I don't think enough people in this state would care enough. This is a college basketball state. People will go the first year, and maybe even some of the second year. However experience a NBA game or two, and get to see a few of the star players. I just don't think there would be as much interest anymore to keep going after that.

 

It's not a college basketball state, it's a basketball state. I would be shocked if people wouldn't be extremely interested in having an NBA franchise in the state.

It's a college town because there isn't an NBA team.

 

What came first? The chicken or the egg?

 

Perhaps. But the fact of the matter is who's going to attend? Obviously, basketball fans are the first target. That means the people paying for the expensive seats at Freedom Hall and Rupp Arena. Asking those people to pony up for 40+ more dates on top of what they're already shelling out at college games would be difficult. We just don't have the population+economic base to be able to support it, especially when you consider how much more expensive NBA tickets are than college games. Crowds might be OK on the weekends, but those Monday thru Thursday games would be sparsely attended, especially on nights when Kentucky and/or Louisville play.

I said 0 but I suppose there is always a possibility. For 1 I'm not really an NBA fan, and secondly, I pretty much hate Louisville. Sorry guys, it just always seems to dirty when I'm down there, just don't care for it.

It's not a college basketball state, it's a basketball state. I would be shocked if people wouldn't be extremely interested in having an NBA franchise in the state.

 

I'd be shocked if they would. I'd be particularly interested in seeing ratings numbers for NBA games in the Louisville and Lexington TV markets. That would be a pretty good indicator of how it would go down, I'd bet.

 

Interesting to note the poll in this thread that shows only two people out of 26 -- on a sports-related message board -- would go to more than 10 games a year. I realize we're not talking about a scientific sample here, but still. An NBA team ain't going to relocate to Louisville just because a few people would go to a handful of games a year. That's a recipe for an even bigger financial disaster than the one the NBA already faces.

I'd be shocked if they would. I'd be particularly interested in seeing ratings numbers for NBA games in the Louisville and Lexington TV markets. That would be a pretty good indicator of how it would go down, I'd bet.

 

Interesting to note the poll in this thread that shows only two people out of 26 -- on a sports-related message board -- would go to more than 10 games a year. I realize we're not talking about a scientific sample here, but still. An NBA team ain't going to relocate to Louisville just because a few people would go to a handful of games a year. That's a recipe for an even bigger financial disaster than the one the NBA already faces.

 

As I said in my initial post, if it were in the Cincy area, I'd be very intrigued in season tickets. Being an hour and a half away in a city I can't stand to set foot in, is the only reason I wouldn't attend. If it were in Lexington, I'd probably make it to a couple games.

Perhaps. But the fact of the matter is who's going to attend? Obviously, basketball fans are the first target. That means the people paying for the expensive seats at Freedom Hall and Rupp Arena. Asking those people to pony up for 40+ more dates on top of what they're already shelling out at college games would be difficult. We just don't have the population+economic base to be able to support it, especially when you consider how much more expensive NBA tickets are than college games. Crowds might be OK on the weekends, but those Monday thru Thursday games would be sparsely attended, especially on nights when Kentucky and/or Louisville play.

 

I agree; the only way an NBA franchise could survive somewhere in the area is in Cincinnati. Louisville would rely too much on rural areas. Louisville would not attract much of a Cincinnati crowd, but Cincinnati may attract a bit of a Louisville crowd.

We need to rephrase the question?

 

How many games would you BUY tickets for? Uh, not many if any.

 

Freebies? I'd check out a few.

 

That goes for it being in Cincy as well.

It's not a college basketball state, it's a basketball state. I would be shocked if people wouldn't be extremely interested in having an NBA franchise in the state.

 

I can pretty safely say that if we had NBA ball in this city, I'd stop caring all that much about UofL.

 

And I'll say I'm right there with a lot of the folks on the driving... if it were in Cincy, I wouldn't go to more than a few games a year.

I would be a season ticket holder living in central ky. I love the nba.

For those of you who say you would buy season tickets check out this pricing guide for the Pacers.

 

https://oss.ticketmaster.com/html/pack_searchtix.htmI?l=EN&CNTX=d8b32d02bd4928ce368f822e0f2fc9b7

^ $326 for top-of-the-arena seats; as I said above, if I can get them at that price, I'd buy. I used Salt Lake City's guide when I was looking just because they are currently the smallest metropolitan area with an NBA franchise; Louisville would be the smallest if it had a team. I don't remember the numbers exactly, but I think Salt Lake has about 1.7 million in the metro area, Louisville is more like 1.2 million.

^ $326 for top-of-the-arena seats; as I said above, if I can get them at that price, I'd buy. I used Salt Lake City's guide when I was looking just because they are currently the smallest metropolitan area with an NBA franchise; Louisville would be the smallest if it had a team. I don't remember the numbers exactly, but I think Salt Lake has about 1.7 million in the metro area, Louisville is more like 1.2 million.

 

That's like $8 a game, right? I can't view the link from work for some reason.

That's like $8 a game, right? I can't view the link from work for some reason.

 

I couldn't get the link to work either. I ended up going straight to the Pacers' website, but yeah, it's just under $8 per game. The problem I'd imagine fans find is the same one people face at UofL game now... lots of people want the cheap seats so they get claimed early... then if you want to go you have to pay for the next level up.

^ $326 for top-of-the-arena seats; as I said above, if I can get them at that price, I'd buy. I used Salt Lake City's guide when I was looking just because they are currently the smallest metropolitan area with an NBA franchise; Louisville would be the smallest if it had a team. I don't remember the numbers exactly, but I think Salt Lake has about 1.7 million in the metro area, Louisville is more like 1.2 million.

They are crazy about their Jazz also. I am not sure it would be the same level of excitement in Louisville. Obviously there is no way of judging that at this time, just a guess.

Memphis is the current closest NBA franchise to myself and closer than Louisville, yet I have never been to a game. To be honest, I always forget that the Grizzlies have a franchise.

 

With Louisville being within this state and some family in the area, I would like to think I could make it up to a couple games a season.