Why No D-League Teams In The South?

[Houston Caldwell]

Just wanted to hear some opinions on this----- there are currently no D-League teams in the Southeast, and I'm curious as to why. The D-League affiliate of both the Memphis Grizzlies and Atlanta Hawks is the team in Reno, Nevada.

Have always thought Nashville would be a good market for a D-League team (the Nashville arena, Bridgestone Arena, is managed by the ownership of the NHL Nashville Predators, who have looked at getting into the Arena Football business to fill some dates at Bridgestone---- so why not D-League hoops?).

[Minor League Man]

Originally Posted by Houston Caldwell

Just wanted to hear some opinions on this----- there are currently no D-League teams in the Southeast, and I'm curious as to why. The D-League affiliate of both the Memphis Grizzlies and Atlanta Hawks is the team in Reno, Nevada.

Have always thought Nashville would be a good market for a D-League team (the Nashville arena, Bridgestone Arena, is managed by the ownership of the NHL Nashville Predators, who have looked at getting into the Arena Football business to fill some dates at Bridgestone---- so why not D-League hoops?).

The reason there's no D-League in the Southeast, I'm guessing is because that's where it started out (Asheville, Charleston, Columbus, Fayetteville, Greenville, Huntsville, Mobile, Roanoke)...when they switched away from league ownership, the Southeast quickly faded and the D-League started going more north, east, and west.

[Sam Hill]

Originally Posted by Houston Caldwell

Just wanted to hear some opinions on this----- there are currently no D-League teams in the Southeast, and I'm curious as to why.

Probably because the original Southeast-based teams were a D-saster.

Every single one of the original D-League teams (all in the Southeast) were either folded or moved (or both) out of the Southeast by year seven.

[panchess]

Yeah. That dog didn't hunt. Not enough time between college football and NASCAR to build a following.

[SignGuyDino]

Rushed prodcut, replicant logos and mascots, arena/concert management deals that were unsustainable, local government givaways that backfired, burning bridges with local hockey teams, etc.

There are certain things they do much better. To me there IS NO serious "minor" league outside of the D-League. Sorry, none. Nobody wants to admit their semipro, or should be.

Also, Silver is already stating the NBA CBA is causing them to lose money. (Uh-huh.) Notice they NEVER suggest folding the WNBA despite the many $millions they lose a year.

So don't expect the D-League to expand to the south or much anywhere else for a while.

[trueballer]

The D-League gained a lot of success as it moved towards north. The progress failures in south was a reason for that.

Still i think that now is a time when they can try moving towards south and expand their league.

[Paul S]

Bizarrely a lot of the early success of D-League teams were transplants from other leagues (Arkansas etc.).

When the league first debuted they were all in the south. That just never took off.

Down Low : Life in the D League was a show on ESPN that chronicled the off court activities of the league, it was surprisingly good.

[nksports]

Originally Posted by SignGuyDino

Notice they NEVER suggest folding the WNBA despite the many $millions they lose a year.

The salary of two or three mid-level NBA players can cover the WNBA's entire payroll for a year. That's probably one reason why. Of course, the salary of a couple bench players could fund the D-League for a year.