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Election 2012: Voting for a Pro Team for Arkansas



With the Razorbacks searching for their next head football coach, I’ve heard a lot of people talking about the positives and negatives of the state of Arkansas. It’s an often-cited fact that Arkansas doesn’t have a professional sports team, which makes the Razorbacks the state’s pro team by default and consequently increases the attractiveness of the football head coaching position.

(I don’t think there’s any question that Arkansas would struggle to support a professional sports team—the population just isn’t large enough. I think there would be a core of rabid fans, but not enough casual fans to make a consistent profit. And professional sports teams are all about the money.)

This led me to consider an important question: If the state of Arkansas had to vote on which professional sports team to adopt as its own, which team would Arkansans pick? Regional proximity was one of the most important aspects I considered, so I included how many miles each team is from Little Rock. What follows is a list of the ten most likely teams that Arkansans would ratify as its own by popular vote.

(Honorable mentions: Kansas City Chiefs/Royals, St. Louis Rams, and Texas Rangers)

10. Dallas Mavericks, 317 miles — A significant amount of Razorback fans and native Arkansans live in and around Dallas, but I just don’t know that the Mavericks have the same following of loyal Arkansans as its football counterpart. A lot of Arkansans probably jumped on the Mavs bandwagon during their 2011 NBA championship run. Most jumped off after last season, I’d guess.

9. Houston Texans, 435 miles — This is a team I’m really torn about. If it wasn’t for other NFL teams with longer histories, I think the Texans could be a lot higher on this list. It’s just all too new and too far away.

8. Oklahoma City Thunder, 339 miles — See Texans. The Thunder have a better chance of catching on in Arkansas, in my opinion, because of the proximity of Oklahoma City to Fayetteville. The Thunder play an exciting brand of basketball that is reminiscent of the Razorback glory days with Nolan Richardson. There’s plenty of potential here.

7. Atlanta Falcons, 518 miles — Originally I had the Falcons ranked at six and the Braves at seven for one simple reason: the NFL is more popular than MLB to casual sports fans. However, tradition has to count for something, right? I’ve never cared for the Falcons, but I know a number of Arkansans that follow them with pride. Maybe I am underestimating the Falcons’ following in Arkansas.

6. Atlanta Braves, 518 miles — I’m biased: I grew up watching Bobby Cox manage Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Fred McGriff, and Chipper Jones on TBS. And I can’t be the only one—thanks in large part to Ted Turner and TBS, the Braves gathered a huge regional following. However, the Braves would never beat out the other MLB team near to Arkansans’ hearts.

5. New Orleans Saints, 427 miles — Less than a decade ago, not even Louisiana wanted to claim the Saints; now it seems like every Southern state claims some allegiance to the Saints, whether it’s because of Katrina or the recent Super Bowl or Drew Brees. I just can’t claim the Saints because I equate a New Orleans fan to a LSU fan. Not happening.

4. Tennessee Titans (Nashville), 349 miles — Maybe it’s just because I’m from Northeast Arkansas, but I know a lot of Titan fans. However, if Arkansas had to pick between NFL teams and number two wasn’t available, I still think Arkansas goes with the Titans over the Saints simply because of the LSU factor.

3. Memphis Grizzlies, 137 miles — The Grizzlies are the closest professional sports team and are now partly owned by Peyton Manning and Justin Timberlake. That has to count for something, right? Personally, I probably identify with the Grizzlies more than any other team on this list. However, I’m always disappointed that Memphis doesn’t do more to grow its popularity in Arkansas—I think the Memphis ownership is missing out on an untapped resource.

2. Dallas Cowboys, 317 miles — The connection between the Cowboys and Arkansas is deep: Jerry Jones, Jimmy Johnson, Barry Switzer. There is an argument to be made that the Cowboys would win a popular vote in Arkansas by a landslide. I just feel like football loyalties of Arkansans are a little more diverse than people realize, which leads me to…

1. St. Louis Cardinals, 403 miles — I don’t know the history between Arkansas and the Cardinals (someone please enlighten me); however, once again this may be NEA bias, I know more people who passionately follow the Cardinals than most of the other teams on this list put together. Can you imagine a runoff between the Cardinals and the Cowboys? It’d be like an Arkansas election between Bobby Petrino and Bill Clinton for the most awesome man alive. How do you pick a winner?

(Someone needs to make a GIF or picture of Clinton and Petrino.)

(This is what readers are for: doing what you don't know how to do. Thanks to Justin Williams.)
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