OT: Possible NBA Team In Pittsburgh

[Hockeyholic]

How Popular would an NBA Team be in Pittsburgh? Would fans immediately embrace the sport? Would they immediately over take the Pens?

Click to read more...

 

[Gurglesons]

How Popular would an NBA Team be in Pittsburgh? Would fans immediately embrace the sport? Would they immediately over take the Pens?

My main issue would be the already shitty ice would be shittier.

 

[Rudy Russo]

Pittsburgh is too small of a city and region to support four major pro teams.

 

[RustyRazor]

How Popular would an NBA Team be in Pittsburgh? Would fans immediately embrace the sport? Would they immediately over take the Pens?

Wait. The NBA didn't fold when Jordan retired? My interest in it sure did.

 

[Jacob]

I think there’d be initial support because of the novelty of it but after the first season or two it’d probably wane, unless they were extremely successful.

Basketball in general isn’t big around here. Are there any locals in the NBA?

I think it’d be cool for a relatively small big city to have all 4 major sports teams but I don’t think it’ll ever happen.

 

[Hockeyholic]

I think there’d be initial support because of the novelty of it but after the first season or two it’d probably wane, unless they were extremely successful.

Basketball in general isn’t big around here. Are there any locals in the NBA?

I think it’d be cool for a relatively small big city to have all 4 major sports teams but I don’t think it’ll ever happen.

Yeah but how popular was/is Hockey when the Pens weren't good? A successful team would definitely generate interest.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Yeah but how popular was/is Hockey when the Pens weren't good? A successful team would definitely generate interest.

True..but also alot harder to be one of those successful teams in the NBA. With the best players choosing to play on stacked teams these days.

 

[pistolpete11]

Pittsburgh is a football town. If the basketball team was winning, then you'd see support. If not, then you wouldn't. Just like with the Pens and Pirates.

Me personally, I support the 3 teams we have (although the Pirates do make it hard), but I have zero interest in the NBA or basketball in general. If Pittsburgh got a team, I don't think it would change.

 

[Jacob]

Yeah but how popular was/is Hockey when the Pens weren't good? A successful team would definitely generate interest.

The Penguins weren’t just “not good,” they were a lottery team in bankruptcy with no stars and a crumbling arena. And even then they had a hardcore base of 13-15k die hards every night, robust TV ratings and high merch sales.

A shiny new and/or successful NBA team would generate interest but I think it’d take time to develop a sustainable following to where they’d be comparable to the Penguins or Pirates in terms of support. Hockey at the youth and now collegiate levels is taking off in the area, but it’s been something that’s been built over decades if not generations.

Pittsburgh is a relatively small and largely working class metro area and people already put a lot of their hard earned dollars towards the Pirates, Penguins and/or Steelers.

 

[Penguin Suited Up]

I have no interest in basketball and less interest in the Penguins sharing a venue with the NBA(although I’m not sure that they would even in the long shot that an NBA team ends up in Pittsburgh).

 

[PensPlz]

Pass.

 

[Jacob]

I personally would feel the same way about an NBA team as I do about the Pirates or Steelers. It’s not my sport of choice so I wouldn’t watch or follow but their success is good for the city so I certainly wouldn’t root against it/them.

 

[TNT87]

I really liked watching the NBA in the 80s and 90s but my interest in it now is pretty much non existent.

If Pittsburgh ever got a NBA I would probably try my best to follow it however, it would never come close to the Pens or Steelers for me.

 

[Nadal On Clay]

I actually follow really closely Basket-Ball, so I would be more than happy if Pittsburgh could get a team.

 

[Son Goku]

I think there would be tons of support. Definitely average more fans than the pirates.

 

[HuskerTornado]

I really liked watching the NBA in the 80s and 90s but my interest in it now is pretty much non existent.

If Pittsburgh ever got a NBA I would probably try my best to follow it however, it would never come close to the Pens or Steelers for me.

Yeah, I haven't enjoyed the NBA since the 90s. Haven't really been enjoying the college game the last few years, either.

 

[Pens1566]

It would be a novelty at first, relocation within a decade.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

If Amazon chooses Pittsburgh there will be a large enough demographic with money and youth to support a fourth professional sports team. It becomes likely in fact.

Otherwise I doubt it.

 

[Iggy Smalls]

I think a NBA G-League team could have the chance to be successful in the city. Eerie has a minor baseball team, OHL team, G-League team, and a few others.

 

[Jacob]

I don’t know the Cavaliers situation, I assume it’s on solid ground, but if they lost their team, or if the Cavs just moved here, I could see us absorbing enough of their fan base to remain viable.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

How Popular would an NBA Team be in Pittsburgh? Would fans immediately embrace the sport? Would they immediately over take the Pens?

No thanks.

The NBA sucks, I really don't give two f***s about that sport or it ever being in Pittsburgh professionally. NBA should go peddle that garbage back to Seattle and f*** off.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I actually follow really closely Basket-Ball, so I would be more than happy if Pittsburgh could get a team.

Create the Baseket-ball league, move the Pirates over to that sport, maybe then we'll have 3 successful teams again.

 

[Al Smith]

NBA team would be more popular than the Condors, and probably less popular than the Pisces. It would not immediately overtake the Pens in popularity. If it were timed to coincide with the inevitable post-Sid/Geno hangover, and if the NBA is as generous with an expansion franchise as the NHL was with VGK, then maybe it would take off.

 

[Brandinho]

I'd love it. Whether the team would succeed or not would depend on how well they do, obviously. Pittsburgh isn't a big enough city or a city with a deep enough basketball tradition to sustain interest in a team that doesn't win. If the team is making the playoffs within 3-5 years, they'd do fine financially. Whether anybody would want to put forth the money to wager against the risk of the franchise being unprofitable is another story. I don't really see a lot of grassroots pressure to convince investors it'd be a good idea.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

For what it is worth Pittsburgh is the largest market without an NBA team. The thing working against it is that it is not currently a large enough market to support four major league professional franchises. However, as I said, if Amazon moves here it is almost guaranteed that an NBA franchise will get serious consideration.