MLS or NBA in STL?

Should an NBA team move to St. Louis? It’s a question that fans have waited to hear answered for 35 years. With the Cardinals arguably the most prominent sports team in the Gateway to the West, and the Rams and Blues aiming to have successful futures, one must wonder: what would it be like if we had a basketball team in the city?

Well at one point, we did. The St. Louis Hawks (now the Atlanta Hawks) were the only NBA team in St. Louis history. The Hawks (pictured at the bottom of the page) were in St. Louis from 1955 to 1968, and were a successful franchise, appearing in the playoffs all but two of their seasons in St. Louis. They appeared in four NBA Finals, winning their only title in 1958.

In 1968, despite coming off their best record since moving to St. Louis (56-26), the owner of the Hawks, Ben Kerner, made a move that stunned and appalled St. Louis and sold the team to Georgia real estate investor Thomas Cousins, and St. Louis hasn’t had an NBA team since.

But basketball isn’t the only sport that is capturing the eyes of the city of St. Louis.

Most recently, St. Louis has been the site of two major soccer events, the first being Chelsea and Manchester City facing off at Busch Stadium in front of 48,263 fans on May 23rd, and the second being Real Madrid playing Inter Milan at the Edward Jones Dome on August 10th.  Fans became enthralled at the sport, and tickets sold out for the games in mere minutes.

Now, St. Louisians not only are considering having an NBA team, but also considering an MLS team. While Major League Soccer is not on the same level as international soccer in prominence, it is still a very financially successful and popular league. The inclusion of a potential soccer team brings up a good question: which sport would benefit the city most financially? Considering both soccer games that were played in St. Louis sold out at considerable speed, one would have to argue it would be the most financially beneficial sport. Soccer is considered to be the most popular sport worldwide, with millions of fans tuning into every broadcast-ed match, and to some countries, it’s seen as a way to unify as one for the love of the game.

The NBA is known for having teams in much smaller markets such as Salt Lake City, Sacramento, Charlotte, and Portland, as opposed to markets such as New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Miami. St. Louis approximately has the 14th largest market in the United States, and a basketball team could be a lot easier to manage not only financially, but venue-wise as well.

If St. Louis were to have a soccer team, there would be two possible options for where the team would play: the city could allow them to play at either Busch Stadium or the Edward Jones Dome, but scheduling conflicts could very much arise because of it. If they were to build a stadium from scratch, it would cost roughly $50 to $150 million to build and maintain.

It’s been 35 years since St. Louis has had a basketball team, and if they were to bring an NBA franchise to the city (because the NBA would not uneven the 30-team league by just adding another), finding a venue wouldn’t be as much of a problem, since basketball courts are considerably smaller than soccer fields. The Hawks moved in ’68,  partly because the Kiel Auditorium was so poorly maintained, along with the fact the city refused to build a new stadium for the team, that led to the relocation.

The only two venues in St. Louis that hold basketball events are the Scottrade Center, home of the Blues, and the Chaifetz Arena, home of the SLU Bilikens, but if the scheduling is done right, an NBA franchise could manage quite well downtown. This fall, the Chicago Bulls and Memphis Grizzlies will play an exhibition game in St. Louis, and only time will tell how the atmosphere of that game will be.

The discussion of having another sports franchise in St. Louis  has only just begun. Having a soccer team or a basketball team both have benefits, and detractors. While it seems unlikely the city will add another franchise in the near future, you can never count out St. Louis. Because in 1995, no one expected the Rams to leave Los Angeles and come to the Gateway City, and although the NFL tried hard to prevent that, it happened. And the rest is history (Photo credit: STLtoday.com/Getty Images).