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Most exciting sports market in America (1 Viewer)

Yogibear

Yogibear

Footballguy
I've said this before and I'll say it again: St. Louis is the most boring sports market in America.  Why do I say that?  They took two major professional sports leagues (NFL and NBA) for granted and drove both of them out of town.  But, if you ask me what I think the most exciting sports market in America is, I'd have to give that honor to Charlotte.  And the reason is because ever since the NBA decided that the city deserved an NBA franchise in 1988, I feel like there was a lot of excitement there.  And then when they got an NFL franchise in 1995, there was even more excitement.  Both the Hornets and the Panthers have sellout crowds for their home games every time.  Even when the Hornets left for New Orleans in 2002, I felt sorry for the city.  But the absence of the NBA lasted only two years as the Bobcats came along and then again in 2014, when the Hornets name was given back to them.  And what can I say about the Panthers?  They've already been to two Super Bowl games and they've existed as an NFL franchise for less than 25 years.  So, if any of you on this forum live in the Charlotte area, or have visited the are at least once, I want to hear from you guys because I salute you!

 
About time someone dressed down St. Louis for driving out the Hawks 50 years ago and suffering through one of the greediest and corrupt owners in the NFL.  Kudos to you, sir!

 
Another factor I took into consideration when determining this is the number of sports bars in that particular market.  If you go to the website www.sportstavern.com, you'll see a list of every major sports bar in a particular market.  Hot Shots Sports Bar & Grill is a chain that's based in the St. Louis area.  It's only recently that they added a couple locations in the Charlotte area.

 
Why is Charlotte the most exciting sports city in America?  I feel like Charlotte is the most exciting sport city in America.

QED

 
Long Ball Larry said:
About time someone dressed down St. Louis for driving out the Hawks 50 years ago and suffering through one of the greediest and corrupt owners in the NFL.  Kudos to you, sir!
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St. Louis actually drove two NFL franchises out of town.  I still remember when Bill Bidwell moved the Cardinals to Phoenix in 1988.

 
I live here and don't think it's a great sports market.  St. Louis baseball blows it away in terms of fans.

Basketball - We drove off the Hornets 1 much in the way that St. Loius ran off the Bidwells.  Attendance was great as it was the first pro franchise.  The Hornets owner also wanted a new stadium.  He also was doing something inappropriate with the cheerleaders.  The residents voted down the stadium and spending tax dollars on it.  The Hornets ran off for a bette offer in New Orleans.  The stupid Democrat city council and Republican mayor McCorey told us our vote didn't matter and that we were buying a stadium for billionaires and millionaires to make money.  The NBA brought back basketball and attendance was horrible just like the product.  About the best thing to happen was Jordan buying out Bob Johnson.  Jordan sucks as an owner, but less so than Bob Johnson.  He did get back the Hornets name.  Somehow that brought attendance back.  During the bob Johnson years I had season tickets and couldn't give away tickets to a game.

Football - Love my Panthers.  Just realize that this is a transient city.  Maybe 1 in 10 people were born here.  Every time a NFL team with tradition comes to town, the stands are filled with jerseys of a different color.  This is starting to get better as our kids who grew up when the franchise was young are becoming ticket buying age.  It will be 50 years before the fandom can compete with most NFL teams.

NASCAR -  Used to be that if you wanted to be successful here you kept up with NASCAR.  Those days are long gone and no one talks about NASCAR anymore.  It used to get a lot of radio play, now there's rarely a mention.  It's a dying sport.  We do have the NASCAR HOF thanks to the local Democrats and Republican mayor feeling that's more important than parks or high school sports or students being in a brick and mortar building rather than trailers.

College sports - None here to speak of.  Yeah everyone here has an ACC basketball team that they root for, closest one is Wake which is 1.5 hours away.  The big boys (Carolina, State, and Duke all are 2.5 hours away).

Decent place to live, but the sports market isn't in the top 30 in this county.

 
I'll see your Charlotte and raise you a Detroit. Good or bad, the fans are extremely loyal, and they are now all located within city limits. We travel well, too.

