By: Joe on 1/11/10
Related to your point, I have argued that the University of Rochester should move to the Division 1 level in basketball (and in several other sports, as required). I believe the team would be both competitive and financially viable. UR is a "new ivy" type university in a medium sized city on a beautiful campus. That makes it desirable for high school basketball players, at least when compared to places like Canisius, Niagara, St. Bonaventure, and Colgate, all schools they would likely have to compete for talent with early on. With the proper up front investment to renovate the Palestra somewhat, the place would be a great draw for high school athletes. I also think it would be well supported by this community. After the Bills are done playing (and it's uncertain if they will even be here in a few years), and before the Red Wings start (they still draw very well) Rochester turns to the Buffalo Sabres and Syracuse Orange basketball team to follow, though not nearly with the same interest as the Bills. There are a large void in this city for a winter sports team, and with all due respect for the Amerks, Knighthawks, and Razorsharks, those teams do not currently fill it. The UR is now this city's largest employer. That wasn't true during the glory years of the Amerks. There is a large percentage of people in this community that have ties to it, and would likely support a major athletic team that comes out of it. I think the only reason this hasn't happened is because it's not even on the radar of UR administration. Big time athletics have not been in their historical core mission, but there is no reason that can't change. Bucknell, Colgate, Tulane, Rice, George Washington, William and Mary, Holy Cross, and American are peer institutions and all field D1 basketball teams. Why not in Rochester?

Joe Doyle - Rochester, NY

By: pgb4 on 1/20/10
I have always wanted to see Rochester with a professional sports team. Unfortunately, I do not believe that our fair city is a likely candidate for an expansion team in any of the major sports (football, baseball, hockey, basketball). Our market is too small compared to other metro areas in the US and Canada.

According to the current US census population estimates the Rochester Metro-area ranks 51 out of all US metro areas. And, there are larger areas with out professional teams: Birmingham, Hartford, and Louisville (and more). I feel that Rochester's best shot at the national sports spot-light is soccer. Currently, the MLS has only 16 teams.

If the MLS continues to be successful then we could see it continue to expand. I'm not sure what the stadium and attendance requirements are for the MLS (according to espn.com the lowest average attendance was FC Dallas at 9,883), but I'm guessing that the Rhinos do not meet them. This probably explains why the MLS has passed on Rochester in the past for an expansion team (Rhinos' stadium is 13,768 capacity, populous, the company that designed the stadium, states on its website that the stadium will be expanded to 20,000 in the future). I might be off, but, as I perceive things attendance with most Rochester teams is usually poor (Knighthawks might be an exception, and sometimes the Redwings).

If I am correct, then this doesn’t help Rochester getting a team. I believe, however, Buffalo has similar problems with their minor league baseball team the Bisons (I went to a game there this summer and attendance was worse than most Redwings games I’ve attended). Buffalo’s professional teams do not have the same attendance issues.

This could be for a couple of reasons: the history and long time relationship with the area and the team, Buffalo’s adjacency to Canada and Rochester and their runoff fans, and people attend for the sake of having a professional sports team. Buffalo, in its glory, was by far much bigger than Rochester.

Today, Buffalo is a different story, according to the current US census population estimates the Rochester area is about 90,000 people fewer than the Buffalo area (which is continuing to shrink). The point is that a comparable metro-area in terms of population has a fan base to fill the seats. The question is for Rochester: if we build it will they come? That is if we get a professional team will we sell tickets and will people watch it on TV? Interestingly, Oklahoma City recently was the recipient of a NBA franchise the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder might offer a little insight into the questions. According to espn.com last season the Thunder’s average attendance was 18,693 ranking 11th in the NBA (also, interesting to note Rochester’s former NBA team Sacramento finished last averaging 12,571). Oklahoma City might not be the best comparison, given that the area has growth and development. Oklahoma City does show that a smaller area with a new team can have successful attendance. I believe that if we do in fact get a professional team people will come to see the games (television viewers might be different).

I have never felt strongly about our local teams because they aren’t the top tier. I always enjoy going to see a game in town; however, I do not feel the same passion for our local teams that I share with NFL, and MLB teams. All we need is a team to show our support and we will. Rochester, alone, probably is not a forerunner for a MLS expansion team.

However, Rochester has the infrastructure (stadium) we do sit in between Buffalo and Syracuse both with relatively similar populations and New York State currently does not have a MLS franchise (the Red Bulls are now the New Jersey Red Bulls). It might make more sense in terms of TV viewers to change the team’s name to something other than Rhinos and leave out Rochester. The New York (something), this way it Rochester could get a team and have a competitive TV market (leaching off of the other upstate cities and possibly NYC). It would be great if it happened.

Do I really see it happening? Probably not, especially the way I suggested changing the team name. Rochester, along with the rest of upstate, is viewed as an area in decline (regardless if that is true). We are a little community that most of the world doesn’t know about. The reality is that it will probably stay that way. I think I can live with this.

Phill Borrelli
Buffalo, New York