Vancouver has the bank to back a new NBA franchise: Report
How strongly would an NBA team impact the Lions? The Lions would have to become more competitive in terms of securing corporate partners and attracting new fans from among our large immigrant population for whom basketball would be a more familiar sport than football. Could the Lions co-exist and thrive alongside another major pro sports team, and would the NBA be able to cope with a downturn in the dollar exchange rate?Vancouver has the bank to back a new NBA franchise: Report
By Derrick Penner, Vancouver Sun June 9, 2014 12:32 PM
VANCOUVER - Vancouverites pining for professional basketball’s return could see their dreams come true, but baseball lovers can forget about a Major League team coming to the city, according to a new report on the economics of professional sports in Canada.
Notwithstanding any expansion plans that would bring the NBA back to Metro Vancouver, the city’s growing population has the size and wealth to support a franchise, according to the report from the Conference Board of Canada, but not all sports.
The report’s author noted that Vancouver’s experience with the Vancouver Grizzlies ended badly with the team’s move to Memphis and hard feelings left behind in the city, but “market conditions exist for another franchise to be successful,” said Glen Hodgson, the conference’ board’s senior vice-president and chief economist.
“With Vancouver’s steady rise in population, high income levels and a strong corporate presence, the NBA could return one day, especially if the Canadian dollar remains strong.”
In the report, Hodgson notes that Metro Vancouver’s population had just crested two million in 2000/01, the Grizzlies’ final season here, and the Canadian dollar was on its way to an historically low exchange rate with the U.S. dollar.
However, Hodgson said that with Metro Vancouver’s population on its way to hit 3.5 million by 2035, according to estimates, and the expectation it will attract more potentially team-sponsoring corporate headquarters the city would have a good base for a new NBA team.
“The major challenge will be to find committed ownership and astute management,” the report said.
And while that 3.5-million population base would comfortably support its existing franchises, and an added NBA team, Hodgson doesn’t believe it would be big enough to support a Major League Baseball team.
The Conference Board Report: Power Play: The Business Economics of Pro Sports examines the economic conditions the cities that host major pro-sports leagues, the operating conditions of leagues and addresses the hot topic of who should pay for new pro sports facilities.
The website for the report (available as a $5 ebook on Kindle) is here:
http://www.conferenceboard.ca/powerplay.aspx
The scope of the report goes beyond Vancouver to the entire country and considers which Canadian markets in the long term are best suited for which sports leagues. Interestingly, they seem not to entertain the possibility of the NFL anywhere in Canada (presumably not even Toronto).