MMC
Global Moderator
Birmingham is a bit smaller than Buffalo, but its metro still has over 1 million people, and is in what appears to be a big sports region. Do you think they could support a big 4 sports team?
Birmingham is a bit smaller than Buffalo, but its metro still has over 1 million people, and is in what appears to be a big sports region. Do you think they could support a big 4 sports team?
AL.com (an online state-wide journal) asked this question a few years ago.
In short, very likely not although it's not impossible. The city does have some corporate support (BBVA is a partner w/ the NBA, Books-A-Million, Alabama Power, Regions Bank), and I believe the BJCC is being renovated w/ NBA in mind (the city will be home to a G-league team in 2022). The Barons seem to do well and the city has had several XFL-like football franchises in the past that seem to have some support, minor-league yes but it shows the city does like things other than NCAA Football.
But, there's more "red flags" than not. Biggest one is the size of the market, it's not a dot on the map but the city itself has been losing population every year since the civil rights movement. Huntsville is primed to overtake B-ham as the states largest city by next decade. This means you're relying very heavily on folks from the moderately wealthy to wealthy suburbs like Hoover and Mountain Brook to snatch up the tickets and corporate suites. These towns represent about 10% of the metros population. The rest of the area is at best, middle of the middle class, and these are the folks that are more likely to spend their sports dollars on the NCAA, more on that later.
The city money-wise had a big corruption scandal involving their public roads and services (trash pick-up) in the 90's. I found out about it when I went there to help a friend clean out a house and we had to buy a couple of bullshit trash and recycle bins because we discovered the city didn't provide either. The roads were some of the worst I've ever driven on, they'll make your teeth rattle. This means that a potential owner would have to be a Mark Cuban or Jeff Vinik type, and they'd need to pay for a stadium (if needed) out of their own pocket.
The market also resides near Memphis, Nashville, Atlanta, and New Orleans. While a NBA or whatever team would have Alabama to itself, is there really an incentive to do so when a good chunk of the state resides in poverty and/or only shows sporting interest in Alabama/Auburn athletics?
And finally, the NCAA is king in the Yellowhammer state. You don't need Google to know this. People have been killed over the Iron Bowl (I'm not kidding, look it up), Auburns iconic trees on their campus were poisoned by a bitter U of Alabama fan after a loss. Even UAB when they lost their football program in 2015, money was quickly raised to get it reinstated. Not to say the NCAA isn't a big deal in other states like NC and Ohio and Texas, but Alabama is just a different animal. "Roll Tide/War Eagle" is implemented in daily communications one way or another.
Birmingham itself could have been an NFL market in the 70's (I heard they tried, how they would have done is anyones guess), but today? It's a long shot for anything other than minor-league sports.
AL.com (an online state-wide journal) asked this question a few years ago.
In short, very likely not although it's not impossible. The city does have some corporate support (BBVA is a partner w/ the NBA, Books-A-Million, Alabama Power, Regions Bank), and I believe the BJCC is being renovated w/ NBA in mind (the city will be home to a G-league team in 2022). The Barons seem to do well and the city has had several XFL-like football franchises in the past that seem to have some support, minor-league yes but it shows the city does like things other than NCAA Football.
But, there's more "red flags" than not. Biggest one is the size of the market, it's not a dot on the map but the city itself has been losing population every year since the civil rights movement. Huntsville is primed to overtake B-ham as the states largest city by next decade. This means you're relying very heavily on folks from the moderately wealthy to wealthy suburbs like Hoover and Mountain Brook to snatch up the tickets and corporate suites. These towns represent about 10% of the metros population. The rest of the area is at best, middle of the middle class, and these are the folks that are more likely to spend their sports dollars on the NCAA, more on that later.
The city money-wise had a big corruption scandal involving their public roads and services (trash pick-up) in the 90's. I found out about it when I went there to help a friend clean out a house and we had to buy a couple of bullshit trash and recycle bins because we discovered the city didn't provide either. The roads were some of the worst I've ever driven on, they'll make your teeth rattle. This means that a potential owner would have to be a Mark Cuban or Jeff Vinik type, and they'd need to pay for a stadium (if needed) out of their own pocket.
The market also resides near Memphis, Nashville, Atlanta, and New Orleans. While a NBA or whatever team would have Alabama to itself, is there really an incentive to do so when a good chunk of the state resides in poverty and/or only shows sporting interest in Alabama/Auburn athletics?
And finally, the NCAA is king in the Yellowhammer state. You don't need Google to know this. People have been killed over the Iron Bowl (I'm not kidding, look it up), Auburns iconic trees on their campus were poisoned by a bitter U of Alabama fan after a loss. Even UAB when they lost their football program in 2015, money was quickly raised to get it reinstated. Not to say the NCAA isn't a big deal in other states like NC and Ohio and Texas, but Alabama is just a different animal. "Roll Tide/War Eagle" is implemented in daily communications one way or another.
Birmingham itself could have been an NFL market in the 70's (I heard they tried, how they would have done is anyones guess), but today? It's a long shot for anything other than minor-league sports.
Thanks for the post. While this will never happen, I think it would be very cool to see a successful NHL team in Birmingham, if they were to decide they wanted another Southern market but gave up on Atlanta.
The corporate dollars would be a major issue though. Perhaps an ownership group with plenty of connections would solve that issue. Someone mentioned Charles Barkley getting involved; I think he'd be a perfect Birmingham pro sports owner