldn't afford Lakers tickets and supported them by default or just people looking for something to do. You've gotta think there's more potential in Anaheim where people are desperate to carve out their own identity separate from Disney and being a bedroom community for LA, which has always perplexed me as to why the Clippers never moved there (despite my knowledge that Donald Sterling is fine with his team being the butt-monkey of the NBA as long as they're profitable).

[Still MIGHTY]

This is a decent rundown on what it would take to move the Sacramento Kings to Anaheim for next year. I guess the Ducks' owner has a $100 million loan offer on the table...

http://m.espn.go.com/nba/story?storyId=6024719

I'm sorry, but why go to a saturated market with not 1 but 2 existing NBA teams. Personally Vegas or KC should have a better shot than Anaheim.

Maybe a dumb question for some, but do the Clippers actually have a fanbase in SoCal? I was always under the impression that the people who went to Clippers games were those who couldn't afford Lakers tickets and supported them by default or just people looking for something to do. You've gotta think there's more potential in Anaheim where people are desperate to carve out their own identity separate from Disney and being a bedroom community for LA, which has always perplexed me as to why the Clippers never moved there (despite my knowledge that Donald Sterling is fine with his team being the butt-monkey of the NBA as long as they're profitable).

Yeah there is a Clipper fanbase. It's definitely not as visible or as vocal as the Laker fanbase, but it's there. You have to look, but it's there.

The Clippers had to play Game 4 of a 1992 playoff series against the Jazz at the Anaheim Convention Center and they played occasional games at the Pond (now Honda Center) from 1994 to 1999. They tested the waters in Anaheim, but when Sterling found out he could get in on the Staples Center he got in. And Sterling isn't moving the Clippers out of Staples with the money he makes simply by being a tenant of the building.

And there would be the potential in Anaheim for a team, if there already wasn't two teams. It would definitely work, but I don't know what part of the basketball population would be a fan of a 3rd team. The Lakers fans are already there, and I'm not sure how many you sway to a terrible Kings team. The remaining basketball fans are either transplants and fans of their old team, and the other fans that are left that are anti-Lakers are most likely Clipper fans. I just don't know how many fans there would be that would switch from their current allegiances to an Anaheim team, especially if it was the Kings as currently constituted.

The only place in SoCal another team would work is San Diego. It's really its own separate entity in SoCal. It's SoCal, but it has the buffer zone of Camp Pendleton that really divides it away from the LA/OC/IE areas.

[Brian in Boston]

L.A. city leaders support idea of new downtown stadium

The only person with a negative thing to say about AEG's planned downtown Los Angeles stadium is John Semcken, vice president of Majestic Realty - not coincidentally, the firm hoping to build a competing facility in nearby City of Industry.

This thing is about as close to being a "done deal" as is possible without signatures already being affixed to contracts. I still maintain that the Chargers are the most likely franchise to relocate to Los Angeles, with a second team joining them not long after that - most likely the Jaguars (with a simultaneous conference-swap with an NFC franchise) or Rams.

[DustDevil61]

L.A. city leaders support idea of new downtown stadium

The only person with a negative thing to say about AEG's planned downtown Los Angeles stadium is John Semcken, vice president of Majestic Realty - not coincidentally, the firm hoping to build a competing facility in nearby City of Industry.

This thing is about as close to being a "done deal" as is possible without signatures already being affixed to contracts. I still maintain that the Chargers are the most likely franchise to relocate to Los Angeles, with a second team joining them not long after that - most likely the Jaguars (with a simultaneous conference-swap with an NFC franchise) or Rams.

Yep; this is the closest we've been to getting an LA-area NFL stadium (either the AEG or Roski stadiums). If 2 teams end up heading to LA, I guarantee that one of them is the Chargers--a fairly small move, with the team staying in SoCal region and retaining San Diego as a secondary market.

[CubsFanBudMan]

CBS has an update on the Hornets situation:

http://nba-facts-and-rumors.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22748484/27164610?ttag=gen10_on_all_fb_na_txt_0001

Guess it isn't over yet.

From the story, which said local businesses helped push the numbers past 15K for games against the Grizzlies and Raptors:

"The team needs to average 14,891 fans against San Antonio on Saturday and Oklahoma City on Monday, which should happen."

It says the deadline is Jan. 31.

[McCall]

L.A. city leaders support idea of new downtown stadium

The only person with a negative thing to say about AEG's planned downtown Los Angeles stadium is John Semcken, vice president of Majestic Realty - not coincidentally, the firm hoping to build a competing facility in nearby City of Industry.

This thing is about as close to being a "done deal" as is possible without signatures already being affixed to contracts. I still maintain that the Chargers are the most likely franchise to relocate to Los Angeles, with a second team joining them not long after that - most likely the Jaguars (with a simultaneous conference-swap with an NFC franchise) or Rams.

Yep; this is the closest we've been to getting an LA-area NFL stadium (either the AEG or Roski stadiums). If 2 teams end up heading to LA, I guarantee that one of them is the Chargers--a fairly small move, with the team staying in SoCal region and retaining San Diego as a secondary market.

I bet the Chargers would get first crack at which stadium they want, more than likely the downtown one unless it hits some snags. The Industry one is ready to go, just needs a team, so if someone like the Jags or Vikings decide to go, they can probably get it... Unless one stadium group decides to back out if the other one gets selected first, in which case they could end up with a Giants/Jets situation. If that were to happen, I'd say the downtown one would end up being built.