Stats Insight of the Day: 4 Major Sports Teams and Relocation
Earlier this week, rumors of the Sacramento Kings impending move to Seattle began to dominate the NBA headlines. In Seattle, excitement about the return of the NBA has taken over the city, while Sacramento natives brace themselves for the pain of losing a sport franchise. Few details are certain at the moment and the latest news suggest a snag in the negotiations. What is certain, however, is that Seattle fans should temper their excitement because the same struggles the Kings have had lately will almost certainly continue in the first year in the Emerald City. Tracking team relocations over the past 20 years in the four major sports has shown that while the move can have positive economic effects, little changes on the playing surface.
More from Stats Insights
twitter
facebook
youtube
Strange article. OKC and Washington Nationals were in the playoffs in 2012. What is the problem with that?
No one in Seattle is expecting the kings to come here and win a championship next year. We are just excited to be relevant in the NBA again. You show oklahoma city’s winning percentage for their first year after relocating but what happened the year after? They went to the playoffs and every year after that they have improved. Not every year a sports team can realistically say they have a shot at a championship but fans can dream about one. The Seattle SuperSonics are back and we will show the NBA how good of a market and fan base we have in Seattle!
in addition to OKC and Nationals’ success, off the top of my head, Raiders, Titans and Ravens have all been in Superbowls within ten years of their moves…
Also, pretty sure the Avalanch, Stars and Hurricanes have won Stanley Cups soon after moves..
hmmmm….
Thank you so much for taking the time to read yesterday’s Stat Insight of the Day. I completely agree that the OKC Thunder and the Washington Nationals are great examples of teams that were able to turn it around rather quickly in their new locations. These turnarounds, however, were built on the backs of high draft picks as a result of poor seasons immediately following their moves. For OKC, this meant drafting Westbrook and Harden and for the Nationals, Strasburg and Harper. The main point of yesterday’s Stat Insight of the day was that the transitional years are historically tough, but, yes, often the future is bright.
Thanks for reading!