Staples is better, no question. And the city had some serious development projects under way that were designed to make downtown LA a really nice hang out place. Those projects didn't happen right away, but now LA Live is nice. Those perks would be sufficient, and I think they even got different leasing terms than the Lakers did. And if the question is whether downtown LA is better than Anaheim, I think the answer is obvious, especially for the Los Angeles Clippers.
That's not really the question, though. The question is whether Anaheim (specifically Orange County) is a viable destination for an NBA franchise. The Ducks owner is pretty serious about trying to get a team to play at the Honda Center, and I think he knows that the venue would need some upgrades if that happens.
As for a fanbase, most of the people that buy Clippers season tickets do so because they want to see other teams play, and don't want to pay four times as much for Laker tickets. And they hate doing it, because they know the Clippers (read: Donald Sterling) are not committed to putting a winning product on the court. If they had to choose between going to see the second rate team that doesn't care about winning or going to see the team that is actually trying to be competitive, I think the choice would be obvious. Especially for basketball fans in Orange County, Riverside, San Diego County, etc. Drive two or three hours to see the sorry Clippers, or drive one or two hours to see the competitive team?
And again, the media deals would be enormous, if done right. An OC sports network would get major traction. The Angels already have a radio deal with ESPN that eventually became a second full time sports station. There's a huge market in the area for media; saturation is not a problem. The money is there, and with Samueli ready to throw his money behind it, and some pandering to Arte Moreno, any NBA team that's serious about winning would do well in Anaheim. Just because the Clippers chose LA doesn't mean it's a bad destination.
I agree with most of what you said, Superman; and here's another issue I see with a third team in So CA, it does not recruit new paying customers, it just divert existing ones to a different team. In theory, the new team will take a little of the Lakers' share and a lot of the Clippers'. The owners of the new team obviously would not care as long as there's money to be made; but David Stern, would he permit such a move? When one think of the NBA as one entity instead of 30 different teams, in other words, NBA as one organization with 30 different branches, it does not make sense to put a new branch at a location that is already drawing a lot of paying customers to an existing branch because you're just competing against yourself. And I think Stern think of the NBA as one big thing instead of 30 little ones.
And we're talking about the best case scenario here for the new team, worst case scenario the new team doesn't get enough of the Lakers/Clippers fan base and found the demographic to be lacking sufficient non-fans to be converted over to be real fans. You could have a second Clippers (in terms of support) in that region.
I think a lot of people assume that the Clippers are always going to be mediocre, I don't. Remember they were competitive once, and could be again. What happens when you have three competitive teams in that region? Are there enough fans to support three teams all vying for the championship? And what if the Lakers and Clippers are competitive but the new team is not, the new team get squeezed?
Imo, the support base in that region is too dynamic, has too much movement to be counted on. They'll basically support whatever team is playing well and neglect whoever is not. I'd be surprised if the new team managed to sell out games while playing badly (like Sacramento once would) when the novelty of that new team wears off.
And lastly, I don't agree with the notion that the Clippers aren't trying to be competitive. They signed Baron Davis, was going to re-sign Elton Brand. They now have Blake Griffin, Eric Gordon, BD, and Kaman. In fact, I think they're further along than the Kings. This team is going to be very competitive in the near future. The Anaheim team will have to compete with two competitive teams for support. Again, once the novelty wears off, I think that third team will get crashed if it is not sufficiently competitive.
Tying back to the point I made in earlier posts - Sterlings' decision to be in Staples. He went to the Staples because it makes good financial sense. There is a built-in advantage for him to have his team there - the below market lease, the media, the support in LA (even if he often aliens them). Make no mistake, the Anaheim team will be competing not against the Lakers but against the Clippers for financial support. This is not a battle that is as winable as many believe. Sterlings is no fool, if the market forces him to put a better product on the floor to draw support, that's exactly what he'll do. He'll spend more money on good players if that's what he has to do. So again, I won't count on the Clippers being like the Clippers when a third So CA team is in the mix. Plus, all the built-in advantage he has by being in Staples and it could be an uphill climb for the new team.
Just mo.
