There are seven Combined Statistical Areas that have a larger population than Las Vegas with sports fans frustrated that the Oakland Athletics appear to be headed for Sin City. First, lets talk about Las Vegas to understand why. When we talk about major sports franchises we are talking about the 4 major sports leagues in the United States: Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, National Football League, National Basketball Association and Major League soccer.
Las Vegas has a population of 2.3 million people. They have a cost of living that is 103% or 3% higher than the national average. Their average household income is roughly 61,000 per year, compared to the national household income of 54,000 per year. Las Vegas has two major sports franchises, the Las Vegas Raiders and the Vegas Golden Knights. Both play in relatively new stadia. There are five cities smaller than Las Vegas with two sports franchises: Cincinnati, Nashville, Milwaukee, New Orleans and Buffalo. The smallest city, so far, with 3 or more major sports teams is Pittsburgh with 3 of the 5. The smallest city with Baseball is Milwaukee. The AAA Las Vegas Aviators play at Summerlin South which seats 10,000 and can be used as a temporary home. Vegas has grown by 1.25% since the 2020 census. The closest Major League Baseball teams to Vegas are the Los Angels Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels. LA is approximately a 4 hour drive to Los Vegas.
8. Indianapolis, Indiana has a population of 2.5 million people. Their cost of living is 84% of the national average. Their household income is 61,000 per year. This means that an Indianapolis family has more disposable income than a Las Vegas family. They have two major league franchises, the Colts of the NFL and the Pacers of the NBA. The Colts play in the 14-year-old Lucas Oil Stadium, which is about halfway through it's life, the Pacers play in the 24-year-old Gaimbridge Arena which is the 12th oldest in the NBA. If baseball does move to Indiana soon, they will soon have to compete with the Pacers for stadium funds. Indy has a AAA team, the Indians, who play at Victory Field which seats 13,750 people. The site is large enough for the current stadium to expand for a Major League team. Since the 2020 census, Indianapolis has grown by 0.62%, therefore it is not growing as fast as Las Vegas. Vegas could grow to become larger than Indy before 2030. The closest Major League Baseball franchise to Indy is the Cincinnati Reds at just over an hour away. It is possible the Reds could block a move to Indianapolis, but not likely.
7. Columbus, Ohio has a population of 2.5 million, but slightly larger than Indianapolis. Their cost of living is 86%. Their average household income is roughly 58,000 per year. Likely skewed downward by Ohio State University students. Columbians have less disposable income than Vegans. Columbus has two major sports franchises, the Columbus Blue Jackets of the NHL and the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer. The Blue Jackets play in the 23-year-old Nationwide arena. The Crew recently moved to new stadium in 2021. The Columbus Clippers play in 10,100 seat Huntington Park which could be used as a temporary stadium, but is not on a large enough site to be expandable to Major League size. Columbus has grown at 0.46% since the 2020 census. Like Indy, Las Vegas' population will likely pass Columbus in the future. The Cincinnati Reds are also the closest Major League Franchise to Columbus, at nearly two hours away. Columbus is also near Cleveland and Pittsburgh.
6. San Antonio, Texas has a population of 2.6 million. Their cost of living is 91% of the national average. Their average household income is 55,000. Theirs is skewed downward by the large military population. San Antonio is home to only one major sports franchise, the San Antonio Spurs. The AT&T Center was open in 2002. The San Antonio Mission play AA ball at the Nelson W. Wolf Municipal Stadium, which has 6,200 seats and an outfield area that can seat 3,000 fans. It is on a lot large enough to expand. Major League baseball can't be played at the Alamodome as the right field fence would be too close to home plate. San Antonio, Texas is the 2nd largest metro area in the United States with only one major sports franchise. San Antonio is growing at a rate of 1.7% since the 2020 census and is likely to remain larger than Las Vegas. It is the fastest growing city on this list. The closest Major League Franchise is the Houston Astros, about 3 hours away.
5. Sacramento, California has a population of 2.7 million. Their cost of living is 120% of the national average. Their household income is a little over 71,000 which means that the average household has less money to spend on baseball. Like San Antonio, there is only an NBA franchise in the city. The Kings play in the Golden 1 Center, which has been operating since 2016. There have been multiple efforts to lure the Athletics to the Capital City in the past, up to and including building the foundation of a major league park near the old Arco Arena where the Kings used to play. There were once plans to promote the Sacramento Republic to Major League Soccer, but those plans fell through during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Sacramento is home of the AAA River Cats who play in the 14,014 Seat Sutter Health Park, which is the 2nd largest AAA stadium. (The largest we will talk about later.) The stadium sits on a site large enough for a Major League Baseball stadium, but there is no room to expand the current stadium due to its location on the site. Originally, I think there were plans to put a new arena at this location for the Kings, who ended up building at another site. Sacramento's population is growing at 0.62%, but will likely remain larger than Las Vegas for a few decades. Sacramento is the largest city in the United States to host only one major sports franchise. Outside of the A's, the next closest franchise is the San Francisco Giants. It is nearly 2 hours from Sacramento to San Francisco. It is unlikely that the Giants would block moving the As to Sacramento.
