A Recognizable, Relevant Name (blog 5)

One of the most recognizable things about a sports organization is their name. Often times, these names are clever, inviting, and relatable to the surrounding geographic areas. One of the biggest challenges for these two potential Nashville sports organizations is finding a name that fits.

What is Tennessee Known For?

The one thing that comes to nearly everyone’s mind when they hear Nashville is country music. As a home to the country music hall of fame as well as some of the most famous venues for country music found anywhere, the obvious option would be to use something related as a potential name for the franchises. There is already a minor league team called the Nashville Sounds, so that name is out of the question. However, the Nashville Outlaws, a reference to many of the founders of country music, is very inviting and relevant. Another common topic when thinking of Nashville or Tennessee in general is whiskey. Although it may not be as family friendly, there could be a nod to the history and importance without making it inappropriate. An example of a name is the Nashville Stills, a reference to the stills used to make whiskey. There are countless others including Nashville’s famous hot chicken, and many more.

Geographic Options

Nashville is in the heart of Tennessee right near the Great Smoky Mountains. A great option for the baseball franchise in particular, could be the Nashville Smokies. It is a tribute to the surrounding mountain range, and could create a fun rivalry with the Colorado Rockies. The mountains are home to many different animals, and a large variety of professional teams have animals as their mascot. Two animals native to Tennessee and the mountains are black bears and cougars. There are already the Grizzlies who reside in Memphis, so a great option could be the Nashville Cougars. There are countless options and people way more clever than myself who can come up with even better names, hopefully one day soon there will be the opportunity for it with two new franchises!

A Place to Call Home (blog 4)

Nashville is a big city by total land area, with a metropolitan area covering approximately 497 square miles ((Encyclopaedia Brittanica, 2021). Nearly 500 miles seems like plenty of room to host two major sports teams, but it may not be as simple as it sounds.

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NBA

The potential NBA team that could come to the city has a few options that may make finding somewhere to play easier. The first venue that comes to mind is Bridgestone Arena which is home to Nashville’s NHL affiliate, the Nashville Predators. However, this is one of the busiest arenas in the world and the scheduling would have to be very creative to include an NBA team on top of the NHL team, and countless concerts. A second option is located in downtown Nashville just around the corner from the Tennessee Titans stadium, and that would be the Nashville Municipal Auditorium. This is an older venue and it is quite smaller, but it would allow the team somewhere to play in a great location.

MLB

The MLB team would have to get creative and likely have to build a facility from scratch. If they were to follow suit with the Atlanta Braves, they could plant their roots in the suburbs. The southern suburbs of Nashville, specifically Brentwood, is an upper-class community that could be a great place for an MLB stadium. It is quite similar to the area surrounding the Atlanta Braves stadium, in regards to the socioeconomic factors, as well as accessibility from a major road (interstate 65). A second option could be the Nashville Sounds stadium, but as a minor league stadium, it will not be very big or competitive with other major league facilities.

The addition of these two franchises is going to take some creativity to determine where they will play their games. The good news is there are multiple options. The secondary options may not always be ideal, but a smaller venue is better than no venue.

sources: Encyclopaedia Brittanica. (2021, February 4). Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Retrieved from Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/place/Nashville-Tennessee

Competition for Attendance (blog 3)

Nashville already has a lot to offer as a city. With the addition of multiple professional teams, the competition for attendance at venues will heat up.

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Music Influence

Nashville is known as “Music City” for a reason. With famous venues like The Grand Ole Opry and the Ryman Auditorium, also known as the “Church of Country Music” (Ashton, 2019). Artists of many genres have roots in Nashville, but the scene is set for primarily country music. As a home to many arenas and music venues, live music is always happening. This is a big obstacle to overcome to get fans at the contests of the potential NBA and MLB teams.

Other Sports

Nashville is already established with many other sports teams. As mentioned previously, there is already an NFL team, the Tennessee Titans, an NHL team, the Nashville Predators, a minor league baseball team, the Nashville Sounders, and the Nashville Soccer Club, who are part of the MLS. These franchises have seasons that overlap the MLB and NBA season, which will cause a conflict for people when choosing what to do.

However, there are more than just professional teams to be considered. Vanderbilt University is located in Nashville, and they have a prestigious baseball program, with a National Championship victory in 2019. Also, the University of Tennessee has a large following in the state, and their basketball team has been consistently ranked in the top 25, if not the top 10. Sports have been the driving force for large audiences for quite some time, it is going to be difficult to compete against them.

