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UNLV2001

NBA franchise in Vegas looms a possibility

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Given that there's little evidence the NBA is even seriously considering expansion (one obscure website says it is 'back on the table'), much less soliciting bids, plus Adam Silver's comments below being less than enthusiastic about the subject, we rate this rumor 'Premature'.  But when they do, the 2 cities at the top of the list will be Seattle and Mexico City.

 

 

"The issue with the NBA right now, is every team in essence, can have a global following," Silver said. "The need to expand the footprint by physically putting another team in a market becomes less important from a league standpoint. And therefore, the way the owners see expansion at the moment is really the equivalent of selling equity in the (league).

"We are 30 partners right now. Thirty teams. Each of those teams own 1/30th of all the global opportunities of the NBA. So the issue becomes, if you expand, do you want to sell one of those interests off to a new group of partners? One reason to do it of course, is that if its additive. And no doubt, Seattle is a great market. At the moment, like for me as successful as the league is right now, we (are) not in the position, putting even aside profitability, where all 30 teams are must-see experiences. That's not a secret."

Silver also touched on how expansion could dilute the talent of the NBA.

"There are so many great players in the league," Silver said. "And that's one of the issues with expansion. Even putting aside the financial notion of selling equity and whether if it's additive to the league as a whole to add more teams, the question becomes is it dilutive in terms of talent. And that's something that I'm focused on as well."

In the beginning the Universe was created.
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.

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9 hours ago, TK_05 said:

as a die-hard nba fan and a person that acknowledges there's not a ton of crossover between an nba and nhl fan.... i have to say that the nhl beat the nba if the nba views vegas as a potential market. crossover seasons, same venue. vegas can't support 2 professional teams playing games at the same time. i think that's the harsh reality of simple demographics. 

 

denver's the smallest market with an nba and nhl team... 24th in nhl attendance and dead last in basketball

minnesota next smallest but thankfully their hockey team is first in their division, second to last in basketball attendance

detroit next up, obviously the red wings are historic... pistons third to last in nba attendance

phoenix, terrible hockey attendance but cheap basketball tickets

 

and denver, minnesota, detroit and phoenix absolutely trump las vegas in terms of media markets fwiw

 

lets see if vegas can support a single fall/winter/spring team before we even bother with the nba talk. imo this is very much "point: nhl" and we have to wait and reassess in 5-10 years

while Vegas only has a metro population of 2 million, the city enjoys over 40 million visitors per year and that creates a unique opportunity for them.

I'll admit going from 0 major pro teams, to 3 major pro teams could be tough on a city like Las Vegas...but it's an interesting thought.

I know I'm still shocked they let Memphis have a team as we're a tiny market compared to NY, LA, Chi, Dallas, etc.

mem skyline sig.jpeg

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Guest Dr. Dre
2 hours ago, Hugh Jiddump said:

#OnlySoMuchWealthToGoAround

 Not in the Jiddump household where mom turns tricks & a fat fast-foodie lays bricks.

#$10.00perhour

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I'd be really surprised if this happens anytime soon. I would hope the NBA would want to see how hockey and NFL do first to judge what the market can bear.

As for it being the "death knell" for UNLV, or for it turning us into a "Big West" program, we were a Big West program once and it was pretty alright for us. :) 

I understand the NFL would create headwinds for UNLV football, which is a program that has always teetered on total irrelevancy, but UNLV hoops has a facility and infrastructure portfolio better than quite a few P5 schools. I definitely think it would hurt hoops somewhat, and over time the effect would compound (depending on the success of the NBA team vs the UNLV team), but the program has the staying power to survive. It may not ever be nationally successful, but it hasn't really been for a long time and there is no NBA now.

I am much more concerned about the impacts of the NFL on UNLV football than I am of the impacts of the NBA on UNLV hoops.

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Guest RoscoesDad
1 hour ago, SharkTanked said:

I'd be really surprised if this happens anytime soon. I would hope the NBA would want to see how hockey and NFL do first to judge what the market can bear.

As for it being the "death knell" for UNLV, or for it turning us into a "Big West" program, we were a Big West program once and it was pretty alright for us. :) 

I understand the NFL would create headwinds for UNLV football, which is a program that has always teetered on total irrelevancy, but UNLV hoops has a facility and infrastructure portfolio better than quite a few P5 schools. I definitely think it would hurt hoops somewhat, and over time the effect would compound (depending on the success of the NBA team vs the UNLV team), but the program has the staying power to survive. It may not ever be nationally successful, but it hasn't really been for a long time and there is no NBA now.

I am much more concerned about the impacts of the NFL on UNLV football than I am of the impacts of the NBA on UNLV hoops.