4. Salt Lake City, Utah has a population of 2.7 million, but has recently surpassed Sacramento in population. The cost of living is slightly higher than Las Vegas at 104% of the national average. The average household income is around 64,000. Salt Lake is home to two top-level sports franchises, the Jazz of the NBA and Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer. The Jazz play in the Delta Center, which seats 18,307 and currently the 3rd oldest arena in the NBA. Real Salt Lake plays in the suburbs at America First Field in Sandy which seats 20,000. It is the 5th-oldest soccer-specific stadium in Major League Soccer. Salt Lake City hosts the AAA Salt Lake Bees whose home field has 14,511 seats and is the largest AAA stadium. But the Bees will move to a new stadium in the Daybreak section of South Jordan, Utah. The details of the new stadium have yet to be released, but the new site is large enough for a major league stadium. Salt Lake City is growing at 1.67% since the 2020 census and is the 3rd fastest growing large city in the United States. It is unlikely that Las Vegas will ever grow larger than Salt Lake. When the Jazz first moved to Salt Lake City in 1979, it was in the smallest metro area to host a major sports franchise outside of Green Bay. Now there are 12 major sports metros smaller than Salt Lake. (Due to expansion, relocation and metro shrink as well as growth in Salt Lake.) The closest Major League baseball franchise to Salt Lake City is the Colorado Rockies, but it is an 8 hour drive to get there making it the most isolated city on this list.*
3. Charlotte, North Carolina has a population of 2.8 million. The cost of living is 97% of the national average with the average household income at 68,000, which translates to a similar disposable income level to Las Vegas. Charlotte is the only city on this list with three major sports franchises; The Carolina Panthers, the Charlotte Hornets and Charlotte FC call Charlotte home. The Panthers and Charlotte FC both play at Bank of America Stadium which is approaching 38 years in operation. There are no plans for a new stadium for either brand of football. The Spectrum Center for the Hornets has been in use since 2008. There is a AAA baseball team in Charlotte, the Knights. They play at 10,500 seat Truist Field, which is on the other side of the parking structure for the Panthers. The site does not look big enough to support a Major League expansion, but a talented architect may make it work. Charlotte has grown 1.51% since the 2020 census, the 4th fastest growing large city in the United States. There are two US metro areas smaller than Charlotte with 3 sports franchises. The closest Major League franchise to Charlotte is the Atlanta Braves, which will take nearly 4 hours to reach by car.
2. Portland, Oregon has a population of 3.3 million in the metro area. The cost of living is 132% of the national average, the highest cost of living on this list. The average household income is 78,000, which is also the highest on this list. Portland is the home of the NBA's Trailblazers and MLS's Timbers. The Blazers play in the Moda Center, their home since 1995. The Timbers play at Providence Park which is someone near 100 years old, but one half of the stadium was built in 2019. Sounds odd, but it is considered on of the best stadia in Major League Soccer. There is A-level ball played in the Portland area. Since the Timbers turned Providence Park into a soccer-only field, the AAA team moved to Albuquerque and became the Isotopes. The Hillsboro Hops play at Ron Tonkin Field about 20 miles west of Portland. The stadium has 4,500 seats. The multi-use park is also the home of the Portland State Vikings football team. Actually, the east side of the grandstand is for football, while the west side is the 3rd-base site of the baseball stadium. But there is a pier on the Willamette River where a Major League Stadium could be built closer to downtown. Portland is growing slowly, by 0.14% since the 2020 Census. The nearest MLB team to Portland is the Seattle Mariners, which will take about 3 hours by car.
1. Orlando, Florida has a population of 4.3 million in the metro area. Orlando has about the same cost of living as Las Vegas. The average household income is around 59,000. Orlando is the most populated metro area in the US that only has two major sports franchises, the Orlando Magic of the NBA and Orlando City SC of Major League Soccer. The Magic play in Amway Center which has been around since 2010. Exploria Stadium was built for Soccer and opened in 2017. Orlando is the only metro on this list that does not have a minor league baseball team at any level. But there are several teams that have spring training in central Florida with the Braves and Astros playing spring ball near Orlando. The metro has grown at 1.65% since the 2020 Census, making it the second fastest growing large city in the United States. While Orlando has a lot going for it, it is only an hour from St. Petersburg, home of the Tampa Bay Rays, making it the least isolated. Between Orlando and Tampa, all five major sports leagues are represented. With Tampa hosting Baseball, Football and Hockey. Orlando is also the only city on this list with a real grass-roots effort to bring Major League baseball to town. It is not likely, but possible the Rays organization would block an expansion team or a move to the Magic Kingdom. Orlando is now larger than Denver and Minneapolis which have all five sports franchises.
Note: I did not put Austin, Nashville, Raleigh-Durham, Virginia Beach or Louisville on this list because they are smaller than Las Vegas.
*As Patman93 correctly points out, Seattle is currently the most isolated Major League team and will be unless Portland or Vancouver, Canada gets a franchise.
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