OT: Would The NBA Work In Montreal ?

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

I fear that Geoff would have a stake in it on account of the BC offering the best venue for it. He would probably name himself President of that too and would never rebuild if needed.

I know it's a Molson meme, still rebuilds are a lot less taboo in the NBA than in the NHL.

Bulls wanted MJ sidelined in his injured sophomore year so they could get a better pick, which infuriated Jordan, and more than a decade later, Reinsdorf and Krause wanted to rebuild rather than keeping the team intact, Phil Jackson included.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

I know it's a Molson meme, still rebuilds are a lot less taboo in the NBA than in the NHL.

Bulls wanted MJ sidelined in his injured sophomore year so they could get a better pick, which infuriated Jordan, and more than a decade later, Reinsdorf and Krause wanted to rebuild rather than keeping the team intact, Phil Jackson included.

They aren't taboo in any league and there's colossal differences between the NHL and the NBA. Not only were the Bulls idiots (in both instances), being bad in the NBA can easily last for 15 years. Players also have a ton more power and their impact on the game are far greater than the individual player in hockey.

 

[BargainBinSpecial]

Montreal is Habsland. If the Expos were unable to appeal to the french populace, then an NBA franchise won't either.

The Impact or whatever they are named now are having such a hard time attracting fans, even though the city is mostly composed of European, Caribbean, South American and African communities. One reason may be because they consider the MLS subpar compared to the other world leagues. The NBA is the top caliber league, but I just don't see how they can attract huge crowds. Although, getting an NBA franchise makes bigger sense than baseball. The youngsters are more interested in basketball.

Montreal is an event city, and obviously the Habs will make the front page, even for minor details.

 

[dasahgah]

Zero chance of it working in Montreal. After 30 games the only media attention would be on the empty seats at games. And no free agent would ever, ever sign there.

 

[sandviper]

Montreal is Habsland. If the Expos were unable to appeal to the french populace, then an NBA franchise won't either.

The Impact or whatever they are named now are having such a hard time attracting fans, even though the city is mostly composed of European, Caribbean, South American and African communities. One reason may be because they consider the MLS subpar compared to the other world leagues. The NBA is the top caliber league, but I just don't see how they can attract huge crowds. Although, getting an NBA franchise makes bigger sense than baseball. The youngsters are more interested in basketball.

Montreal is an event city, and obviously the Habs will make the front page, even for minor details.

I agree with you mostly in that Montreal is Habsland. IIRC, other hockey events don’t do that well at the gate and we won’t get into the history of other sports there. Seems to me on the surface, if it isn’t the Habs, most don’t really care.

Truthfully, I don’t see an NBA team making it in Montreal though I’d love to be wrong and see a team there. I do think one advantage they’d have over MLS and baseball is I’m assuming they’d play downtown which can be huge for corporate dollars as well as fans in general for travel around the city.

 

[OG6ix]

I agree with you mostly in that Montreal is Habsland. IIRC, other hockey events don’t do that well at the gate and we won’t get into the history of other sports there. Seems to me on the surface, if it isn’t the Habs, most don’t really care.

Truthfully, I don’t see an NBA team making it in Montreal though I’d love to be wrong and see a team there. I do think one advantage they’d have over MLS and baseball is I’m assuming they’d play downtown which can be huge for corporate dollars as well as fans in general for travel around the city.

NBA is not a gate driven league ... neither is the MLB but the NBA has less expenses than the MLB. I have said this before but even if only 8,000 people showed up to the game the franchise would be fine lol. People keep equating the NBA to the Habs and Expos but it would be a different beast because the NBA is a league that's on a different level and is trending towards the NFL while the MLB is trending towards the NHL. The Habs could still run the city but a Montreal NBA team would be worth more than the Habs. A Montreal NBA team would be the second most valuable team in Canada other than the Raptors.

