I had absolutely no idea about this.
I didn’t know about the first time, but I lived up there on the range for 25 years.
It was a big political battle getting the new stadium funded and built.
There was a strong political faction that would have let them leave.
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Always wondered about the city. In meaning, it’s the largest city without a team of any kind. Other than the minors.
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This one took me a second to realize what you were saying. That is interesting.
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I wonder where Vegas used to be on that list. We’re almost up to 3 million people in the Metro area.
Well, with Vegas, sports hated gambling.
Oh yeah, I remember the chatter well. I was just curious on the numbers.
Hey now, little old Hartford, CT, has a bigger metro and also no team.
Bring back the Whalers!
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Providence Rhode Island metro and Virginia Beach Metro areas are also more populous than Birmingham Metro Area. 
Austin Texas also fits in there but it’s so close to Dallas I didn’t think it really qualified for this conversation.
Saratoga WY
Do you ever watch college hockey in Providence? We just had an interview with Jack Dugan on my podcast. He’s a great, determined kid. I’m really rooting for him.
Meh Dallas and Austin further away than Detroit and Cleveland
I’ll definitely head into providence if Cornell’s playing either Brown or P’Dence and I’ve got Yale and Quinipiac really close by too. Plus UCONN is developing their program and playing some games at the old Whalers arena.
College hockey is fantastic!
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Hartford? Really? It’s sandwiched between Boston and NYC. And has had a pro team.
But Birmingham has never had a pro franchise. With a metro pop of nearly two mil and over 200 miles from the nearest sports teams (Atl/Tenn/NOLA). It’s basically the Pittsburgh of the south. Been there many times (daughter lives there) and they’re minor hockey and baseball teams do very well, as did their old USFL Stallion team. Some may see The Crimson Tide (1/2 hr away) as a pro franchise. Just seems odd to me. Was it just because they killed four little girls?
Red McCombs, who owned the Vikings, Spurs and Nuggets was on NFL radio a few years ago talking about the idea of where to put teams, and the bigger picture of thinking in terms of TV markets and not just fans driving to the games. The problem with putting a team in Austin is that the Dallas Cowboys own the TV market for much of the state. Houston can grab some viewers for several reasons, one of those being that its an AFC team so its on a different network.
In addition to TV markets, he said people need to realize that fans will drive farther than people give them credit for. In that light I think Virginia Beach…while a large metro area…is too close to other teams. One of which is the Redskins, which is only a few hours away from here. I’m actually intrigued by how many Eagles fans there are here.
If you take a look at Alabama, the state borders a bunch of other “markets.” One part of the state is a short distance to New Orleans. Another part of the state is a short distance to Atlanta. Another part is close to Nashville. Another part of the state borders Florida, though the closest actual team is Jacksonville.
I’ve been eyeing Lake Martin for when I’ve finally had it with cold and ice.
Not familiar with that. My family lives about 1/2 S of the city. But they’re summers and our winters are equally unbearable.I
Plus, they have a lot of great microbrews.
Yes they do!! Some great BBQ joints as well: Saw’s, Dimitri’s etc.
Wikipedia says Birmingham population is around 210,000
Entire state around 4,800,000
What am I missing?
Like most big cities, the metro area is much larger.
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