If you think the National Football League could never come to Salt Lake, consider this: Brownsville, Texas, is hoping to get a team.
What, Great Falls was already taken?
It makes you wonder. Los Angeles has 17 million people, and it still doesn't have an NFL team. What is Brownsville thinking?
Probably the same thing as Salt Lake: If Green Bay qualifies, doesn't everyone?
The prospect of Utah gaining an NFL team came to light this week in an article published in the Brownsville Herald that said the Rio Grande Valley is a possible NFL site. Proponents note that 7 million residents live in South Texas and North Mexico. Never mind Brownsville has only 139,000 in the immediate vicinity. (Isn't that a little like including Las Vegas and Denver in Salt Lake's metro population?)
The article said other cities showing interest are Salt Lake, Albuquerque, San Antonio, Toronto and Los Angeles.
Let the posturing begin.
That Salt Lake's name would arise among aspiring NFL cities isn't necessarily surprising. Ever since it hosted the 2002 Olympics, it has been pining for more big time events. That's why Real Salt Lake is here and thriving — at the box office, if not on the field. Of the aforementioned U.S. candidates, only L.A. has higher bank deposits than Salt Lake, according to the Herald. Salt Lake's 92 billion in deposits is 3 1/2 times as much as San Antonio and roughly 10 times that of Albuquerque and the Rio Grand Valley.
So there's money in Utah waiting to be spent.
For decades it was believed Salt Lake was too small to host a major league team in any sport. But then came the ABA Stars, then the NBA Jazz, and things changed. The Jazz not only survived but thrived. Another objection was that Salt Lake didn't have the business/advertising/fan base to support more than one big league team, yet Real Salt Lake is drawing the second-most fans in Major League Soccer.
To say Salt Lake couldn't support two or maybe even three major team because of size is to ignore other similar cities. Charlotte, with a metro population of 1.6 million (just 200,000 larger than Salt Lake), has the NFL Panthers and NBA Bobcats. New Orleans (1.3 million) has the NFL Saints and NBA Hornets. Milwaukee (1.7 million) has the NBA Bucks and MLB Brewers. Nashville (1.3 million) has the NHL Predators and NFL Titans. Buffalo, with 1.1 million residents, has the NHL Sabres and NFL Bills.
Then there's Green Bay, the ultimate anomaly, with a metro population of 225,000.
Beyond population and bank deposits, Salt Lake has a history of pulling off high visibility events. The Olympics were both well attended and highly successful. The 1993 NBA All-Star Game and '97 and '98 NBA Finals were smash hits. When the U.S. national soccer team played at Rice-Eccles Stadium in June 4, it drew over 40,000.
It seems when big events come to town, the town comes to the event.
Even more important, though, is the NFL's system. Thanks to the revenue sharing and a hard salary cap, even the little guys make money.
Could Salt Lake sustain an NFL team?
"Only if they triple the size of the Dead Goat (now Crazy Goat) Saloon," jokes Seattle Post-Intelligencer columnist Art Thiel.
Seriously, Thiel says the NFL's formula of having taxpayers foot the stadium bill in smaller markets, but have the team share in TV revenues, makes Salt Lake "if not probable, at least plausible."
"The way it is," continues Thiel, "a whole bunch of cities that would not normally be on the radar are able to pull it off."
A quirky question about Salt Lake is whether fans will attend on Sunday. Yet the Jazz have always sold out Sunday NBA Playoff games (regular season games are rarely played on Sunday in Salt Lake).
Likewise, when the PGA Senior Tour played its final round on Sunday each year, it was always well attended.
Unlike baseball, NFL teams have only eight regular season home dates to fill.
Salt Lake probably won't outdo Los Angeles in the race to get an NFL franchise. Beyond that, it could happen. New Orleans owner Tom Benson has admitted he's considering relocating the Saints.
Twenty-six years ago, the New Orleans Jazz ended up in Salt Lake.
Maybe that could become Utah's motto: "We'll Take Whatever New Orleans Gives Us."
Brownsville can have the Vikings.
E-mail: rock@desnews.com