Why no NFL in Alabama or Oklahoma?

[GODSON 0]

I always wonder why there no pro football team in Alabama or Oklahoma? Two big football states but cities like Jacksonville gets a team. People is claiming that the NFL want back in L.A., I understand because LA is one of the top two markets but they had plenty of chances. Alabama or Oklahoma should be consider for a team.

[Damaramu 0]

I can't speak for Alabama but there are several reasons for Oklahoma:

 

-people would support OU and OSU over an NFL team any day.

 

-people don't make as much money in Oklahoma as any other state so they wouldn't really be able to afford it.

 

-there really isn't in space in Oklahoma City to build a football stadium right now(it'd have to be in a suburb or away from downtown and they wouldn't do that. the MAPS project wants everything downtown) I read that OKC is the third largest city in the country area wise but that's a lot of suburb land b/c downtown isn't very big at all.

 

-we have an NBA team and that's probably all we'll be able to support b/c i mentioned the money issue(plus our college b-ball sucks and we've never had a pro team here)

 

There's probably other reasons that people could mention but basically the market is too small, there is no room in the city, and people don't make enough money here.

[Secret Agent 0]

You can get Dallas Cowboy tickets for 40 bucks. Why wouldn't we be able to afford that? I'd love for Oklahoma to get a NFL team and can this shitty arena football team.

[Damaramu 0]

It's more about selling the season tickets. I don't think Oklahomans would be able to afford OU, Hornets, and an NFL teams season tickets.

Oklahoma's market is just too small. It's getting bigger but it's still not big enough.

[Angel_Grace_Blue 0]

Those are probably the same reasons why there isn't a team in Alabama. The whole college ball is kinda big down here, market is small, and the area isn't exactly overflowing with monies and such.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Two big football states but cities like Jacksonville gets a team.

 

Florida isn't a football state? (Although I've heard the Jags may get moved somewhere down the line.)

 

How quickly we forget the Birmingham Bolts.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I think that it's mostly small markets, with the added issue that there really isn't potential for an expanded regional market in those areas. College football fills the void.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I wonder why a city like Portland only gets an NBA team. That's a big enough city (8th largest metro area in the country in terms of population) and it's stuck somewhere in the middle between Seahawk-land and Niner-land (though geographically and culturally closer to Seattle).

 

There are plenty of cities that deserve NFL teams. L.A. being the most prominent, San Antonio, Portland, Vegas (fastest growing city in the country), before anyone would even consider putting a franchise in po-dunk Alabama.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Portland's a candidate for an eventual MLB expansion team.

[Guest Vitamin X]

See, now that's good considering they have a relatively popular minor league team, at least from what I've heard.

[Guest Princess Leena]

I concur that there should be more western teams. Portland would be #1 on the list. There should be another Northwest team. Las Vegas, also... but, the concerns that it would like LA in that people would rather do various other activities there, especially when the team sucks, is a valid one.

[Slayer 0]

Plus, there are numerous concerns about having a pro sports team(s) right in the middle of gambling mecca

[iggymcfly 0]

I don't really get that though. Do they really think that pro athletes making millions of dollars a year are going to start fixing their games just because there's a casino with a sportsbook handy? If they're just worried about them making recreational wagers on other games, they could do that already over the internet or something. They really should get an NFL team in Vegas some time soon.

[cabbageboy 0]

Dama, why do you think OU and OK St. are crap basketball programs? Both have made the FF in the past 5 years.

 

Allow me to go on a similar rant about Louisville. While there's no way we'd ever get an NFL team (Louisville and KY in general doesn't care THAT much about football...hell U of L could go to the BCS this year and we'd still be lucky to fill the stadium), Louisville has had all sorts of chances to lure an NBA team. Thing is, there are all sorts of issues to consider. First, Louisville is a small minded town run by old school money interests. The only reason the city and county govts. were eventually merged is one day we looked up and Lexingon was technically bigger in population. That's bullshit of course, since Lexington has maybe 260,000 compared to Jefferson County's near 700,000. Anyway, U of L simply has this town by the balls. Rick Pitino doesn't want an NBA team here, neither does Tom Jurich, and no one downtown is going to say shit about it.

 

So now we're going to waste hundreds of millions of dollars on a new downtown arena and it's mainly to appease the university? U of L gets priority in scheduling, so no NBA team will bother to give Louisville a look. I mean honestly, what the fuck is the point of building a new arena if it's not to attract an NBA team? Freedom Hall isn't some dump on its last legs. U of L still draws 18-19 thousand a game and is top 5 in attendance every year.

 

The idiotic aspect is that an NBA team could very well draw big here. The KY Colonels of the old ABA drew really well back in the 70s, but of course John Y. Brown and Co. wouldn't pony up the few million bucks it would have taken to bring the Colonels into the NBA.

