It seems inevitable that Seattle and Las Vegas will receive expansion franchises in the near future, but what if I tell you that Reno may be a candidate in place of the latter?
It is no secret that the NBA prefers to have new teams in places that previously had no pro sports - Oklahoma City and Orlando come to mind. And when looking at Vegas, the market is already rather saturated: the NHL’s Golden Knights, the NFL’s Raiders, and the WNBA’s Aces, with MLB’s Athletics on their way soon pending league approval.
Well, Seattle obviously gets a pass because of the Supersonics, but other than hosting the Summer League, Vegas does not have much NBA history. And does the league really want to play second fiddle or worse to those franchises above?
By contrast, Reno may obviously be smaller, but it has a decent enough population and grassroots program in the University of Nevada campus to work. It also has some underrated marketing appeal - it could be easily be marketed as the team of the Tahoe.
Does this sound like a good idea? Let me know in the comments!
Reno way in hell
Would be a cool spot for a G-League team IMO.
Obvi not getting picked over Vegas, which is a national and global tourism hub.
They had one a decade ago, got moved to Stockton I think
Yes, it was.
Way too small market, way too small airport. Part of the fact the NBA wants to go to Vegas is it is already a hub for the NBA. Between Summer League, Team USA, and the upcoming mid season tournament NBA already has a footprint in Vegas. Another thing is they already have an NBA arena in the MGM/TMobile arena and word around town is their is an ownership group willing to build a $10 billion arena and campus to bring an NBA team in. Same group that built the arena in Seattle to bring the NHL franchise their.
The Vegas franchise is going to be awarded to Fenway Sports Group (the one Lebron is a part of)
The same people who own the Red Sox and Penguins, I see…
The Reno 911’s
I would be a fan!
Have you ever seen Reno in the daylight on a weekday?
No fucking way lol.
OP is obviously a troll but I will play.
Population of Reno 280,000.
Las Vegas 2.3 MillionNo future owner would pay money (probably 1 Billion) to have a team in Reno over Las Vegas. The team value would be multiple times higher in Las Vegas. See Rams and Chargers as an example
It would go to the bottom as a Free agent destination.
Nevada nor Reno could get funding approved to build an Arena. Las Vegas would have an Arena approved tomorrow if they get an NBA team.
Las Vegas is pretty much guaranteed sell outs every night.
Las Vegas already has its own Reno called North Las Vegas.
There is not one compelling reason other than OP is a troll.
Not. A. Troll.
Why does the NBA refuse to enter Kansas City, even though there is an NBA-ready arena there?
Simple. It does not want to play second fiddle to the Chiefs.
If you’re not a Troll you need to lay off the Skip Bayless.
NBA has actually tried Kansas City and St Louis before and both teams left. Any new expansion owner is going to demand a new state of the art Arena. Sucks for tax payers but it is what it is. The build it and they will come method has pretty much failed for any city that tried it.
KC already has the T-Mobile Center.
T-Mobile Center in KC is one of the most profitable arenas in the world because it doesn’t a primary sports tenet. It’s calander is wide open and they can charge concert promotors high rates for good dates
Yes but it’s 16 years old. A new owner with a new team will want a brand new Arena. At most they would play there until a new Arena is built. Are Kansas City tax payers willing to spend the tax money to do that.
Kansas City could support an NBA team it’s just that there are more attractive cities available right now and no matter how great Mahomes is he does not factor into the decision one bit
i live in reno. there’s absolutely zero chance
Id love to catch a basketball game in the city where people get layovers to california
I’m pretty sure Reno’s moniker is “The Dirtiest Little City in America”.
The Biggest Little City in America
Fixed!
No. If not Vegas, and there is zero chance it wouldn’t go to Vegas, it would go to another state or, more likely, Mexico City.
The advantages you cite for Reno are irrelevant. What matters for the small cities with 0 major pro sports competition, is corporate presence (NBA level arena where the NBA team is the primary tenant, # of F500 company hqs, non F500 companies with $100, $500, $1 billion in revenue).The 4 Nevada Fortune 500 companies are all based in Vegas. For anecdotal comparison, Memphis has 3, OKC has 2, New Orleans has 1.
If Reno has a couple of Fortune 500 companies headquartered there, and a brand new NBA level arena with the suites and amenities, then it still needs a billionaire owner interested in bringing a team there, over Vegas or markets with 0 existing pro teams. Then the NBA owners have a committee to vet the market to see if it meets their standards.
Even among markets with 0 existing major pro sports teams, Reno is not a top candidate. Louisville has 3 F500 companies. Va Beach/Norfolk/Hampton Roads has 2. Boise has 3. Shoot, NW Arkansas has 3, and about a million people and the University of Arkansas. South Carolina has 3 1-million-people regions, and growing manufacturing, although 0 F500 companies.
Mexico City? It may be a large city, but do players want to live where very few people speak English?
Reno would still be a better choice.
They didn’t even remotely support the Bighorns. I loved going to games there because you could literally meet players in line for snacks. I met Demarcus Cousins and he put down a huge thing of nachos. But the arena was empty and the locals laughed at the idea of going to watch the team. Just was a bad fit and they moved to Stockton because of it.
Besides obvious reasons of it being Reno, Sacramento is like a 2 hour drive. It’s too small and too close to another nba city.
Then by that logic, Sacramento should not have a team either because it is an even shorter drive from San Francisco?
Reno is genuinely *nowhere near* big enough for any professional franchise in a major sport to play there.