Hampton Roads is the largest community in America without a pro sports team. It’s not that we never had one. Way back in the 70s, the ABA’s Virginia Squires played their seasons at Scope and people flocked to see Julius “Dr. J” Erving invent dunks and defy gravity with that funny red-white-and-blue basketball. But when the ABA melted into the NBA, the Squires were left on the outside, and Hampton Roads was once again a sports stepchild.
In the decades since, every big time sport has expanded, with major league franchises landing in less populated places like Oklahoma City, Memphis, Tampa, and Columbus. Hampton Roads sat out the early action, but in recent years it attempted to woo an expansion NHL team they were going to call the Rhinos, the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets before they moved to New Orleans, and the former Montreal Expos MLB franchise that eventually settled in Washington, D.C.
In each case, league officials talked about how impressed they were with the area, then they chose other suitors. It often came down to dollars. A major league team usually looks for a lot of corporate support in the form of luxury boxes and other business buy-ins. But when your area’s economic engine is the Navy, you are usually sheltered from wild fluctuations but just don’t have the folks in boardrooms who can pony up for a lot of expensive luxuries.