Opinion: Memphis is big enough to host multiple sporting events

Whenever two sporting events happen at the same time in Memphis, many sports fans continuously express their displeasure in the situation. It happened at the beginning of this month when the Memphis soccer team, Memphis 901 FC, played on 901 Day at the same time as the Tigers’ football home opener.

It can be argued that the choice between the first match of a much-anticipated football season and the franchise debut of the city’s soccer team is not an easy one to make. However, the idea that this city is not big enough to host multiple teams playing at the same time is a mindset that can hold Memphis back from becoming a great sports city.

To better understand why Memphis is big enough, let’s take a look at the numbers. The population of Memphis is roughly 650,000, according to the United States Census Bureau, making the city larger than both Cleveland, Ohio, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, by population. Both of those cities are home to multiple professional teams, and occasionally those pro teams play on the same day at the same time. 

For example, the Cleveland Indians played against the Chicago Cubs in the World Series in 2016. At the same time, directly across the street, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers had their opening night and hosted a ring ceremony to commemorate winning the NBA Finals. 

I will admit, traffic was a mess, and people in the area had to choose between watching James be crowned or the Indians’ Francisco Lindor and company possibly beating the Cubs, which did not happen; nonetheless, a decision was made, and both events happened. The point being, a city with a little more than half of Memphis’ population was able to pull off such a feat.

Minneapolis hosted Super Bowl LII earlier this year without incident. Did I mention this same city hosted the MLB All-Star game in 2014? Again, a city that is smaller than Memphis by population hosted either multiple sporting events or, in some cases, major events like All-Star games and an NBA Finals.

Now to be fair, those cities mentioned are larger than Memphis when it comes to incorporating the entire metropolitan area. Unlike the Bluff City, Minneapolis has a twin city named St. Paul, and that whole metro area consisted of 3.28 million people in 2010. Additionally, The Land (metro Cleveland) has more than 2 million people. 

Our area has about 1.3 million people, which includes Memphis and the surrounding areas. But, that validates my point that there are people here, and many can watch different sports teams that just happen to play on the same day.

Building Design and Construction magazine’s website mentioned last month that Memphis was on the radar to become the “next big thing.†The article brings up the idea that Memphis could be the next Austin, Texas, and also referenced new construction happening in downtown Memphis, such as ServiceMaster moving its headquarters and the building of a technology center there.

These points are more geared to the city revitalizing downtown, but it also shows that the city has the potential to grow, and with that growth, comes more opportunities for Memphis to host big sporting events, even if they happen at the same time. 

Memphians who cannot fathom the idea of the Memphis Redbirds, 901 FC and the Tigers playing at the same time need to change their mindset. This city is more than capable of handling that responsibility. People should think if Minneapolis and Cleveland can do it, why not the largest city on the Mississippi River.

Joshua A. Vinson | Sports editor