 

Anyway, as far as football goes places like Alabama and Oklahoma are far too obsessed with the college teams. Kinda like Louisville is with U of L basketball.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I don't really get that though. Do they really think that pro athletes making millions of dollars a year are going to start fixing their games just because there's a casino with a sportsbook handy? If they're just worried about them making recreational wagers on other games, they could do that already over the internet or something. They really should get an NFL team in Vegas some time soon.

The problem is that Las Vegas is a tourism mecca and doesn't have as much as an entrenched population. There are concerns about whether they would draw well enough to support a team. That's doubly true when it comes to media saturation. Las Vegas is surrounded by a desert.

[Damaramu 0]

Dama, why do you think OU and OK St. are crap basketball programs? Both have made the FF in the past 5 years.

 

Allow me to expand further. They are decent programs that the fans think are crap b/c they haven't won a national title. See fans in Oklahoma base there teams success off championships(national titles they don't seem to care about conference titles here) and if the team does not win a national title then they are an absolute failure in the eyes of most fans here. So the fact that OU has no national basketball titles and the fact that OSU only has 2 has made me hear on more than one occasion "Man these teams sucks." Basically the fans here tear down the b-ball programs b/c they don't have the success the OU football program does or b/c they aren't Duke.

[Lightning Flik 0]

I've always wondered why the NFL hasn't expanded a football team to Canada. About the only reason I can think of is just cause out east there isn't a really great stadium to play NFL football. That and all the football stadiums up here are set up for CFL.

 

However, I think a team up in Canada could work. But I think you'd almost hafta make it a team out west, which would be killer on the travel. Especially considering it would be Vancouver, Calgary, or Edmonton. Which of course would be a no-no, cause the first team would obviously hafta be in Toronto, right?

 

Really would like to know why not.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Because you have the CFL? That's really probably the only reason.

[nogoodnick 0]

If you look at the statistics pretty much any market can support an NFL team. Since they only play 8 regular season home games it keeps them in high demand. Also, all NFL teams are profitable due to revenue sharing and the NFL's amazing tv contracts. Oklahoma City has a metro population of 1.3 million compared to Green Bay at just over 100,000. The NFL makes so much damn money they don't need to play in major markets like LA.

 

Portland will probably never get a football team but a baseball team makes perfect sense. Give us the Marlins and I guarantee better attendance then what they have now. With the Blazers in dissaray now would be an excellent time to for a team to come in and fill this lonely offseaon void.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Why won't Portland ever get a football team?

 

Also, for some people thinking about expanding teams in other areas, this might be a helpful guide.

 

The major pro sports leagues probably have a good idea of where to place new expansion teams based on that. They probably also look at population growth, of which places like Vegas and Miami are experiencing a lot of (although the statistics are misleading in the case of Miami- most of the population growth here is temporary or misplaced immigrants looking to go somewhere else. And many of the people who move here from elsewhere in the country, hate it here, and immediately want to go somewhere else, like me). With that said, you can go down the top 25, and you can stick a team's name with that ranking. All except for #24, which is the Portland metro area (right in between Cincinnati and Cleveland, actually). And above several cities with NFL teams like the Chiefs, Colts, Panthers, Saints, Bills, Jaguars, and obviously the Packers. There's an exception with the Chiefs and Packers because those are league mainstays and have a rabid local fanbase. I think the same goes for the Bills. I think Portland would be a good place, but I doubt the NFL is up for expanding and re-aligning the league anytime soon.

 

Also, re: the Marlins. If they moved down to Miami proper instead of sticking them out there near Broward County, with their own stadium in place, it would take a lot just to get fan support still, but that goes with pretty much any Miami team. Look at the Heat's attendance before Shaq came to town, along with the playoff bunch. This town is the worst bandwagon town in the country, hell, I'd bet the world. I'd agree Portland would be better for them, but Miami still deserves a team, in the right place, with its own stadium, and far away from the "Florida" moniker by sticking them elsewhere.

[Lightning Flik 0]

Because you have the CFL? That's really probably the only reason.

I think a both a CFL and NFL team could be supported in some markets. I know Toronto could support one, and considering how much we Edmontons love our Eskimos (I don't go, so...) I think we could support them here too. Although the reason why I say you could only get a team out west, is because none of the eastern teams really have a NFL worthy stadium. And even out west, the only two that are NFL worthy are currently Edmonton and Vancouver, with Calgary being an outside shot.

 

But you are right though. Because both a CFL and NFL team would hafta probably share a stadium and because frankly, there's no way any of our governments fund a new stadium. I mean hell, the Oilers are adding a few dollars to the ticket prices on the guarentee that they'll be using hte money to build their own new stadium. That probably doesn't wanna make the NFL come up here.

 

Yet, I still think we'd be an awesome place to have a NFL team. Edmonton that is.

[Guest Vitamin X]

If the NFL just buys out the CFL, that'd be cool. They could even have their own division.

