Why can't SE Texas support a pro league?

[Javelina]

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The Golden Triangle will only support High School Football and not much else.  Basketball will not fill most gyms and Baseball cant fill stadiums.  The area will not even support Lamar Athletics so why waste money trying to sell something other than High School Football to the area!!  This article hits the nail on the head in my opinion.  Most people work 12 hour days in the area and the last hing they want to do is drive straight from work to watch a game then get home at 10:30pm only to have to wake up at 4:30am to go to work!!

[baddog]

3 hours ago, Javelina said:

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The Golden Triangle will only support High School Football and not much else.  Basketball will not fill most gyms and Baseball cant fill stadiums.  The area will not even support Lamar Athletics so why waste money trying to sell something other than High School Football to the area!!  This article hits the nail on the head in my opinion.  Most people work 12 hour days in the area and the last hing they want to do is drive straight from work to watch a game then get home at 10:30pm only to have to wake up at 4:30am to go to work!!

Back in the 80s, Beaumont had this semi pro team. I saw them a couple times and was in attendance when the San Diego chicken came. It was SRO. Didn't realize what I was lucky enough to witness at the time. Look at this roster.

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[Javelina]

I was 5 when I went to watch them and all I can remember is that I went.  I have spent my adult life wishing I could remember the game to say that I saw all these Hall of Fame players play before they made it big.

[Hagar]

When I was a youngster, my dad and I went to Stewart Stadium & watched the Beaumont Exporters.  Don't remember but a name or two, but I do remember the leftfilder coming in hard and making a flat out diving catch right at ground level.  I also remember my dad's amazement when I ate 7 hot dogs lol (just a bun, weiner, & mustard  It was cheap then.  You'd have to float a loan to afford those at the prices at a pro game now.

[Bigdog]

On 3/6/2017 at 4:39 PM, baddog said:

Back in the 80s, Beaumont had this semi pro team. I saw them a couple times and was in attendance when the San Diego chicken came. It was SRO. Didn't realize what I was lucky enough to witness at the time. Look at this roster.

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I remember going to see the Gators, I wasn't around for the Exporters.

[PhatMack19]

On 3/6/2017 at 4:39 PM, baddog said:

Back in the 80s, Beaumont had this semi pro team. I saw them a couple times and was in attendance when the San Diego chicken came. It was SRO. Didn't realize what I was lucky enough to witness at the time. Look at this roster.

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We went to a lot of those games when I was little.  We were walking in to the game late one time when I nearly got hit by a home run ball in the left field parking lot.  It was Benito Santiago's first homerun as a professional.  A rep from the team came and wanted the ball and offered a ball signed by the whole team as a trade.  I didn't know who Santiago was until years later when he became one of the best catchers in the league, which made my story better.  I wish I knew where that autographed ball from 30 years ago went. 

[Ty Cobb]

The area is too small to support any type of pro league with the exception of minor league sports. The problem is, most fans do not have enough interest in minor league sports. 

[bullets13]

37 minutes ago, Ty Cobb said:

The area is too small to support any type of pro league with the exception of minor league sports. The problem is, most fans do not have enough interest in minor league sports. 

Exactly.  There simply aren't enough people in the area.  When you factor the amount of people interested in whatever sport, and then subtract the people who either A) don't care about minor leagues,  can't afford to attend, or C) aren't willing to travel from the outlying areas, you just don't have a big enough fan base to sustain a team.  The hockey team actually did pretty well, and had a good fan base, but I seem to remember either the team owner or the city trying to squeeze too much money out of the other one (can't remember which), which led to their moving 

[baddog]

1 hour ago, bullets13 said:

Exactly.  There simply aren't enough people in the area.  When you factor the amount of people interested in whatever sport, and then subtract the people who either A) don't care about minor leagues,  can't afford to attend, or C) aren't willing to travel from the outlying areas, you just don't have a big enough fan base to sustain a team.  The hockey team actually did pretty well, and had a good fan base, but I seem to remember either the team owner or the city trying to squeeze too much money out of the other one (can't remember which), which led to their moving 

Could also be the reasoning behind Parkdale Mall being built instead of the Astrodome.