If you take a quick look around the United States, the cities that most prominently dot the American landscape have a lot of things in common. They are the most populous and the most financially successful. They attract the most tourism. Their profile is built upon decades and, in some cases, more than a century of commerce, excitement, and attractiveness. What you’ll also notice is that, from coast to coast, from New York, Boston, and Baltimore along the Atlantic, to Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego on the Pacific, and throughout the heartland and Midwest in places like Detroit, Cincinnati, and Dallas, great cities are also home to multiple professional sports franchises.
The truth is that sports and city development have and will continue to go hand in hand. A metropolis and its athletic representatives create a symbiotic relationship that results in each blending into the other’s DNA. A professional sports team can help to increase the extent of a city’s public reach, but it can also help take a city from a respectable urban center into the next level of nationwide cache. From the Colts and Pacers in Indianapolis to the Thunder in Oklahoma City to the Spurs in San Antonio, small to mid-sized American markets can take that next step toward a high nationwide and international profile by attracting a professional franchise on the move. Alternatively, cities can follow the lead of Jacksonville, Charlotte, and Columbus, by doing what it takes to create the environment where a league’s new expansion team can be born and excel.
With the ABA’s Kentucky Colonels a not too distant memory for many who call Louisville home, the question becomes: What if the Colonels came back, this time with the image of Jerry West mid-dribble and the letters “NBA” on their uniforms?
It’s the sort of question that we have been searching for an answer to since the late 1990s. Its why there has been a concerted effort to bring an NBA team to Louisville for more than a decade. Whether it be for a team on the move or a newly created expansion team, Louisville has thrown its hat into the ring and continues to make the push toward getting a team from the NBA to call Louisville home.
Since those days in the late ‘90s, the endeavor has been spearheaded by local attorney J. Bruce Miller, whose efforts have recently inspired a small but passionate group that continues to carry the torch.
According to Albrecht Stahmer, a management consultant currently based in Singapore and one of the group’s main advocates, the idea isn’t nearly as far-fetched as many would think. The now Memphis Grizzlies flirted with us and the Hornets at least considered us before heading to New Orleans. However, the battle to make the River City the next destination for an NBA team is still positioned firmly on the upside of the hill.
“Very ad hoc, our group,” said Stahmer.
Stahmer said that, while the effort to bring an NBA team to Louisville is certainly Miller’s baby and the attorney continues to be involved in the group’s activity, it has turned much more grassroots in the years since Miller was given $50,000 to try to lure a team to Freedom Hall in 1999.
“There was never a grassroots effort before,” said Stahmer.
Stahmer pointed out that Facebook, Twitter, and other social media outlets have been the biggest contributors in galvanizing the local population and increasing public support for bringing a team to town. The Facebook end of things started with a page titled “Bring the Sacramento Kings to Louisville.” After some pressure from David Stern, the NBA commissioner, who asked that one city not make attempts to steal another city’s team away from them, a new Facebook page has morphed out of the Sacramento Kings one: “Bring the NBA to Louisville.” The new page has been up since 2010. The two pages now have more than 10,000 combined Facebook “likes.”
According to Stahmer, the Facebook page also helped attract the attention of Nick Evans, the founder of a local sports website called Strait Pinkie. Evans added his support through a Facebook wall post and has since devoted a portion of Strait Pinkie to the cause of returning the Colonels to Louisville. Evans, along with fellow Louisville NBA supporter Stephen Hill, helps handle the Twitter account that is trying to turn hashtags into hang time here in Louisville.
Stahmer himself has been working with Miller since 2005. While none of the small group’s members are being paid for the time they devote, it is clear that they consider it a civic endeavor – one that is fueled by their passion for basketball, sports in general, and, most importantly, the city of Louisville.
Albrecht grew up in both Louisville and Miami. After reading Miller’s book – “Airball: The Complete and Unvarnished Account of Louisville’s 30-Year Odyssey to Acquire an NBA Franchise” – while working overseas, Albrecht followed the local effort from afar. After sending Miller an email with some of his own suggestions, he found that Miller didn’t have the energy or resources anymore to consistently pursue an NBA team. Albrecht said that, while his mother may not want to hear it, he estimates he has personally invested around $10,000 of his own money in the pursuit of an NBA franchise. Even halfway around the world, his enthusiasm is something he cannot ignore.
Stahmer and the rest of the group look at the KFC Yum! Center and the city as a whole and see great opportunity.
