Question about San Antonio

[Danny.Zhu]

I always say statements like: San Antonio is a small market. So Spurs cannot always afford luxury tax.

But on the other hand, I saw that San Antonio is the 7th biggest city in the US according to population.

So I can only drew 2 conclusions:
1. Although San Antonio is a big city, there're not that much people like basketball.
2. Or, people are not that rich here compared to other big cities. So Spurs don't have that much income.

Which one is true? Or what am I missing here?

[lurker23]

I always say statements like: San Antonio is a small market. So Spurs cannot always afford luxury tax.

But on the other hand, I saw that San Antonio is the 7th biggest city in the US according to population.

So I can only drew 2 conclusions:
1. Although San Antonio is a big city, there're not that much people like basketball.
2. Or, people are not that rich here compared to other big cities. So Spurs don't have that much income.

Which one is true? Or what am I missing here?

What really matters is the size of the metropolitan area, or the population of the city plus the people who live really close to the city. When you take that into account, San Antonio is #28.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_United_States_Metropolitan_Statistical_Ar eas

[FromWayDowntown]

San Antonio is a small television market because it really doesn't have any densely-populated areas outside of its metropolitan area. By contrast, cities like Dallas, New York, Los Angeles, and Houston have a number of suburbs that each have several hundred thousand people who are part of those markets.

San Antonio is a large city, but it is not a large metropolitan area compared to many other NBA cities. That's what makes it a small market.

[Danny.Zhu]

What really matters is the size of the metropolitan area, or the population of the city plus the people who live really close to the city. When you take that into account, San Antonio is #28.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_United_States_Metropolitan_Statistical_Ar eas

Oh. I see. Thanks.

[Dex]

Yeah, the population numbers are skewed by the sheer geographic size of San Antonio. When it comes down to it, it's mostly a suburban city, rather than a hotspot for commerce, industry, or tourism.

Still, since the Spurs are the ONLY major sports franchise in the city, San Antonians are all about the silver and black.

[Mel_13]

TV market rankings:

http://www.tvb.org/rcentral/markettrack/us_hh_by_dma.asp

[Nathan Explosion]

Yeah, the population numbers are skewed by the sheer geographic size of San Antonio. When it comes down to it, it's mostly a suburban city, rather than a hotspot for commerce, industry, or tourism.

Still, since the Spurs are the ONLY major sports franchise in the city, San Antonians are all about the silver and black.

San Antonio draws 20 million people a year.

http://www.forbestraveler.com/best-lists/most-visited-us-cities-slide-17.html?thisSpeed=25000

[lurker23]

2. Or, people are not that rich here compared to other big cities. So Spurs don't have that much income.

There's also something to this as well.

San Antonio is #126 in median household income among US metropolitan areas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highest-income_metropolitan_statistical_areas_in_the_Unite d_States

Granted, cost of living varies a good amount among these locations, but it still makes a difference.

[jman3000]

Boerne, Floresville, Universal City, Poteet... the list of huge suburban cities goes on and on.

[Nathan Explosion]

Boerne, Floresville, Universal City, Poteet... the list of huge suburban cities goes on and on.

If New Braunfels and San Marcos could get into the act, the market would jump a bit.

[greyforest]

http://simplecomplexity.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/this-is-where-we-live_infographic.jpg

[angelbelow]

Interesting thread.. I didn't know about any of these statistics.