 

[BargainBinSpecial]

NBA is not a gate driven league ... neither is the MLB but the NBA has less expenses than the MLB. I have said this before but even if only 8,000 people showed up to the game the franchise would be fine lol. People keep equating the NBA to the Habs and Expos but it would be a different beast because the NBA is a league that's on a different level and is trending towards the NFL while the MLB is trending towards the NHL. The Habs could still run the city but a Montreal NBA team would be worth more than the Habs. A Montreal NBA team would be the second most valuable team in Canada other than the Raptors.

The Grizzlies didn't last long in Vancouver, even with 8000 fans in the stands. The Supersonics either, although the move to Oklahoma was because they were unable to get funds for a new arena.

 

[Grand Admiral Thrawn]

Nope!

 

[OG6ix]

The Grizzlies didn't last long in Vancouver, even with 8000 fans in the stands. The Supersonics either, although the move to Oklahoma was because they were unable to get funds for a new arena.

That was pre-espn/TNT media rights deals. The grizzlies actually didn't do that bad fan wise. At the time the original owners were in over their heads financially. Sold to Americans and well the rest is history.

 

[Scintillating10]

NBA is not a gate driven league ... neither is the MLB but the NBA has less expenses than the MLB. I have said this before but even if only 8,000 people showed up to the game the franchise would be fine lol. People keep equating the NBA to the Habs and Expos but it would be a different beast because the NBA is a league that's on a different level and is trending towards the NFL while the MLB is trending towards the NHL. The Habs could still run the city but a Montreal NBA team would be worth more than the Habs. A Montreal NBA team would be the second most valuable team in Canada other than the Raptors.

Basketball would not work in Montreal. Sports is different here. Expos, Nordiques, Als all collapsed. Hard to get govt and owners on same page. Everybody has to be on board. It is major commitment

 

[OG6ix]

Basketball would not work in Montreal. Sports is different here. Expos, Nordiques, Als all collapsed. Hard to get govt and owners on same page. Everybody has to be on board. It is major commitment

All of those teams you mentioned were ticket driven at the time. I'm guessing a lot of people from Quebec don't know how other leagues work outside of the NHL these days. They all make money hand over fist - NHL is the last "major" sports league in NA that still gets the majority of their revenue from the gate. It's a big reason why many people don't consider the notion of the "big four" anymore

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

Montreal won't support a losing franchise in any sport other than hockey and an NBA team in Montreal would be a disaster with the power NBA players have to dictate where they are going to play regardless of the contract that they signed. There is no path to contending and the novelty would die off quickly.

 

[frenchcanayan]

Can’t wait for poeple in the RDS chat wanting Patrick Roy as a coach of the NBA team “pCQ ctUn GagNant”

 

[Pompeius Magnus]

FWIW, I don't think building up a fan base in Montreal would be such an impossible task . It's a big international sport and I'd be willing to bet more kids are regularly playing it in the province (be it at school or otherwise) than there are kids playing ice hockey in 2022. The local media is incredibly hockey centric (and let's face it, quite behind the times outside of a few exceptions) but after a few years you'd see more knowledgeable talking heads popping up on TV and radio, like they did in Toronto with the Raptors. The main stumbling block to me is finding an owner with serious money who would be willing to take that chance and to survive the first few years without depending on the government paying for 50+% of it.

 

[JianYang]

Montreal won't support a losing franchise in any sport other than hockey and an NBA team in Montreal would be a disaster with the power NBA players have to dictate where they are going to play regardless of the contract that they signed. There is no path to contending and the novelty would die off quickly.

It all comes down to the management team. Most nba cities have to rely on a smart leader who has good professional and amateur scouts in order to be successful, and the proof is in the pudding.

Vancouver had many challenges, but it started bad even before the opening tip off because the owner asked the league commissioner for recommendation of who should run the team, and he was probably the worst general manager I have ever witnessed in any sport.

Imagine if someone went to bettman and asked him to find someone to fill their GM role.

If the team is run professionaly, with a strong management team, there should be close to a 100% chance that this would work. Toronto has stayed relevant despite not being a premier destination for nba players, and when you consider that recent championship teams include non-glittery cities like Cleveland, and Milwaukee, then why not Montréal?