How to Compete

The potential MLB and NBA teams need to come in with a unique plan to get themselves in a good starting position. The number one thing fans are looking for today is interactivity, and if the franchises can start with a high level of interactivity with their fans and community, it will set a solid foundation. This standard will attract more from the city of Nashville and its surrounding areas, and potentially make an MLB or NBA game the first choice of entertainment.

sources: Ashton, G. (2019, May 15). Why is Nashville, Tennessee called music city? Retrieved from Nashville mls: https://www.nashvillesmls.com/blog/why-is-nashville-tennessee-called-music-city.html

Which Teams Would Thrive? (blog 2)

Nashville is located in a place that would thrive in both an outdoor and indoor sports setting. It is not too far South to enjoy a summer evening game outside, and not too far North to hinder travel to an indoor game in the winter. As a popular vacation spot, Nashville would greatly benefit from a Major League Baseball team and a professional basketball (NBA) team. The two seasons do overlap at times, but baseball covers the summer months, and basketball covers the winter months. Expansion would add more experiences and value to visiting the city.

Major League Baseball

Baseball is one of, if not the most, beloved and historic pastimes in the United States. I think an MLB team implemented in any larger city would get reasonable interest. In a city like Nashville, I think it could create the buzz that the Oklahoma City Thunder did when they relocated from Seattle.

The ability to play baseball nearly year-round in the area would be able to draw a large crowd and eventually a loyal following. The Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins who have outdoor stadiums are in regions that are too cold to play outside shortly after the season is over. Even though the weather is not favorable for nearly half the year, they still have a loyal following even with minimal success in recent years.

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Professional Basketball (NBA)

With the addition of a team in Nashville, there would be an in-state rivalry immediately with the Memphis Grizzlies and likely another with the Atlanta Hawks. I think rivalry in all aspects is good for the sport. In regards to basketball, there are many that range from team rivalries like the classic Lakers-Celtics rivalry, or player rivalries like Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, or Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas.

There are currently 30 teams in the NBA split into two conferences: East and West. The Seattle Supersonics have long voiced a return to the NBA after they relocated and became the Oklahoma City Thunder -Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan has actually met with NBA commissioner Adam Silver on numerous occasions regarding a return. If Seattle returned, they could join the Western conference, and Nashville could join the Eastern conference and the conferences would still be even.

1. Daniels, C. (2021, January 7). Seattle mayor ‘pretty optimistic’ about Sonics return after talk with NBA commissioner. Retrieved from King 5: Seattle mayor ‘pretty optimistic’ about Sonics return after talk with NBA commissioner

Comparing to Competitors (blog 1)

Nashville is in prime position to compete with any large city sports market.

Professional sports is one of the most profitable markets in not only the United States, but the entire world. In nearly every major city, there are numerous professional teams in several different professional leagues. There are countless benefits from these organizations being in these cities that Nashville is simply missing out on.

Nashville, Tennessee is the 23rd most populated city in the United States and covers over 500 square miles. With a thriving night life and countless attractions outside of sports, Nashville has the potential to be a really special place if more professional sports were added. When compared to Atlanta, a close competitor which is similar to Nashville, there are many signs saying adding professional sports teams would be extremely beneficial. To take a closer look, below are comparisons between the two cities.

• Both cities are the capital of their respected states, Tennessee and Georgia.
• Nashville has a population of nearly 700,000, whereas Atlanta has a population near 500,000. (This does not take into account the surrounding suburbs)
• Nashville has 3 professional teams including an NFL, NHL, and MLS team, as well as a minor league baseball team. Atlanta has 5 professional teams that include an MLB, NFL, NBA, MLS, and a WNBA team.

With all things considered, Atlanta has much more to offer to the people of the surrounding areas in regard to sports. These five major sports teams make the city an absurd amount of money. The question I see is, why can’t Nashville do the exact same thing? There is plenty of money around the area to be invested into creating these franchises. Also, it would get support from the people of Nashville because they would not have to drive to Atlanta or Memphis to watch pro sports that are not offered in Nashville.

This blog will dive deeper into the potential for expanding Nashville’s reach into the professional sports market. There will be many things considered from potential areas where these teams could call home, to what teams would flourish the best, to who their biggest competitors would be, and even names that would be fitting for the potential franchises. Hopefully one day soon the city of Nashville will be on the same level as Atlanta, New York and Chicago in the sport franchise landscape.