Now that the deterrents, Pitino,& Jurich are gone. Would you support an NBA team in Louisville?
- Thread starter TopCatCal
- Start date
Very few large cities have a relevant college football or basketball team. Take top 10 programs in each sport and think about it. UCLA and USC are the exceptions.
Do you want to be big city or college town. Nothing at all wrong with college town. They are great. But can’t pretend to be both.
Do you want to be big city or college town. Nothing at all wrong with college town. They are great. But can’t pretend to be both.
Put a NBA team in Lexington ❗️Then you could see all the former uk players, all the one and done players “Chubby John Cal “ recruited❗️There you go❗️❗️
I think Lexington would be a great place to have an NBA team. UK fans are the ones who want the NBA. They don't like going to big, bad, and scary Louisville for anything, so put it in Rupp. Lexington is an up and coming city. Win-win.
BTW, you're delusional to think Pitino and Jurich could keep the NBA out of Louisville.
BTW, you're delusional to think Pitino and Jurich could keep the NBA out of Louisville.
I think a more viable option ex-Louisville is an NBA franchise in Northern KY, in proximity to the Cincy airport. Should further develop that part of the State, and it's close enough to Cincy and Lexington to draw significantly from both areas.
Not too far even from Louisville for the few NBA fans here, and an easy commute before and after a game. The biggest challenge would be naming a team that draws from two states and a 75-mile radius...
Not too far even from Louisville for the few NBA fans here, and an easy commute before and after a game. The biggest challenge would be naming a team that draws from two states and a 75-mile radius...
They could be called the Kentuckiana HooCats or WildHoe's. How about it?
I think that could work, but you might as well put it on the Ohio side of the river? Or would it be better on the Kentucky side?
If it's on the KY side, maybe just give them the name Colonels again?
No. We have enough going on up here without adding an NBA team where there is limited interest.
Nope. I would expect any UofL basketball coach and AD to resist the NBA. However, it wasn't only Rick and Tom that were the "deterrents." The majority is anti NBA in Louisville.
The NBA would absolutely thrive in Northern KY. Tons of dough, huge metropolitan area, there's a basketball void there.
The NBA would absolutely thrive in Northern KY. Tons of dough, huge metropolitan area, there's a basketball void there.
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No.
Would throngs of folks from Lexington and points east regularly make the drive to Louisville to support former cayuts? No?
Would they ever make the drive to see other bottom dwelling NBA teams without former cayuts? No.
That is not a business model that would work as it would take majority support from Louisville metro and supplemental support from out in the state. Despite what some believe the NBA would not thrive here.
Would throngs of folks from Lexington and points east regularly make the drive to Louisville to support former cayuts? No?
Would they ever make the drive to see other bottom dwelling NBA teams without former cayuts? No.
That is not a business model that would work as it would take majority support from Louisville metro and supplemental support from out in the state. Despite what some believe the NBA would not thrive here.
Deterrent? I’ll be the deterrent. Heck no I won’t support the NBA coming here. Didn’t have anything to do with Jurich or Pitino. Is that what you really think?
NBA is Northern Kentucky? It would take a new arena. The BBT on the NKU campus is way too small. The US Bank in downtown Cincy, too old too small. The Hamilton County Ohio commissioners just turned down a proposal for a major league soccer stadium, for a very successful soccer franchise. With the Reds and Bengals struggling, Cincinnati area is in no mood for new sports facilities.
Anywhere it goes needs a new arena, but that's another discussion. There isn't the population and interest in Louisville to support the NBA...
No. Louisville is the place for the NBA. We already have the Arena. I believe that Arena very much needs additional financial support - and who better to provide that than an NBA tenant? When you consider that basketball is the number one sport of interest in the state, and the franchise would draw from and be supported throughout the state (with additional potential draw from parts of Indiana and Ohio) then I don’t see any reason why an NBA franchise in Louisville wouldn’t be at least as successful as a number of already existing successful NBA franchises. Plus, I always like the prospect of outside money flowing into Louisville.
And even if an NBA franchise proves to be unsuccessful, it doesn’t hurt anybody but the couple of wealthy investors who own the franchise (and even they likely could just sell or transfer the franchise without any real loss).