“From a wider area, it’s going to incorporate corporate support,” said Stahmer. “But it’s also going to cause a shift of spending within these corporations for their marketing dollars. It’s not that suddenly this money has to magically appear.”
Stahmer went on to make the point that, with national and international television coverage, corporations and other businesses that call Louisville home could divert marketing dollars that might end up in larger markets right back into Louisville, where they would still have the ability to reach those larger audiences.
In the estimation of Stahmer and other supporters of the push to bring a team to Louisville, there’s no reason for the current primary tenants at the KFC Yum! Center – University of Louisville athletics – to feel threatened. In essence, a rising tide would lift local ships. The arena would be able to host more games, increasing local revenue. The upshot for the city as a whole, including its hometown university, would be hard to ignore.
“At some point, I think there has to be an internal conversation between the University of Louisville Board of Trustees and the University of Louisville Athletic Association,” said Stahmer. “What is best for the university and what is best for the city might not necessarily be best in the short term for Louisville basketball.”
However, in the long term, the city, its university, and, in turn, the U of L athletics program, could all see benefits.
The group is not alone in their interest in bringing a professional basketball team back to Louisville. In September, local businessman and former U of L and NBA player Junior Bridgeman, Louisville mayor Greg Fischer, former U of L and NBA player Darrell Griffith, Dan Ulmer of the Louisville Arena Authority, and other interested parties met to discuss what was possible for the city when it comes to pro ball. The mayor’s interest seemed piqued, as was that of many other local officials and business leaders who attended the meeting at the Galt House.
Stahmer felt the meeting was a face-to-face encounter of the “square” of individuals and groups it would take to bring a team to town. The four sides of the square include: Stahmer’s group’s own grassroots effort and public sentiment, political interests and the mayor’s office, the local business community and local investors, and U of L (somewhat represented by Griffith). However, according to The Courier-Journal, no one from U of L was invited to the meeting.
This omission is telling, as U of L has met any conversation about bringing an NBA team to Louisville with reticent interest at best. In a press conference in 2010, Rick Pitino, U of L men’s basketball coach, questioned the level of interest from the NBA. At one point Pitino called the idea itself “wacky.” He did not go so far as to say he was opposed to the idea, but simply stated that he didn’t think the city had a realistic chance of actually securing an NBA team. Stahmer also referenced emails that members of the group, and Miller in particular, have received from U of L fans who feel the group is attempting to wrest control of the arena’s lease away from the school and diminish the basketball program’s currently bright star on the Louisville sporting landscape.
Mindful of those concerns, Stahmer argued that something must be done to help make the KFC Yum! Center more financially sound. The arena’s coffers are already depleted. According to The Courier-Journal, the Arena Authority is dipping into what was supposed to be a maintenance fund in order to pay off outstanding debt.
It seems clear that, while U of L basketball and other athletic programs at the school are doing an amazing job of utilizing their new home, more events and evenings to fill the otherwise empty dates and empty seats at the arena will be necessary in the future. A season full of home games for an NBA franchise could be just the sort of bandage needed on what could be an expanding financial wound for the KFC Yum! Center.
Beyond the financial aspect of an NBA team in Louisville, Stahmer feels that supporting a local team would bring in fan interest and support from folks who may not have a genuine, vested interest in basketball.
“Having a team helps to build the social fabric of the community that enables people to come down [to the arena],” said Stahmer. “Everybody has an interest.”
Despite Louisville’s love of basketball in general, that love is sharply divided by support of either the University of Kentucky or U of L. Having a singular team that would appeal to both fan bases, and most likely both Lexington and Louisville, would help bridge a cavernous gap in local fandom.
“I think that’s one element that’s often overlooked,” said Stahmer. “Why wouldn’t we want something that brings everyone together?”
At this point, the prospect of an NBA team in Louisville is still far from likely, but it continues to grow in possibility. From the commitment that Stahmer and his group have shown, it is a prospect that could someday come to fruition. If that sounds like a precarious train of thought, not to mention a vague promise, it is. There are no guarantees that the work of Stahmer and his colleagues will manifest in an NBA team here in Louisville. But, to borrow a line: All movements start underground. The grassroots commitment to making the return of the Kentucky Colonels a reality should be an inspiration to everyone who wants to see their city continue to grow and thrive. It is a lesson in never dreaming too big, especially in Possibility City.
-Mark Schultz
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