It would be crazy to ever scrape the derby for anything. The Derby is Kentucky's signature event and brings about a hollywood atmosphere for a weekend. It is the premiere event in horse racing and most recognizable event. No way should you ever trade the derby for anything.

 

 

With that said, Louisville IMO would be a great place to see the Kings land once they leave Sac Town. Unfortunately, Jurich and the Louisville city council have screwed the entire state out of any chance of that happening. The YUM center agreement has to be one of the most one sided, egregious contracts to have ever been prepared. It basically handed UL free reign of the arena without the ability to do anything about it. Pro and College teams co exist on the same home court all the time, it could work, UL just doesn't want it to work. Now that is the tragedy.

Do I get a guarantee that the pro team will be here forever or would I be giving up a great' date=' globally-famous sporting event for the chance to get LA Raider'd?[/quote']

 

We'll give you a guarantee.

No way. Kentucky has a few unique things known the world over. The Derby, the best Bourbons in the world are made here and UK Basketball. We don't need anything else.

No way. I always feel proud when MOKH is played prior to the Derby. Also its not a big enough market for any pro franchise. Pro teams within 2-3 hours in every direction.

Not a chance. What more could you want? I am close to the Reds and Bengals already. No way would I want to give up the most storied race in horse racing!

I would keep the Derby.

Keep the Derby.

 

The only place to put a pro franchise would be in Louisville, which is too close to Cincinnati for baseball, to close to Indianapolis for basketball, and to close to Cincy, Indy, and Nashville for football.

 

For basketball, there is too much competition for the sports dollar from the 2 major universities in the state.

 

Also no metropolitan area in the state, save NKY, is large enough to support a pro team. Even NKY has to include the Cincinnati area to make it large enough. It's not about filling stadiums. It's about TV market size. Louisville and Lexington are 40 and above in market size.

 

The Derby draws from all over the world. No major sports franchise draw like that every week. It is an event that lasts a week and pulls in more money into the Louisville area economy than any pro franchise would over the course of a season.

 

Very good points.

No way. Kentucky has a few unique things known the world over. The Derby, the best Bourbons in the world are made here and UK Basketball. We don't need anything else.

 

And we get to claim fried chicken!

Like others have said, no way. That race puts KY on the map as the place to be for a day, no pro team could do that.

I would keep the Derby. Kentucky is recognized world-wide due to this event....I don't think people think about Ohio or Cincinnati world-wide due to the Bengals or the Reds.

 

My Avatar says to keep it.

Not a chance.

Lose the Derby. You trying to tell me to keep a 2 minute horse race over 8 NFL games, 41 basketball games or 81 baseball games? Whatever. I'd much rather have a pro team IN Kentucky than that race that is forgotten about in a day. Makes no sense. I already forgot the name of the horse that won this year.

 

Asinine.

Lose the Derby. You trying to tell me to keep a 2 minute horse race over 8 NFL games, 41 basketball games or 81 baseball games? Whatever. I'd much rather have a pro team IN Kentucky than that race that is forgotten about in a day. Makes no sense. I already forgot the name of the horse that won this year.

 

Asinine.

 

Word.

Keep the Derby.

 

The only place to put a pro franchise would be in Louisville, which is too close to Cincinnati for baseball, to close to Indianapolis for basketball, and to close to Cincy, Indy, and Nashville for football.

 

For basketball, there is too much competition for the sports dollar from the 2 major universities in the state.

 

Also no metropolitan area in the state, save NKY, is large enough to support a pro team. Even NKY has to include the Cincinnati area to make it large enough. It's not about filling stadiums. It's about TV market size. Louisville and Lexington are 40 and above in market size.

 

The Derby draws from all over the world. No major sports franchise draw like that every week. It is an event that lasts a week and pulls in more money into the Louisville area economy than any pro franchise would over the course of a season.

 

Very well said.

 

I don't follow horse racing at all, but I know what a big week the Derby is for the state in general, and Louisville particularly.

 

In MLB, Kentuckians already have the Reds, Cards, and maybe even the Cubs/White Sox, and Braves close enough. In the NBA, the Pacers, Grizzlies, and I guess the Bulls and Hawks are close enough too. In the NFL, you have the Bengals, Colts, Rams, and Titans, and maybe the Bears and Falcons.

 

All that said, who would have ever thought a NFL franchise would go over in Indy? Too close to Cincy, too close to Chicago, fairly close to St. Louis. Seems to have worked out pretty well for that city despite the Indy 500.

 

Why not dare to dream and throw an NBA team into the Ville?

Hypothetically Kentucky gets a major (NBA' date=' MLB, NFL) sports team but has to get rid of the KY Derby. Would you do it?[/quote']

 

For purely selfish reasons (ignoring all financial data and speaking only as a fan) I would trade the derby for anything that is actually interesting to me. An NHL franchise would be unique but MLB or NFL would be a good trade for me.

 

However as others have pointed out the derby is far too important to our state and as a KY citizen I would not support trading it for any other sport franchise.

 

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