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His post was about how Nashville isn't big enough (and lacks the high growth) needed to be a serious contender for MLB (which would be the 4th pro team in that city).
Nashville's MSA is growing at nearly the same rate as Charlotte's. From 2010-2018, Nashville's MSA has grown at 15.56% while Charlotte's has grown at 15.89%.
Nashville’s MSA is currently larger than Milwaukee’s and is one of the fastest growing major city MSAs in the nation.
Without talking too much about cities that are not in NC...
I'm simply going to state that (in my opinion) a MSA of less than 3 million with annual growth of less than 50,000 and a metro GDP of less than $200 billion is a poor candidate for 4 professional teams. Charlotte falls below this threshold.
However, there is the college sports factor. In most major cities, the pros compete with very popular college programs. This simply isn't the case in metro Charlotte. Almost all sports spending in Charlotte are pro sports spending. That's a factor that is often overlooked when measuring a city's bid for another pro team.
One of the biggest reasons why Charlotte outperforms Atlanta in NFL and NBA attendance most years is because there are a TON of local college supporters in Atlanta who would rather spend their money on the college games. Down in Miami, (I have cousins there) the Hurricanes are more popular than the Dolphins right now. That's a scenario that will never happen in Charlotte.
Nashville's MSA is growing at nearly the same rate as Charlotte's. From 2010-2018, Nashville's MSA has grown at 15.56% while Charlotte's has grown at 15.89%.
Dude, I visit Nashville several times per year due to family. The downtown vibe blows Charlotte away on it's worst day, but the metro simply isn't adding the amount of people that Austin, Tampa, Orlando, Charlotte, and Raleigh/Durham are adding. Last I checked, MSA Nashville has more land area than CSA Charlotte and nearly 800,000 fewer people. Look it up for yourself.....
Nashville is growing perfectly fast, but they aren’t in-line for the NBA or MLB, so I don’t think we have to worry about having all Big 4 sports in a middle-tier metro.
The scenario of Charlotte handling 4 pro teams is specific to Charlotte.
For one, the MLS would be one of the teams, not the NHL, and there are a whole lot less home games in MLS than NHL. As well the MLS is in the Spring/Summer mainly, which is NOT the same as having a NBA and NHL team schedules that run on the same timeline. So really MLS fills in the gap of professional sports with an NBA and NFL team. Finally, MLS can pull from a large area (just like the NFL) because games are on the weekend when people can travel in. Lots of youth soccer programs would take advantage of going to games in Charlotte.
So the issue of 4 comes down to whether Charlotte would support MLB, because there are so many games and they are on weeknights. That's been the question all along. I dont think having MLS makes one bit of difference as to whether MLB will work. That's more about Charlotte's buy in to MLB. Baseball rarely expands and rarely leaves a community. I think it will happen eventually, but it could be 15 more years when its considered. By that point what does Charlotte look like? It may be a no brainer considering you take the AAA team out of the market and replace it.
Dude, I visit Nashville several times per year due to family. The downtown vibe blows Charlotte away on it's worst day, but the metro simply isn't adding the amount of people that Austin, Tampa, Orlando, Charlotte, and Raleigh/Durham are adding. Last I checked, MSA Nashville has more land area than CSA Charlotte and nearly 800,000 fewer people. Look it up for yourself.....
The scenario of Charlotte handling 4 pro teams is specific to Charlotte.
For one, the MLS would be one of the teams, not the NHL, and there are a whole lot less home games in MLS than NHL. As well the MLS is in the Spring/Summer mainly, which is NOT the same as having a NBA and NHL team schedules that run on the same timeline. So really MLS fills in the gap of professional sports with an NBA and NFL team. Finally, MLS can pull from a large area (just like the NFL) because games are on the weekend when people can travel in. Lots of youth soccer programs would take advantage of going to games in Charlotte.
So the issue of 4 comes down to whether Charlotte would support MLB, because there are so many games and they are on weeknights. That's been the question all along. I dont think having MLS makes one bit of difference as to whether MLB will work. That's more about Charlotte's buy in to MLB. Baseball rarely expands and rarely leaves a community. I think it will happen eventually, but it could be 15 more years when its considered. By that point what does Charlotte look like? It may be a no brainer considering you take the AAA team out of the market and replace it.
I think the main issue would be how MLS would compete with MLB for corporate sponsorships.
We will know in 2or 3 months what Don Garber's selection will be No.30 team. : “There are three markets that we’re looking at, Charlotte, Las Vegas and Phoenix."
Don Garber: Charlotte Bid at 'Front of the Line' for MLS's 30th Team
By Grant Wahl Nov 8, 2019
SEATTLE — In his state of the league address ahead of Sunday’s MLS Cup final between Toronto FC and the Seattle Sounders, commissioner Don Garber didn’t make a lot of news while discussing a number of topics–including the ongoing labor talks. But he did give a clearer indication than ever that Charlotte is in the driver’s seat to become the league’s 30th team as MLS’s expansion continues at a breakneck pace.
“There are three markets that we’re looking at, that our expansion committee has been engaging: Charlotte, Las Vegas and Phoenix. It’s fair to say that Charlotte has done a lot of work to move their bid really to the front of the line,” Garber said.
MLS is expanding at a rapid rate, with teams already set to join the league in 2020 (Nashville and Miami), 2021 (Austin) and 2022 (Sacramento and St. Louis). In addition to building soccer stadiums in their markets, the ownership groups in Sacramento and St. Louis will pay expansion fees of $200 million. The 30th team is expected to pay a $300 million expansion fee.
If Charlotte gets an MLS team, Garber did say that the team would play in the city’s NFL stadium, not in a new soccer stadium.
Don Garber gives MLS's State of the League address
Jennifer Buchanan/USA Today Sports
Charlotte’s appeal, Garber said, “starts with David Tepper, the owner of the Panthers, who’s a very passionate guy about sports, very passionate about Charlotte, and is reminding us that the league didn’t really see what Atlanta would become. I’d be the first to admit that. There’s a lot of things happening in Charlotte that are very similar to things that are happening in Atlanta in terms of the diversity of the fanbase and a lot of the corporate energy that’s going on down there. We’ve been engaged with them, and we’ll continue to do so.”
Garber did say that Team 30 was not yet a done deal for Charlotte, but he added that an official announcement will likely come in the "next number of months." That timeframe in itself suggests that MLS likely knows which city it wants to go to next.
Soccer fans (and ownership groups) in Las Vegas and Phoenix shouldn’t necessarily look at Garber’s statements on Friday as bad news. Garber himself has said recently that he could see the league expanding beyond 30 teams, and Vegas and Phoenix’s inclusion in Garber’s list of three candidates on Friday means they are almost certainly next in line.
Not being included at all in Garber’s list of cities would be discouraging news, however, for other cities with MLS aspirations like San Diego, Detroit, Tampa Bay, Indianapolis and Raleigh.
Prospective Charlotte MLS team From Charlotte Business Journal
Over the summer, Glick told me the Panthers had secured commitments from 60 Charlotte area companies to pay $100,000 per year for rights to lease BofA Stadium suites for MLS games. In addition, Ally Financial signed on as lead sponsor of a prospective Charlotte MLS team.
BJ previously reported on closed-session City Council deliberations to contribute $100 million worth of tourism tax revenue to help Tepper pay for soccer-compatible improvements at the Panthers’ NFL stadium as well as an MLS club training complex. The soccer training headquarters is likely to be built on 20 acres of land at the former Eastland Mall site, an 80-acre property owned by city government.
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