re: Will Louisiana ever get an MLB/MLS/NHL team?

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Best part about the Brass playing in the Auditorium was that every seat was basically right up on the ice because of the small size (the rink was actually under regulation size as well) so fans got into it more. When they moved into the arena that same crowd got so spread out that it seemed empty. Eventually they closed off the upper deck but it was still visible so looked so empty. I think if SMG would have committed to the conversions it would have been more successful because people coming to hockey games would see stuff about basketball and maybe want to go and people coming to basketball games would see hockey stuff in the arena and be interested in seeing that.

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It's true. The Auditorium was INSANE!!! It was wonderful for fans, missed it when we moved to the Arena. It was LOUD, electric, and it helped that we had really good teams with likeable players.

Also, because it was an old building it had character, and was not designed for sports, really, other than boxing. So the dressing rooms were almost an after-thought, which forced the players to cross through the main concessions area to get to them. This allowed Oreo to hurl his invective upon the opponents for minutes on end.

Plus, the opponents' room was too small for them to sit all together, so they had to sit out in the hall to have their intermission discussions and we could be loud for the fifteen minutes and disrupt them. It was great.

I remember post game you got to talk to all of the players and get autographs because of them having to walk through concession area. Once it went to the arena they had the direct route to the locker room and you only got to talk to whatever player was picked to come out of the locker room after to sign autographs.

It did give the players a more "professional" feeling in that facility but that league was all about fan interaction.

By metro area and TV market NOLA is only ahead of Buffalo and Green Bay.

Obviously the Saints' fanbase reaches far beyond the metro area or media market. I mean most of Southern Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama is Saints territory, plus all the transplants like me living elsewhere.


Green Bay obviously is in a similar situation. There are at least two "Packer Backer" bars here in Knoxville that are packed for every Green Bay game. And I bet the vast majority of the people have never lived in Green Bay.

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It's true. The Auditorium was INSANE!!! It was wonderful for fans, missed it when we moved to the Arena. It was LOUD, electric, and it helped that we had really good teams with likeable players.

Also, because it was an old building it had character, and was not designed for sports, really, other than boxing. So the dressing rooms were almost an after-thought, which forced the players to cross through the main concessions area to get to them. This allowed Oreo to hurl his invective upon the opponents for minutes on end.

Plus, the opponents' room was too small for them to sit all together, so they had to sit out in the hall to have their intermission discussions and we could be loud for the fifteen minutes and disrupt them. It was great.

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Would have loved it if they had renovated the Muni after Katrina into a full time hockey arena for a minor league team. I had Brass tickets and loved them. I would love to get a minor league team back here.

No
No
No

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I remember post game you got to talk to all of the players and get autographs because of them having to walk through concession area. Once it went to the arena they had the direct route to the locker room and you only got to talk to whatever player was picked to come out of the locker room after to sign autographs. It did give the players a more "professional" feeling in that facility but that league was all about fan interaction.

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+1
This
Concur
HARRUMPH.

We were members of the Krewe of Brass, so we went to a few road games, always a good time. But at Krewe events got to meet the players. I remember New Years' Eve we had a huge party after the game in the Auditorium; Martin Villeneuve was going table to table checking the champagne bottles, and if they were not empty he would put them down. Didn't matter whose table, Lord he was a beast.

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Nola is the smallest NFL market by a good margin

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Buffalo is a smaller market than NOLA and Green Bay/Appleton is smaller without including Milwaukee (over 100 miles away from Lambeau).

Nielsen Rankings Link

No. New Orleans isn't a large enough metro. They're already very fortunate to have both an NBA and NFL team.

Orlando has 2.6 million people in the metro area. (22nd in US)
New Orleans has 1.3 million people in the metro area. (46th in US)

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It maybe the smallest but it is probably the most loyal and profitable.

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It's not the smallest. Green Bay is the smallest. There are other comparable sized pro sports markets like Buffalo, Oklahoma City, Memphis etc. Not many of those markets have more than one pro sports team though.

A lot of people from the Mississippi gulf coast, Baton Rouge and Lafayette attend Saints games too which gives them a much larger fan base than just the Nola metro.

Dude, James Irey looks like he's ready to truck a MF'r.

I may have to check this out just for the Kaka.