personally, i don't think NC can support a baseball team

it will be similar to the situation in Tampa

if the Carolina Marlins can win from the get-go (if they still have Dontrelle) then they might do about 2 million a year, but if they are at or below .500 i think they'll flop

1/20/2006 11:53:13 AM

Are they talking about this again or are you just speculating?


I think it will do better in NC than it did in Miami. I mean dont get me wrong, its hot as fuck here in the summer, but its at least tolerable to be outside.


The tax payers voted against paying to build the stadium, but I dont think that means they dont want a team. I'd go watch them....live baseball in the summer is fucking awesome.

1/20/2006 12:05:47 PM

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/13659032.htm

1/20/2006 12:17:03 PM

Im all for baseball in NC. People would come from outside of Charlotte to see a team play. I think baseball is vastly underrated in NC. Charlotte would be fine I think. People would come from all in the Triad to see the team play. Thats another 1 million people that might come.

1/20/2006 1:01:02 PM

i'd like for them to move here since the marlins are my favorite team, but they would most have attendance numbers similar to those they already have once the novelty period wears off.

1/20/2006 1:27:07 PM

i wouldn't buy season tickets, but i'd buy some big ass ticket passes

i'd prolly try to go to every game they played w/ st louis

and it would make for an interesting rivalry w/ the braves, since charlotte isn't THAT far from atl right?

1/20/2006 1:28:37 PM

oh of course I'd be there for every Cards game (and Sox if they played interleague)

and I do agree that Charlotte is a better choice than W-S ever was

1/20/2006 1:30:24 PM

In my mind Charlotte would be an ideal location for a baseball team. Not only are you drawing from Mecklenberg County itself, but from Columbia SC, the Triad, and the Triangle. All are around or within 2 hours driving time. That's a huge base to draw from.

1/20/2006 1:38:41 PM

I think it would be a great idea. It would give the Braves a better rival than the Mets or Miami Marlins. Charlotte supports teams well as long as the owner isn't an asshole.

1/20/2006 1:50:35 PM

did the Hornets draw well? i wasn't living here then

also about the Triad and upstate SC coming to Charlotte to see games...I don't see that alone being able to support a team. sure, they might help to sell out NL East games, but you think there will be any more than 12-15K there for a Dodgers/Reds/Brewers game?

1/20/2006 1:56:28 PM

^ The Hornets used to draw awesome. One of best in the NBA in terms of sellouts, but then the fucking owner sold them out and so the fans said fuck you and stopped coming.

1/20/2006 1:59:51 PM

Quote :

"did the Hornets draw well? i wasn't living here then"

I think they had the longest sell-out streak in the NBA (FirstUnion/Wachovia/BoA made sure of that) but I think there was quite I following until the owner decided to be a dickhead.

I could see baseball doing well with an Uptown arena (there have been several site studies for locations) but it will depend on how the bobcats are thought to be doing. If the NFL and 2nd NBA team can make it, an MLB team could too.

1/20/2006 2:00:43 PM

Yeah the Hornets repeatedly set attendance records, and I remember the waiting list for season tickets was massive.

1/20/2006 2:11:25 PM

Yeah I remember when I was little we knew a guy that had season tickets, and he got us into some luxury boxes and a seat at that courtside table once. This was when Alonzo was still playing for them with Mugsy and everyone... I used to think that was the loudest place on earth.

Then then Mugsy got hurt, Zo got traded, and the team went down the shitter. The last few years was just horrible, and I would have never imagined the attendance could drop so much...and so fast.

1/20/2006 2:15:05 PM

yeah, looks like they were at 23K average per game for most of the early 90s

that's a big fucking arena

1/20/2006 2:15:31 PM

My family was on the season ticket waiting list for many years. We never had any intention of buying them, but we knew we were so far down the list it would never get to us, and if you were on the waiting list you had opportunities to get single game tickets every season. The marketing for the Hornets was very much player based, and basically everyone in the area loved L.J., Zo, and Mugsy. Suddenly all three of them were gone, and I think that's when a lot of people stopped caring as much. Of course, it didn't help that George Shinn was the biggest douchebag in the city.

