Kentucky has a noticeable absence of pro-sports teams, with the only one being the Racing Louisville Football Club in the National Women’s Soccer League.
Louisville has a few other noteworthy teams, like Louisville City for men’s soccer and the Bats for baseball, but those are in Division 2 and Triple-A, respectively. They’re most represented in the sports world through their college teams, the Louisville Cardinals and Kentucky Wildcats, and in hosting the Kentucky Derby, as well as being the home of arguably the greatest boxer of all time, Muhammad Ali.
So why should Kentucky be in the conversation to get another pro team?
I think the first question that needs to be answered is why they haven’t been given one yet. There are a few reasons that are definitely at play. First of all, the association the state has with college sports is a factor. It also has not been seen as having a large enough market size to sustain a pro team. A statistic to take note of is that as of 2022, Kentucky placed 47th in most disposable income per capita.
There has been talk about Louisville potentially being a favorite option for the NBA to add an expansion team to for years, but at this point, nothing has come of it.
However, a positive aspect to note that should help give Louisville some points towards achieving this prestigious goal is that they already have a perfect basketball venue in the KFC Yum! Center. Sure, it would need some upgrades to host an NBA team, but the groundwork is already there.
Former Denver Nuggets basketball player, who’s known as a University of Kentucky legend, Dan Issel, has been working with NBA2Lou to try and help move the process along. The team would, of course, need an owner to come up with an estimated $1.4 billion, which despite sounding absurdly high, isn’t too out of the ordinary for NBA teams.
The mayor of Louisville, Craig Greenberg, has been very vocal recently about his desire to get a WNBA team for the city.
“We’re working a few angles. We’re making it known in the WNBA world that we would love to have a team here,” said Greenberg. “I think the community would support it. I think Louisville has the potential to be the women’s professional sports capital of the world.”
There’s certainly hunger for a team amongst sports fans as well. According to Louisville Business First’s poll of 1,000 sports fans, Louisville was voted the second most worthy of an NBA team, tied with Honolulu, HI, and behind Austin, TX. They were also voted the third most deserving of an NFL team.
