March 28, 2008

Airing of Grievances: Seattle is NOT a "small market"


Seattle is treated as an insignificant afterthought by the national sports media, and is often dismissed as a rainy, coffee-fueled "small market" backwater.

Thanks to the US Census, here's the list of metro areas smaller than Seattle with NFL teams:

-St. Louis
-San Diego
-Minneapolis
-Baltimore
-Tampa
-Denver
-Cleveland
-Pittsburgh
-Cincinnati
-Kansas City
-Indianapolis
-New Orleans
-Buffalo
-Jacksonville
-Charlotte
-Nashville
-Green Bay

Yup, among cities with NFL teams, Seattle is the 13th largest.. Actually above average! Not bad for the team from "South Alaska," huh?

Those of us who have actually spent time in Seattle know its got all the pros and cons of a huge American city (the traffic and lack of effective public transportation make me freak out if I'm in town for more than 2 or 3 days). It might be a longer plane ride if you're coming from the east coast, but it's a legit big league town... which makes the idea of the Sonics moving to OKC, a town with TWO MILLION FEWER PEOPLE than Seattle, seem extra super-duper retarded.

UPDATE: Washington is the 13th largest state in terms of population (almost 6.5 million), and if you assume that the Seahawks' "territory" includes WA, OR, AK and BC, that's a "fan base" of almost 15 million people.

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