 
Epic Problem said:
Meh. Calling Charolette the most exciting sports market? That’s starting off with a pretty big boo boo 
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Hey, other than (in no particular order) Boston, Pittsburgh, New York, Chicago, Washington, Cleveland, Miami, Houston, and a few others, he's nailed it.  It's certainly ahead of Fargo. 

 
As an aside, I've never understood why St. Louis (referenced in OP's post as being a boring sports city) doesn't have an MLS team.  St. Louis is probably the original soccer capital of the US, along with parts of Massachusetts, and has arguably the richest tradition in the sport of anywhere in America.  

 
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Hard to argue with pre-Watson injury Houston being top of the list, but Philly with Wentz, Embiid and Simmons is quickly moving back up the list after 5 years of almost complete malaise (outside of Chip's 1st season)

 
If you'll allow an entire state, it's Wisconsin. Great college basketball, football and hockey with the Badgers and the Marquette Warriors (hoops anyway). Great pro hoops with the Bucks. Great NFL with the Pack. Brewers are a great stadium experience and competitive here and there.

 
Sandeman said:
If you'll allow an entire state, it's Wisconsin. Great college basketball, football and hockey with the Badgers and the Marquette Warriors (hoops anyway). Great pro hoops with the Bucks. Great NFL with the Pack. Brewers are a great stadium experience and competitive here and there.
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Lolololol

If we are talking ENTIRE STATES then California, Texas, Florida, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania are all far superior to Sconnie. 

 
Steve Tasker said:
As an aside, I've never understood why St. Louis (referenced in OP's post as being a boring sports city) doesn't have an MLS team.  St. Louis is probably the original soccer capital of the US, along with parts of Massachusetts, and has arguably the richest tradition in the sport of anywhere in America.  
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Same reason they don't have a football team any more.  St Louis was pretty much in pole position for one of the 2 MLS expansion slots that 12 cities were fighting for but their bid fell apart when they could not secure government money to help with the stadium.  And good for them, too much public money continues to be thrown into these stadiums for owners who can afford to build their own.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/map-how-the-mls-stadium-vote-failed/article_2dc4be87-9bfb-5d62-917e-037bcdeb5ce5.html

 
Sandeman said:
If you'll allow an entire state, it's Wisconsin. Great college basketball, football and hockey with the Badgers and the Marquette Warriors (hoops anyway). Great pro hoops with the Bucks. Great NFL with the Pack. Brewers are a great stadium experience and competitive here and there.
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After years of attending Brewer games at County Stadium, Miller Park is terrible.

 
Charlotte is pretty fun to live in as a sports fan with Panthers, Hornets, and a AAA stadium all downtown.  That BofA stadium also hosts 2-3 college games a year and some international soccer exhibitions/tournaments helps.  I guess people like NASCAR too.  Combined with the lack of passion about the teams for a city of this size it means there is often something to go see.  That's cool.  I like picking up cheap tickets because a game won't be close to full

But successful, well supported teams?  Not really.  A a good sports town has to have that.

The failure to land a solid soccer/MLS franchise will haunt the city.

 
Sandeman said:
If you'll allow an entire state, it's Wisconsin. Great college basketball, football and hockey with the Badgers and the Marquette Warriors (hoops anyway). Great pro hoops with the Bucks. Great NFL with the Pack. Brewers are a great stadium experience and competitive here and there.
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wat

 
We disagree now, but how about a discussion for the most exciting sports planet?  It's gotta be Earth, right?  I vote Earth.

 
Kal El said:
I'll see your Charlotte and raise you a Detroit. Good or bad, the fans are extremely loyal, and they are now all located within city limits. We travel well, too.
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I love the wings, grew up a Pistons, tigers and Lions fan. But Ford is the devil. 

Begrudgingly, it's Boston. 

 
I live in Charlotte and this is so far from a great sports town.  No one cares about the Hornets and the Panthers fans are wine and cheese all the way. 

 
berndog said:
I live in Charlotte and this is so far from a great sports town.  No one cares about the Hornets and the Panthers fans are wine and cheese all the way. 
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Yeah, but don't forget about the Nationals and the Penguins.

 
I will speak up for my hometown. We've had Super Bowls, CFB championships, final fours, I've gotten to see them all. I think we're the best town for championships in the US.

 
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