Will Mississippi Ever Get a Major League Pro Sports Team?

Could Jackson host major league pro sports?

There are plenty of states that have no pro sports teams in the big four major leagues. Even if we bring Major League Soccer into the picture, vast areas of the U.S. are not represented at that level.

Mississippi is hardly alone in that regard then – and there have been pro sports teams in the Magnolia State, such as the Biloxi Shuckers and our very own semi-professional soccer outfit, the Mississippi Brilla. But we don’t have many organizations that regularly feature on the big Las Vegas sportsbooks.

Is it time for a change though? Could Mississippi be the home of an expansion team in the future? Let’s take a look at the two schools of thought here.

Why Mississippi Shouldn’t Have a Major League Pro Sports Team

Mississippi is hardly the smallest state in the union, but it is quite far down the list when it comes to population. All the major sports leagues demand a big enough market for a team to be granted expansion – and our cities just don’t have enough people living in them.

That’s before the finance is taken into account. The cost would just be too much in any of the big leagues. The investment that would be needed just couldn’t be raised by the cities. Jackson is the largest and it only has a population of around 170,000. That won’t raise nearly enough tax dollars needed to fund an expansion team.

We are blessed with some of the most famous college institutions in Mississippi as well. Add to that the loyalty that high school teams evoke and there is an argument that there aren’t enough sports fans that would switch to a brand new team. We are too invested in our own minor league and college teams for that.

One other common argument is that there is not enough to attract teams and players to the area. As much as we know that this is a beautiful state to live in, it does not have the same infrastructure and hotspots to make it a destination against some cities in neighboring states.

Baseball would seem to be most likely sport to come to Mississippi

Why Mississippi Should Have a Major League Pro Sports Team

But a deep love of sports should be able to kick in some local pride. Jackson may have a relatively small population but it is bigger than Green Bay in Wisconsin. That city seems to have been able to keep a football team going for quite a while without any problems – why couldn’t Jackson do the same?

Ole Miss and Mississippi State regularly draw bigger crowds to their college football games than many major league sports teams in states nearby. Is it really that difficult to believe that the fans could not fit in a pro team to root for as well? Not all the pro leagues play at the same time as college football, so there would not even be a clash for most games. Other states seem to get around this problem as well.

Most of the arguments against bringing a new team to Mississippi are concentrated on the suitability, or otherwise, of Jackson to host a team. But there is no reason why it would have to be located in the biggest city in the state. If we forget about the NFL and NHL for a moment, Biloxi or Gulfport might be able to make a home for a Major League Baseball team.

With the casinos and beaches, there is an attraction ready to take advantage. Both those cities have very good access to New Orleans, Mobile, Baton Rouge – and even the Florida panhandle. Those are some big markets for potential fans that would not have any other baseball team to root for.

Will There Be a Team Anytime Soon?

The short answer is a pretty definitive no. There doesn’t seem to be the same appetite from some of the leagues, such as soccer, to expand much further. While the NFL seems set locally as well.

NHL’s southern expansion seems to have slowed down, so it is really only Major League Baseball that would seem to be even a remote possibility. There would probably be local and state support for the right proposal – but for the moment, we will just have to make do with our excellent minor league, college and local teams.

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