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Swampland Sports Six-Pack for the week ending 7/1/07

1. The NBA Draft was this week’s big sports story. The Draft is all about hope for the future. Despite recent expansion in the Swampland footprint, the NBA has struggled to find an audience down South. The problem starts with the NBA’s inability to connect with the Southern sports fan.

There seems to be two different yet successful models to follow, and both are in Texas. The Dallas Mavericks, with their iconoclast owner and soap opera-esque issues, are a good model for teams in big, urban areas. The San Antonio Spurs define success as an NBA small-market team (they even made news by reinforcing their connection to the Austin market through their purchase of the NBDL’s Austin Toros.)

Miami, Houston, Washington, and Atlanta should be following Dallas' lead while Orlando, Memphis, New Orleans, and Charlotte should be carefully watching the Spurs’ business model. Draft day gave mixed reviews to the NBA’s Swampland teams. Miami and Houston are talking about big trades, but Memphis, Atlanta, and Charlotte still seem a little lost in mediocrity.

2.  The Orlando Magic are another "lost" NBA team.  First, Billy Donovan goes back to the Gators and now the Magic played second fiddle to the Gators on Draft day.  The headlines around Central Florida focused on the Gators' NBA draftees while the Magic opted out.  Maybe signing Rashard Lewis will help, but the Magic show how the NBA has a tough time gaining ground in college-dominated sports markets.  Meanwhile, the Gators recent success in basketball has lit a fire under the recruiting efforts SEC rival Kentucky, and the SEC facilities race continues at Auburn, at Tennessee, and at Georgia.

3.  Major League Baseball has made great strides in the South during the 1990's.  Both the Braves and the Astros shook off lackluster histories and built consistent winners alongside new updated stadiums.  The Braves became the South's unofficial team and the Astros became a team that Texas could watch with pride.  This long streak of success has been marked by Craig Biggio's 3000th hit last week.  Biggio is only the 27th player to ever accomplish this feat.  It is truly remarkable as a lifetime Astro.

4.  The France Family's mainstream vision for NASCAR continues to gain key ground. Not only did Toyota win its first pole but Juan Pablo Montoya’s win last week is inspiring more potential defects from IndyCar to NASCAR such as Englishman Dan Wheldon considering a move from Indy to NASCAR

However, this article shows that NASCAR’s biggest advantage over IndyCar is its longtime, hard core fan base.  Considering all the ways that NASCAR is trying to thumb its nose at old school fans (directly or indirectly), one wonders if NASCAR might ultimately see the beginnings of some long term erosion. 

5. The Nashville Predators seem to mirror their in-state NBA counterpart - the Grizzlies. They both have won, but neither seems to have enough corporate support or a strong local ownership group.  Now, the Preds appear to be a prime target for relocation. Swampland Sports has already written about the NHL’s issue with the Preds. Trading a growing Nashville for a stagnant Kansas City would not be a good thing for this league.  A local ownership group could improve the team’s marketing and image which could make a solid franchise viable for the long term.

In the meantime, Tom Hicks (who owns both the Dallas Stars and the MLB’s Texas Rangers) doesn’t seem to get it. In a recent interview, Hicks explains that he wants a balanced schedule so that his market is assured of seeing all of the NHL's stars rather than just seeing your conference and division opponents. I’m not sure I agree. Hicks is well intentioned and certainly spends money, but his approach seems more short term than long term, an approach the long struggling NHL can't afford to take.

6.  Finally, an interesting new professional football league will hold tryouts in Florida this week. They are trying to capitalize on the tenets that we here at Swampland emphasize so often. The All American Football League will try to capitalize on the rivalries and passion for college football that we hold so dear in the South.  In fact, the AAFL will initially focus on the Swampland footprint. The development of this league definitely bears watching. 

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