The people that continually say pro sports will ruin UNLV have no idea what they are talking about.  For starters, UNLV's attendance in both major sports already sucks, how would it get any worse?  Here is a hint: the 10k-15k or so diehards that show up to UNLV football every week are coming no matter what.  They've been coming to watch a terrible program for 30+ years and thinking that a NFL team is going to stop them from coming is ridiculously naive.  Secondly, Vegas is just a totally different market with different dynamics and intangibles that no other large DMA has.  It's a waste of time to get into all of that, but I am fairly certain that NBA/NFL will help boost UNLV, assuming we do something about getting better on the court and on the field.  If we continue to barf out crappy products, we will continue to suffer no matter if the pro franchises are here or not.

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I could foresee a huge home court advantage for a Las Vegas NBA team.  Visiting team flying into the airport at 2 a.m.  They're not going to bed till noonish.  It will be interesting to see how it plays out for visiting NHL and NFL teams.

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2 hours ago, UofMTigers said:

while Vegas only has a metro population of 2 million, the city enjoys over 40 million visitors per year and that creates a unique opportunity for them.

I'll admit going from 0 major pro teams, to 3 major pro teams could be tough on a city like Las Vegas...but it's an interesting thought.

I know I'm still shocked they let Memphis have a team as we're a tiny market compared to NY, LA, Chi, Dallas, etc.

This is the wacky thing - from nothing to 1 to 2 to maybe 3 inside 18-24 months would be hard to judge how much the saturation might change the local landscape.

I think the NHL will have their hardcore following..............just as UNLV will retain a % following- Where UNLV is concerned FB would probably take the biggest hit in tickets as FB has never been a hot ticket and could easily become an afterthought 

NFL would do fine, this is an NFL market & don't think visiting teams fans won't make the trip to see their team play in LV

NBA would get attention and overshadow the NHL

Though for me personally a MLB team would be the ultimate ! 

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18 minutes ago, Del Scorcho said:

I could foresee a huge home court advantage for a Las Vegas NBA team.  Visiting team flying into the airport at 2 a.m.  They're not going to bed till noonish.  It will be interesting to see how it plays out for visiting NHL and NFL teams.

True, especially if the NBA still has their weird travel rules where teams need to leave the night after games even if the next road game is 2 days away.

But on the flip side, I could see the LV area being a serious draw for free agent players..........decent winter weather, no state income tax and where better for a single 25 year old millionaire?!?! 

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Guest RoscoesDad
41 minutes ago, UNLV2001 said:

This is the wacky thing - from nothing to 1 to 2 to maybe 3 inside 18-24 months would be hard to judge how much the saturation might change the local landscape.

I think the NHL will have their hardcore following..............just as UNLV will retain a % following- Where UNLV is concerned FB would probably take the biggest hit in tickets as FB has never been a hot ticket and could easily become an afterthought 

NFL would do fine, this is an NFL market & don't think visiting teams fans won't make the trip to see their team play in LV

NBA would get attention and overshadow the NHL

Though for me personally a MLB team would be the ultimate ! 

MLB has too many games to work here.  I don't want to hate against the NHL team but it's a big mistake. The ownership team is already clueless with the lame nickname and logo.  They will have their 8k-10k or so diehards like the Thunder did but after the luster wears off I think we're having major issues with attendance.  Most of those season tix were corporate sales.  MGM, Harrahs, etc. are going to be giving these tix away to their employees, customers and gamers which are 50/50 whether they actually show up and use them.

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58 minutes ago, RoscoesDad said:

MLB has too many games to work here.  I don't want to hate against the NHL team but it's a big mistake. The ownership team is already clueless with the lame nickname and logo.  They will have their 8k-10k or so diehards like the Thunder did but after the luster wears off I think we're having major issues with attendance.  Most of those season tix were corporate sales.  MGM, Harrahs, etc. are going to be giving these tix away to their employees, customers and gamers which are 50/50 whether they actually show up and use them.

NHL & NBA ticket prices are a concern..........at least baseball has tickets available for somewhat reasonable prices 

But if the LV area gets saturated by 2 or 3 pro teams, the $$ of fans will be stretched 

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1 minute ago, Joe from WY said:

In what universe is Phoenix a "small market"? 

i assume this is a reply to what i posted and if it is, you didn't read what i posted as i never said phoenix is a small market

 

if it's not than nevermind

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Just now, Newmexpoke said:

0% chance Vegas gets an NBA team before 2025. Expansion isn't on the nbas mind even in the slightest. They have a massive parity and competition problem to fix. 

no they don't. they don't want parity

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1 minute ago, Joe from WY said:

Even in the crowd of having 2 franchises...how is it small? It's the 4th biggest city in the US. 

 

again, never said it was small. in a list of cities w/ an nhl and nba franchise, it's the fourth smallest. i mean... it's all right there in my original post

 

Quote

and denver, minnesota, detroit and phoenix absolutely trump las vegas in terms of media markets fwiw

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_and_Canadian_cities_by_number_of_major_professional_sports_franchises

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If Seattle ever gets an expansion team, I'm sure Vegas would be a prime contender to even out the number of teams. Just move New Orleans (or Minnesota) back to the Eastern Conference.

 

Then again, I'm sure the NBA loves to use Seattle like the NFL used LA for years to get new stadiums, so maybe that is many years away.

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