Year  	        Total  	      Avg
2001-02 	462,738 	11,286
2000-01 	615,424 	15,010
1999-00 	732,827 	17,874
1998-99 	480,807 	19,232
1997-98 	959,634 	23,406
1996-97 	985,722 	24,042
1995-96 	985,722 	24,042
1994-95 	971,618 	23,698
1993-94 	971,618 	23,698
1992-93 	971,618 	23,698
1991-92 	971,618 	23,698
1990-91 	980,141 	23,906
1989-90 	979,941 	23,901
1988-89 	950,064 	23,172

1/20/2006 2:18:36 PM

ok, so a large city just off Tobacco Road can pull in 23K 36 times a year...

but the real question is can the same large city pull in 30K+ 81 times a year to what is not a huge baseball region of the US?

1/20/2006 2:29:17 PM

I think it can average around 25 depending on how good or bad they are. I mean if the marlins had the fucking attendance to support the team financially, they wouldnt be talking about moving. I just think that if someone can produce a team that has the potential to win 2 world series in 10 years in North Carolina, baseball would work, and work VERY well.

1/20/2006 2:35:09 PM

why can't the team with the best record in the NHL, just a few years removed from the Stanley Cup finals, sell out every night?


can we really still blame it on expensive tickets and the strike? i mean really, can we?

1/20/2006 2:37:07 PM

well weren't they surprisingly horrible after they lost in the finals? I dont think they ever bounced back as an organization...made some bad personel moves too. The good thing about the Hurricanes is they caught on QUICKLY as soon as they started winning, and the atmosphere a RBC is really good for big games. The strike hurt really bad also, but heres another thing people might not think of in terms of attendance this year....This is possibly the most anti-hyped team in the league. If I'm not mistaken, they were picked around 30 overall. If we have a good finale this year, ticket sales will go up for next season...especially being a year removed from the strike.

I definately think baseball could do better than hockey in NC...especially if they put the team in Charlotte.

1/20/2006 2:44:27 PM

i wouldn't mind baseball here, but i wouldn't pull for them against the braves. its kinda like the panthers invading redskins territory, but i wasn't a football fan before the cats came.

1/20/2006 3:05:55 PM

The bad thing about Hurricanes hockey is that their division consists of the Thrashers, Panthers, Lightning, and Capitals and that's near half their home games.

Baseball, more so than any other US team sport, requires a strong local attendance due to 81 home games. Outside of corporations showing off, who in the Triad or Columbia, SC would buy a season ticket? Plus, with the Panthers and an entrenched NBA presence (even though not the same team), it'd be very difficult for baseball in Charlotte to do any better than what the Marlins do currently.


[Edited on January 20, 2006 at 3:26 PM. Reason : .]

1/20/2006 3:22:07 PM

Quote :

"I think it would be a great idea. It would give the Braves a better rival than the Mets or Miami Marlins. Charlotte supports teams well as long as the owner isn't an asshole."

Not better than the Dodgers.

Anyway, I think the Marlins would move to Vegas before they move to Charlotte. If they did come to Charlotte, where in the world is everyone going to park?

I still think it's a bad idea to put a minor league (the Knights) stadium downtown, because of the hassle to get to games. The current site in Ft. Mill is easy to get to and there is loads of parking. And the stadium is only 15 years old.

1/20/2006 4:38:43 PM

no way in hell would charlotte or any other city in north carolina be able to support a MLB team. sorry, the numbers / interest just isn't there

1/20/2006 4:50:35 PM

some if you guys are forgetting that most of the Southeast doesnt give a damn about baseball. Technically, the charlotte and surrounding areas could support a team, just not a baseball team. People in the south like Football > Nascar > ACC Basketball > NBA Basketball >>>>> Hockey (because of the yankee influx , Baseball

1/20/2006 5:00:16 PM

I guess I'm not most of the Southeast

1/20/2006 5:35:22 PM

i would be pissed if they call them the "CAROLINA" anything

the CAROLINA panthers sounds gay enough

why not Charlotte Panthers or the North Carolina Panthers



in summation

fuck carolina

1/20/2006 8:42:05 PM

i like this idea

1/20/2006 8:50:49 PM

The reason they are called the Carolina Panthers is because the team is supposed to represent North and South Carolina. The committee that pushed to get an expansion team was from both states, and they have worked South Carolina in by playing there the first season before the Charlotte stadium was built. They also hold training camp every year in Spartanburg. Not sure if there are any other ways that South Carolina is tied in.

1/20/2006 8:57:23 PM

Charlotte is close to the NC / SC border, kind of a central location between the two states maybe?

1/20/2006 10:58:34 PM