[Rockets History] The Rockets almost moved to Louisville

Jtr said he's been to Louisville. I haven't. But looking at the numbers, Louisville has larger populations than New Orleans, OKC, and Memphis in both the city limits and the metro area.

Why can OKC support a team and Louisville cannot?

 

SOR was huge because it gave the Rockets leverage in putting political pressure on the city to build that new arena. Letting the Rockets go to another city would have been a disaster.

I don't remember the details of the arena or if it was a fair deal, but I am glad you Houstonians didn't let the team move. It would have been weird to root for the Liouville Rocket - not sure I could do it.

I always wondered why the team had to be in Houston since I don't have much attachment to the city and live in NYC nowadays. But it did. Fandom is bizarre.

 

You are missing the point. JTR is always right, he is more knowledgeable and smarter then everyone on this board. Its like Divine Command Theory, anything he says is right by definition. :/

 

Here's a thread to be proud of



Sarcasm everywhere.


We almost lost the rockets!

 

OKC is still in the honeymoon phase. They inherited a good team that went to the finals right off the bat. In 10 years, it may not be the same story. However, if the team is very well managed, it might be. Small markets cling to winners, especially when its the only ticket in town. If the team goes through any lulls... good luck.

 

I'm glad the referendum ultimately passed. I voted for it both times.

But I was skeptical then...and I remain so now...that Les Alexander was seriously contemplating moving his franchise (around which he spends considerable time) to Louisville, Kentucky.

 

If he didn't care about the money then Harden would still be in OKC and they would have a dynasty.

 

I think he cares about money now that the team is there...but come hell or high water, he wanted a team in his hometown. That's why he bought them in the first place. Totally different scenario than here with Les.

 

All well and good, thanks for the history

But what about standing for the REST of fans. For ALL TRUE fans

This is one overly self-inflated member against an overly self-inflated inner circle group.

A great majority of people wont CARE about EITHER of you

Still, keep fighting the peculiarly isolationist but good fight

 

Really Rockets should make more money than other Nba team. They are the fourth largest city in the nation and 5th largest metropolitan area. NYC and LA have two teams and Chicago is the slowest growing large city in America. Combine with the fact that they second most fortune 500 headquarters and the fastest growing metroplex in the country things are looking better each and every day for the city.

 

I live in KY. Louisville could easily support an NBA team. Kentucky doesn't have any professional sports teams, but basketball is easily the most popular sport here. College basketball specifically. UK and UL are the cream of the crop, so while the Louisville Rockets might never be the most popular team in the state, it doesn't mean they won't have problems selling out the arena.

Louisville even has a better basketball arena than Houston. The KFC Yum! Center opened in 2010 and holds just over 22,000 people. The Toyota Center opened in 2003 and holds just over 18,000. Louisville catered their arena more toward the fan instead of the business man, IMO.

It's not the most populous city, or the wealthiest, but the residents spend their money on sports entertainment. If they were able to pick up a fan favorite like Anthony Davis, John Wall, Julius Randle.. even Russ Smith. It would be even bigger to get a team with history and talent (Thunder) instead of a new franchise (Bobcats) - but that would be true for any city.

 

While in terms of population and economic power, we are fairly high up there, in terms of entertainment value, Houston does not much to offer:

- Galveston is a dumb as far as alluring beaches are concerned
- Houston is incredibly smoggy, humid, and polluted, without Hollywood to compensate

We are primarily a football city and yet we also lost our original football team. Either way, life sucks sometimes and for us, sports team has been more bittersweet usually than rewarding.

 

NBA franchises are concerned with selling to a corporate base. The ticket prices far exceed the events that the KFC Yum! Center is hosting. It's a completely different fanbase.

I'm not saying Louisville is incapable of hosting an NBA franchise....I'm saying:

1. It's not even a close comparison between Houston as a market and Louisville as a market; and

2. I don't believe Les Alexander, given what I know of Les Alexander, was seriously considering moving his franchise and his time to Louisville, Kentucky.