Out of market Pens fan here. I was just looking for some info on why the NBA hasn't expanded/relocated to Pittsburgh.
You guys follow the NCAA pretty good. Should be a prime market.
University of Pittsburgh basketball does well with attendance, but only when the team is good and even then it's usually driven by college students who get special tickets.
Pittsburgh is too small of a market to satisfy the needs of four major professional sports franchises.
The smallest metro area with four teams is Denver, which has 2.9 million people in the metro area. It also benefits by being the only major sports city in a significant radius. Pittsburgh, on the other hand, has about 2.3 million people in the metro area and has stiff competition nearby - Cleveland is two hours away, while Buffalo, Baltimore, and Washington D.C. are four hours away.
Because of this, Pittsburgh does not have the disposable income or corporate sponsorship base necessary for four pro sports franchises. While Pittsburgh has become a tech and medical hub that numerous major corporations and organizations call home, wages generally haven't grown. In fact, a number of tech workers in the region try to find remote work for companies based elsewhere; a company based in San Francisco will pay a remote worker living in Pittsburgh more than a company that is actually based in Pittsburgh will pay that same worker.
Finally, the NBA doesn't need Pittsburgh. This isn't a market that matters to them. Pittsburgh doesn't bring in a new audience. It doesn't bring in a wealth of new advertising or TV dollars. And it's not an area that's churning out high level college players - I think there are only two players born in the area playing in the NBA right now (TJ McConnell and Cam Johnson).
