ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - The question of whether St. Louis could land an NBA franchise is drawing responses from fans, elected officials and sports business leaders. While enthusiasm runs high, significant barriers remain.
The conversation gained momentum after U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt said the Blues would welcome a second tenant at Enterprise Center.
“I think Saint Louis is a great candidate for it,” Schmitt said. “We’ve got a great facility there. So I’d love to see it happen. I don’t know that it’ll happen.”
Multiple fans said Enterprise Center would be a natural fit for an NBA team, noting that other cities already share hockey and basketball venues.
In a statement, the Blues said the venue could accommodate a second tenant but that no serious inquiries have been made.
ADVERTISEMENT
“As the operators of the city-owned Enterprise Center, the Blues organization is certainly open to hearing from teams or leagues that share our ownership group’s passion for St. Louis and the collaborative spirit we enjoy with the city’s existing professional sports franchises,” the statement read. “While the venue’s current annual event schedule could accommodate the addition of a complementary tenant, our current ownership group has not received any credible inquiries from outside entities. Our organization remains squarely focused on continuing to strengthen the business of the St. Louis Blues Hockey Club and further stimulating the local economy through our work with the St. Louis Sports Commission to bring national and international sporting events to this region.”
Current NBA expansion plans do not include St. Louis, the league is approaching 32 teams, and no franchise is publicly for sale.
The most likely path to an NBA team in St. Louis would be a local billionaire or an ownership group buying and relocating an existing franchise.
Sports commission: League prioritizes growth markets
Marc Schreiber of the St. Louis Sports Commission said an NBA team would succeed in St. Louis but acknowledged the city faces a structural challenge.
“NBA would do great here. Team would be successful, especially if it wins,” Schreiber said. “The reality is, leagues like the NBA and the NFL for that matter, they’re looking to plant franchises in vastly growing markets.”
ADVERTISEMENT
When asked how a metro population of 2.8 million is not enough, Schreiber said the issue is growth rate, not size.
“It’s not growing like Las Vegas is and other regions that the NBA might be looking at,” he said. “St. Louis could be labeled as a somewhat saturated market. The league strategically are looking at where’s the greatest opening, where’s the greatest room for growth. And I think we have to be realistic in this and just to understand that in that conversation, we may not be at the top of the list.”
St. Louis metro larger than OKC, Memphis
The latest census data shows the St. Louis metropolitan area has roughly 2.8 million residents, larger than the Oklahoma City metro at about 1.5 million and the Memphis and Salt Lake City metros at around 1.3 million each.
Fans have pointed to those smaller markets as evidence St. Louis could sustain an NBA product.
Chaifetz group previously pursued WNBA bid
Ross Chaifetz, whose ownership group recently acquired the Portland Trail Blazers, said St. Louis is an elite sports market. His group previously pursued a WNBA expansion bid for St. Louis.
“A little over two years ago we met and exceeded the whisper price for the expansion bid for the franchise fee and investments in facilities,” Chaifetz said. “For reasons out of our control, the league gave the franchise to an NBA owner.”
Chaifetz said he sees opportunity for the NBA in St. Louis, though he noted his new investment in Portland limits what he can say publicly.
“I think this is a great market for basketball, male or female, and St. Louis is an exceptional sports market no matter the team or competitive sport,” he said.
St. Louis has NBA history
St. Louis previously hosted the Hawks, who won an NBA title in 1958 while playing at Kiel Auditorium before relocating to Atlanta in 1968.
The city’s profile in the league has grown in recent years with Jayson Tatum and Brad Beal becoming prominent figures in the NBA.
ADVERTISEMENT
Fans said the region’s sports appetite is comparable to markets that already have NBA teams and that a basketball team would draw fans from across the region, similar to how the Cardinals draw from neighboring states.
“People want to root for a St. Louis team,” said Jordan Ashford, a St. Louis sports fan. “If we have it, people are going to come to the game. Just give them a team. We’ll embrace it like we embrace anything.”
Copyright 2026 KMOV. All rights reserved.