That's naive. No college program the likes of U of L will share an arena with an NBA franchise, nor should they. And the contract in force gives U of L top billing which no NBA owner will agree to.
You're also not going to see an owner agree to come here without significant financial concessions from the City, concessions that WILL harm the City if the franchise is unsuccessful. Not when that owner has other location options...
By the time the NBA is interested in Louisville, the KFC Yum! Center will be considered "old" and the franchise would want millions in renovations to update it. I know how this works. I've lived in Indianapolis and Nashville.
The Pacers threaten to move if Market Square Arena isn't replaced. The Colts threatened to leave if the RCA Dome wasn't replaced.
The Predators were leaving Nashville and demanded millions of renovations to a "new" arena to stay. The Titans are starting the quiet slow demand for a new or totally renovated stadium that was built in 1999.
Louisville is notoriously a procrastinating city. Do you think Louisville is willing to sink more millions in renovations for the arena that is fast approaching being 10 years old? That is middle aged for a professional facility...
The Pacers threaten to move if Market Square Arena isn't replaced. The Colts threatened to leave if the RCA Dome wasn't replaced.
The Predators were leaving Nashville and demanded millions of renovations to a "new" arena to stay. The Titans are starting the quiet slow demand for a new or totally renovated stadium that was built in 1999.
Louisville is notoriously a procrastinating city. Do you think Louisville is willing to sink more millions in renovations for the arena that is fast approaching being 10 years old? That is middle aged for a professional facility...
What are these significant financial concessions you say the city must make? That's too vague for me. Is there evidence from other cities with teams that concessions were made that DID harm those cities?
As for the Arena, UofL is a state owned institution. As such, I don't think it would be too difficult for the state to "convince" the school to share the Arena in whatever manner is in the best interest of the city and state. And how difficult would it really be to schedule around 20 UofL home games? Heck you could even have a college game followed by an NBA game some night? I think recruits would like that kind of double-header.
Hey, if it doesn't make financial sense then I certainly would not want to see an NBA team in Louisville. But I would have to see the financial analysis - which would be done anyway - before I just blindly accept that an NBA team would be a financial detriment to the city.
Read Commodore's post which provides you examples. NBA owners extort financial deals from the locales they're considering. That's SOP, and it costs the destination cities millions.
And there's no reason for U of L to negotiate its way out of an exclusive lease. There's no financial incentive. You're thinking with your heart, and if you like the NBA that much, get in your car and drive. It ain't that far away...
College is the number one sport in Louisville and Kentucky. The draw would have to be from outside the city as many don’t like coming to Louisville. And BB may be the number one sport in Kentucky but it’s a divided fan base in Louisville. For me when comes down to spending my money it’s UofL FB then BB followed by all other college sports. The young crowd is gravitating towards soccer. That’s the sport many of them played.
I think Northern KY on the KY side is an excellent idea.
I agree; however, I do not want tax dollars building an arena for an NBA team. I’m saying that considering the “budget crisis” we have here in Kentucky. Perhaps the legislature could use a “casino” bill to pay for a new NBA arena in Northern KY. Just an idea.
GO CARDS - BEAT EVERYBODY!!! God Bless America!!!
I tell you why UofL shouldn’t share. 1) We did that at Freedom Hall and we didn’t get home games until December 2) This is the big one. The University wanted to build the arena on campus. The city and state convinced UofL to build it down town. They agreed to give UofL first choice of dates. That will be an issue with a league that played every other day. Those were the concessions the city and state made to get UofL on board and even then Jurich wasn’t. He saw this coming.
So using your logic Jim Host bate and switch plan will have worked. Will build the aren for UofL (wink wink) up and until we get an NBA team and then will rip it out from under them.
No thanks. And this was my fear from the start. It’s a shame Jurich is gone. Because if this were to have occurred when he was here he would have push for an on campus arena. And knowing how he raised funds it would have happened. The Bevin puppets may very well cave they have once.
And this is why Jurich is truly gone IMO.
BUT consider this...
Current arena priority:
1. Build one in Lexington
Future arena priority:
1. Build one in northern KY
2. Build a second in Lexington
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