As if the Austin Toros don’t have enough competition for ticket sales in the form of the University of Texas basketball team, a report from American City Business Journals says Austin could support an NBA team.
Austin – a metro area with a population of nearly 1.8 million but without any major-league sports franchises – could financially support teams from the NFL, NBA and NHL but might have a hard time supporting a Major League Baseball team, according to a new study.
According to the study, Austin has $67 billion in income to support NFL, NBA and NHL teams, but the fact that the city does not have the space to build a new stadium and that Austin would have to compete with the San Antonio Spurs doesn’t give them much of a chance to land a team.
And if Austinites want to catch an NBA game, when or if there is a season, they can always drive 80 miles down to watch the Toros NBA affiliate, San Antonio Spurs.
The way the NBA is talking, they will probably be more likely contracting teams than expanding. Maybe the Hornets can finally have a home there–just a thought
Hard to imagine the NBA would ever imagine Austin would support a team. The ‘could’ in terms of dollars and people may be there, but when the Toros can’t bring more than a few hundred people to most of their games, it just doesn’t make sense. The NHL maybe. But not the NBA.