2nd Chicago NBA team?

[nomarandlee]

2nd Chicago NBA team?

Thoughts? Would such a team have a chance to capture the heart of Chicagoans? If such a team hypothetically built a stadium along with DePaul on the near northside I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand. Obviously the Bulls will always be the #1 b-ball team in all corners of the city long into the foreseeable future however.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201.../hornets.sale/


With league as new owners, Hornets could likely find new home

Now that commissioner David Stern essentially owns the Hornets after the NBA purchased the team Monday from majority stakeholder George Shinn, what is the likelihood the team will remain in New Orleans? Small odds they stay put, I say.........


Unless fans swarm to the New Orleans Arena in order to keep their franchise at home for the shortterm, the new owner of the Hornets will place New Orleans in a pool among larger available markets, including Chicago, Anaheim, San Jose and Kansas City. There hasn't been a lot of talk elsewhere about Chicago, but it is the third biggest market in North America and it has only one NBA team. New York will have two franchises when the Nets move to Brooklyn in two years, and Los Angeles has two. In suburban Chicago near O'Hare Airport, the Allstate Arena could serve as a temporary NBA home until a new arena could be built, depending on the resources of the new owner.

If the Hornets are able to escape their lease, then New Orleans will have to compete with other cities to serve as home to an NBA team.

• Who will buy them? The NBA will look for local ownership, but George Shinn wasn't able to find a candidate beyond minority owner Gary Chouest, who after a long courtship withdrew from negotiations to take over the team.

Two big-picture goals for Stern are to (1) raise the values of his franchises and (2) do so by encouraging foreign investment. Will both of these ambitions be married by the sale of the Hornets?

An oil-rich buyer from the Middle East could purchase the Hornets from Stern himself, then move them to a more prosperous market. I don't mean to keep harping on the potential of Chicago, but it has to be the most alluring location on the crowded North American map; if a Saudi billionaire were to move the team to Chicago then he could eventually build himself a new arena, much as Russian owner Mikhail Prokhorov is doing for the Nets in Brooklyn.

Stern said he just so happens to have a meeting scheduled next week with potential international investors.

[nomarandlee]

Was just thinking that if this were to happen I suppose that a relocated team would still end up up being in the Western conference. It would seem a bit weird to be considered a part of a Western conference but it works fine for the Blackhawks in the NHL. It would also allow fans to get to see many more Western superstars and teams come through the city then we get now as well.

A reshuffling of the Western divisions could work out like this..........

Nortwest
Minnesota
Chicago (formerly New Orleans)
Memphis
Oklahoma City
Dallas

Central
Utah
Denver
Portland
Houston
San Antonio

Pacific
LA Lakers
Phoenix
Golden
LA Clippers
Sacramento

[nicksplace27]

They could build the new Stadium where the Cabrini-Green projects were. It would be perfect to revitalize that area with bars and retail. DePaul and this new Chicago team could use it interchangably and it could give that whole area a much needed boost.

Now we just need to come up with a decent name for the team...

[NearNorthGuy]

Originally Posted by nicksplace27

Now we just need to come up with a decent name for the team...

The Chicago Skyscrapers. After all, this is skyscrapercity.com. And basketball players are kind of tall.

[spyguy]

Originally Posted by nicksplace27

They could build the new Stadium where the Cabrini-Green projects were. It would be perfect to revitalize that area with bars and retail. DePaul and this new Chicago team could use it interchangably and it could give that whole area a much needed boost.

Never thought of that. And a new Brown line station could provide easy access for students. Hopefully any new stadium would include residential & retail development, something like the new Barclays arena in Brooklyn. But there seems to be only a few spots you could put a new stadium around Cabrini - on Oak Street, the huge parcel north of Division, or maybe if you demolished a bunch of the Cabrini rowhouses and combined the land. I'm sure nearby neighbors would complain though, especially about traffic so close to North/Clybourn.

[Reinsdorf Sucks]

Originally Posted by nicksplace27

They could build the new Stadium where the Cabrini-Green projects were. It would be perfect to revitalize that area with bars and retail. DePaul and this new Chicago team could use it interchangably and it could give that whole area a much needed boost.

Now we just need to come up with a decent name for the team...

Yeah because the United Center has done WONDERS for the Damen/Madison area..

[nicksplace27]

Originally Posted by Reinsdorf Sucks

Yeah because the United Center has done WONDERS for the Damen/Madison area..

You know, you can build a basketball stadium without completely fucking up everything around it.