 

Of course, the Canadian division would suck for a while, but it could get better.

[Lightning Flik 0]

Wouldn't happen as far as the own division. We'd have TWO divisions, because we have 8 teams (soon to be 9 and 10, hopefully). The biggest problem if the CFL was bought out, would be the position of SB and what happens to it, plus the fact that the CFL's fields are larger than the NFLs.

 

And I think the Canadian teams could give any NFL team a run for its money. Edit: Not saying we'd win, just we'd put up a fight.

[razazteca 0]

How many football leagues tried to setup teams in small markets and failed? If memory serves I think the World League of the 90's had teams in college towns such as the San Antonio Rough Riders who really played at Southwest Texas University in SAN MARCUS! And didn't the CFL have expansion teams in cities like Memphis, Birmingham, Orlando, Dothan? The experiments into small markets last maybe 2 years at the most then the venture capitalist start complaining about losing money and fold the teams.

[KingPK 0]

I was just about to bring up the CFL's American expansion. The CFL is looked upon as an inferior league by most American NFL fans, so I doubt a team would get much of a fanbase (Arena Football has a following because it is a vastly different game and plays their season when the NFL is off). On the flip side, the CFL has been around in Canada far longer than the post-merger NFL has been in the US, so those teams have already grown a pretty loyal fanbase, so I don't think an NFL team would be readily accepted.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

No sports leagues need any more expansion.

 

and I rooted for the Baltimore CFL Football Team/Stallions.

[Guest Princess Leena]

Judging by the amount of Canadians that come to Bills games, I think Toronto would love an NFL team. I think the couple preseason games they had at Skydome sold very well.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

I was just about to bring up the CFL's American expansion. The CFL is looked upon as an inferior league by most American NFL fans, so I doubt a team would get much of a fanbase (Arena Football has a following because it is a vastly different game and plays their season when the NFL is off). On the flip side, the CFL has been around in Canada far longer than the post-merger NFL has been in the US, so those teams have already grown a pretty loyal fanbase, so I don't think an NFL team would be readily accepted.

 

You pretty well hit it spot on.

 

The NFL could work in Edmonton or Calgary on paper, but I doubt fiscally it would work. Even with the current strength of the Canadian dollar, you're still 10% in the hole from the get-go. Also, keep in mind (although it wouldn't keep fans away in droves, but would make a difference nonetheless), that the CFL is June-October for the regular season. Selling tickets to an outdoor game in Edmonton in December likely wouldn't be that easy (certainly not 65,000 or 70,000, anyway. Anyone remember Ty Conklin bitching before the Heritage Classic in 2003?)

 

Now, the flip side to this is Toronto, which seems to get the most attention when talk of NFL expansion is brought up. Southern Ontario is basically the only region in which the CFL isn't really followed (more on that in a few). Even Hamilton, which gets plenty of media attention, has trouble selling out its 29,500 stadium, except during the Labour Day Classic each year. Although, the Ti-Cats are currently 2-9, lost in the conference finals last year to Toronto, and went 1-18 the previous year. So, take that for what it's worth.

 

The problem with Toronto? Despite constantly priding themselves on being a world class sports town, they really aren't. They're not even a hockey town, as they often claim as well. They're a LEAFS town. Need proof?

 

The Toronto Blue Jays draw bout 25,000 a game. Not bad. But, with all the excitement generated by signings of Glaus, Molina and Burnett this winter, 25,000 doesn't look nearly as good for a team that can boast several Gold Gloves and Cy Young. They also hit 48,49, 50 a game during their two World Series wins in the early 90's.

 

The Raptors haven't been in the playoffs in five years, and will do alright, but people will stop caring, by and large, around March, even during the NHL lockout two years ago.

 

Even the Roadrunners, an AHL franchise, were in town for one season before leaving for Oiltown. Toronto is a LEAFS town. Furthermore, and this isn't meant to incite any arguments, a lot of Canadians will tell you the CFL is better football than the NFL. If the CFL can't get 25,000 in Toronto, why would an NFL franchise work?

 

I double-took upon reading a survey released about a month ago, in which the NHL was regarded as the most avidly followed sport by Canadians at 33% , followed by the CFL at around 23. The NFL came in at around 7.5/8 percent. Which I'll admit stunned me. But, as it turns out, the NFL seems to rule SOuthern Ontario, but the CFL has indeed the market share in the rest of Canada.

 

To sum it all up: CFL Hotbeds in the most likely candidate cities in Calgary/Edmonton. Big gamble by trying out the biggest market in Toronto. We will never see an NFL franchise set up shop in Canada in my lifetime. (Although it would be kinda cool).

 

Flik, good call on the government funding. I hadn't even factored that in.

[MrRant 0]

Portland could be considered to be too close to Seattle and could draw away Seahawk fans from the lower areas of Washington state.

[Slayer 0]

Seahawk fans

What?