Charlotte Hornets considering seven cities for D-League team

[Minor League Mania]

I like a lot of the cities you mentioned. Since I am in the Southeast I will only talk to the cities over here. I have been to all of them. Some real recently. I work in Birmingham and they are serious about getting a team. Mayor Bell honestly wants and NBA team and is willing to fund an arena to put it in. I do think they will end up with a D-League team.

I saw two Jacksonville Giants games this season. They pack that place out for an ABA game! The games are on TV and they are a great basketball city.

Biloxi may be a bit of a stretch as you mentioned. They did recently get a AA baseball team and have tourist money to play with. I am not sure if the city already has an area big enough but I never count out a city with solid casino money.

There will be a Southeast division again soon. I still say by 2018. Charlotte is the first to commit to the south (Carolinas). Others will follow.

Some other cities not to count out though are Baton Rouge La, Jackon Ms, Chattanooga TN, and what about Nashville?

[Hockey]

[quote=""Minor League Mania""]Some other cities not to count out though are Baton Rouge La, Jackon Ms, Chattanooga TN, and what about Nashville?[/quote]

I tried to stay away from NCAA cities and "major league" cities. Plus the city must have a non-college run venue.

Jackson has the Mississippi Coliseum where the ECHL Bandits played. It's old but a viable building.

Chattanooga has Camp Jordan Arena where they do indoor football, but it would be a joke for basketball. The other buildings are on campuses.

Baton Rouge and Nashville they would be too small of fishes.

Is BJCC the only building in Birmingham? Pelham Civic Center, where the WHA2 Alabama Slammers played, lists on the wikipedia that the Globetrotters annually play there. 3,000 seats seems plenty for D-League.

http://pelhamciviccomplex.com/wp-conten ... 07/ce4.jpg

But is this even a viable area/commute/community.

[Minor League Mania]

The BJCC (now Legacy Arena) is a large full scale arena. There is another arena that has been recently remodeled the Bill Harris Arena. It is next to the large track and field venue the city built a few years ago. The only problem is that the two arenas are on the wrong side of Birmingham. They are not like downtown where the Barons and UAB are located or even "uptown" where Legacy or airport access are. They would likely only be using the lower bowl of the BJCC.

I think you are right with college cities. Maybe that is one of the reasons Columbia did not work out for the Hornets. If we are tying to match arenas to cities I would consider Macon GA.

I would have to disagree that Nashville is too small. They already have an NFL and NHL team not to mention AAA baseball. I would argue that Nashville would be too large before I would small.

[Hockey]

I would have to disagree that Nashville is too small. They already have an NFL and NHL team not to mention AAA baseball. I would argue that Nashville would be too large before I would small.

I was saying the team would be too small in big Nashville.

I was not aware of the location of BJCC, that must be why everything has died there.

Macon has a quality minor league sports history. Well, quantity, maybe not quality. But at least that means there are interested parties. Hockey restarts there this fall. We will see if this team survives or if the D League could come in with an open market.

[Minor League Mania]

BJCC is in a good location. Bill Harris arena is not. I would honestly expect when a few more Southeasten cities are in the mix that Birmingham is a leading candidate.

I agree Nashville may be too big for the D-League but they do support a Minor League Baseball team so who knows.

[toad455]

so the Pacers are looking into owning the Fort Worth Mad Ants. If this goes through, what happens to the other 11 NBA without a D-League team??

NBA teams without a D-League team/affiliation: Charlotte, New Orleans, Atlanta, Brooklyn, Chicago, Denver, Milwaukee, LA Clippers, Minnesota, Portland & Washington.

[nksports]

[quote=""toad455""]If this goes through, what happens to the other 11 NBA without a D-League team??[/quote]
They either buy or start a team themselves, affiliate with a team that's not owned by an NBA team or they go without.

[Dan K]

New Orleans considering D-League team:

http://www.nola.com/pelicans/index.ssf/ ... ste_1.html

[toad455]

I wonder if the league will try to add a 20th team in time for the 2015-16 season?

[toad455]

and along with Charlotte & New Orleans pursuing D-League teams, Brooklyn & Atlanta seem to be looking into a team as well. I also think an NBA team should look into the Jacksonville Sharks and bring them into the D-League.

Indiana - Fort Worth
Charlotte - ???
Atlanta - Gwinnett
Brooklyn - Brooklyn
New Orleans - Biloxi or Birmingham