Coleman said in his letter to Stern that the NBA team would share the Nationwide Arena with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He says that the arena is "on sound financial footing."
Coleman also mentioned that Columbus has the lowest unemployment rate in the state and is home to five Fortune 500 companies.
Ohio already has an NBA team with the Cleveland Cavaliers, which makes Columbus' chance of actually getting a team slim to none. Also, the Blue Jackets have a HDD time selling out a game in the first place.
David Stern has already said there will not be expansion anytime in the near future. This means that Columbus will have to compete with cities like Las Vegas to get a team moving.
I would have to think if it's the Sacramento Kings who are trying to move or any other team they would pick Las Vegas over Columbus every time. No offense to Columbus, but who would send a team there? They have horrible attendance for Blue Jackets games and just seems like an odd place to move to.
Columbus already has a star team in Ohio State. Columbus is like Baton Rouge or Tuscaloosa, they are a college town. There would be excitement early on like any other city would with a new team, but if there team didn't succeed they would leave and have very low attendance.
Mayor Michael Coleman's chances of bringing an NBA team to the city of Columbus is pretty slim. It might even be a few years before any team even moves in the first place.
Coleman better give a pretty good pitch to Stern in person if he ever gets the chance to have his city get any chance of having an NBA team in Columbus.
Evan Sidery is a beat writer for FootBasket. He is a fan of the Colts and Pacers. You can see more about him by following him on Twitter.
