It is doubtful that the NBA and NHL is interested in Cincinnati.
Business leaders in Cincinnati are discussing the possibility of building a new arena in the city because the 47-year-old city owned arena is no longer bringing events into town. The Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau Chair Jeff Berding claimed the city has lost big time events to other Midwest cities that included the NCAA men’s basketball tournament regional games. Berding claimed that Milwaukee’s recently built arena is hosting the same amount of tournament games Cincinnati once did. Berding also said Cincinnati missed out on major political events such as the 2016 Republican National Convention, which ended up in Cleveland. The old Cincinnati arena still does get some concerts but there is a page on the Cincinnati arena’s website that is lobbying for a new building because according to the arena’s website which explains that the arena no longer attracts top-ranked acts and events because of its size and interior space configuration. The people who run the Cincinnati arena want a new building that will be able to get the attention of moneyed people who stage events and allow Cincinnati to go after the same type of events that end up in Columbus, Cleveland, Louisville, Indianapolis or Kansas City.
It is doubtful that the National Hockey League would have any interest in Cincinnati. The NHL had a chance at bringing Cincinnati into the league in 1979 when four of the six remaining World Hockey Association teams were absorbed to form a 21-team NHL. Birmingham and Cincinnati did not make the cut. Cincinnati had problems drawing fans. The NHL has a team in Columbus. The National Basketball Association’s Cincinnati Royals franchise moved to Kansas City in 1972 because very few people were buying tickets to games. It is unlikely Cincinnati will get an NBA franchise in the foreseeable future. Cincinnati is now in the arena game.
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