Take Target Center in Minneapolis for example. All of the parking was built in a large garage over 394 behind it, allowing the vital retail and entertainment district on Hennepin Avenue to continue to trive and actually boom due to the business generated by the various events going on there. Have a look for yourself on google maps.

[GarfieldPark]

Chicago shouldn't get two NBA teams. Its population is growing much slower than regions like Atlanta, Houston and Dallas which are closing in on the Chicago area in total population. Dallas and Atlanta have four major league teams and Houston only has three. Chicago already has five. They should not get a sixth team before Atlanta and Dallas get their fifth or before Houston gets its fourth. (I don't count major league soccer.)

[nicksplace27]

Originally Posted by GarfieldPark

Chicago shouldn't get two NBA teams. Its population is growing much slower than regions like Atlanta, Houston and Dallas which are closing in on the Chicago area in total population. Dallas and Atlanta have four major league teams and Houston only has three. Chicago already has five. They should not get a sixth team before Atlanta and Dallas get their fifth or before Houston gets its fourth. (I don't count major league soccer.)

Growing too slowly? The suburbs are exploding and although it may not be growing at the same percentage as the Sunbelt, 11 million people by 2020 is a market that gets hard to ignore to anyone who wants to make money...

[urbanlife78]

Actually if the Hornets do move it will more than likely be to the Seattle metro in either Seattle or Bellevue. There has been a lot of talk going on there and some rumors popping up of some of Seattle's billionaires being interested in bringing the NBA back to the metro. Besides, I am guessing the Bulls have a good stronghold on the Chicago market and probably would not be willing to open that up to another basketball team.

[Steely Dan]

^yeah, the bulls are so dominant here that not only do i think the franchise would fiercely defend its turf against another team, but i don't think that another team would really want to try to challenge the bulls in chicago when there are much greener open pastures out there like seattle.

not that i would be against a 2nd NBA team here in chicago, just that i don't see it as very likely.

[TheKorean]

Allstate Arena in Rosemont sounds good. 18,000+ arena with only a minor league hockey team doesnt make much sense. A waste not to have a pro team.

[Rastacoqui]

or a team in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Its a big city with a metropolitan population of 2.5 million... with a huge market... 4 million in PR and 4 million more stateside... and basketball is huge in Puerto Rico... I think its been thought about before...it just needs some initiative and a lot of $$$

[pwalker]

Originally Posted by urbanlife78

Actually if the Hornets do move it will more than likely be to the Seattle metro in either Seattle or Bellevue. There has been a lot of talk going on there and some rumors popping up of some of Seattle's billionaires being interested in bringing the NBA back to the metro. Besides, I am guessing the Bulls have a good stronghold on the Chicago market and probably would not be willing to open that up to another basketball team.

Yep, a Seattle metro without an NBA team will upstart a 2nd NBA team in Chicago. Simple economics.

[nomarandlee]

Originally Posted by pwalker

Yep, a Seattle metro without an NBA team will upstart a 2nd NBA team in Chicago. Simple economics.

I don't see Chicago proper hosting a team having a prayer unless it somehow gets tied to a new DePaul stadium. That would be a big if though.

Seattle would almost be a forgone conclusion if it weren't for the arena issue. Obviously it is more difficult then a simple equation of metro size otherwise the Sonics would have never left in the first place. A team is as likely to go to a metro that gives them a good municipal financed or ready built stadium as much the market potential.

That is why I would put Kansas City up near the top of possibilities where I would otherwise rank them lower.

[nomarandlee]

Originally Posted by TheKorean

Allstate Arena in Rosemont sounds good. 18,000+ arena with only a minor league hockey team doesnt make much sense. A waste not to have a pro team.

It is too antiquted now. If a new team came a strong if would be the town of Rosemont would being interested in replacing Allstate Arena near its current location. It really probably does have the best suburban location for a Chicago burb given it is a transit/highway focal point close to many city and suburban residents.

There is a lesser chance that some other outlier 'burb may offer up a location but I wouldn't put my money on especially in this economy.

I don't know if people in the inner burbs would take to a new team as their own. I am skeptical given that I think Chicago is a rather geographically and psychological centralized metro compared to other major metros like the Bay, NY, DC, and LA.

[Northsider]

I wouldn't be against another NBA team in Chicago. I honestly didn't think basketball had much popularity anymore...I haven't watched a game in like 15 years.

...wasn't there a thread not too long ago about a 2nd NFL team as well?