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The New York and Boston markets cast a shadow over Hartford’s chances.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
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HARTFORD, CONN.
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Income profile (annual):
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■ Household median: $72,275
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■ Household, 60th percentile: $90,326
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■ Household, 80th percentile: $140,572
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■ Median, family of four: $111,713
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■ Discretionary, family of four (rank): $30,090 (9th)
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■ MSA population (rank): 1.21 million (47th)
■ Since 2010: Flat
■ Major pro team: None
■ Nearest teams: In Boston, 102 miles away
■ TV teams: New York Yankees and Mets, Boston Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins
■ TV households (rank): 945,250 (30th)
■ Metro GDP (rank): $86.1 billion (39th)
■ Fortune 1000 HQs (rank): 4 (40th)
■ Employment profile: Highest over-index areas in the MSA are in legal occupations (58 percent) and community and social services (57 percent), giving Hartford a different employment profile than most major sports markets. But it also over-indexes by 44 percent in management occupations and 31 percent in business and financial operations, as well as by 22 percent in computers and math, and in architecture and engineering, all occupations that show up frequently in big league markets.
■ Places to play: Not particularly appealing. The 41-year-old Xcel Center was known as the Hartford Civic Center when it opened as home to the relocated New England Whalers hockey team. It’s still standing, desperately in need of renovations.
— Bill King
Appraisal
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Our instinct was to leave Hartford out of this. You will be hard pressed to find anyone in, or even orbiting, the sports industry who will argue that it will land a major pro team any time soon. But the numbers are the numbers. And there is some history here with the Hartford Whalers, albeit distant and failed.
The MSA is small; about the size of Salt Lake City and New Orleans. But the TV market, corporate base and metro GDP are all above the median of the single-team markets. It’s not Vegas or Austin, but Hartford’s stats put it in the conversation with any other market that is without a team.
The trouble, of course, is that while it is a bit more than 100 miles from both Boston and New York, Hartford’s sporting culture has been dominated by those massive markets for decades — and certainly
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since the emergence of regional sports networks. In Hartford, fans get all the Boston teams, plus the Yankees and Mets from New York.
How much does it matter which teams are on TV? Consider that among Facebook users within 30 miles of Hartford, the Celtics generated about 80,000 likes to the Knicks’ 42,000 and the Bruins posted 33,000 to the Rangers’ 13,000. But the Red Sox and Yankees, whose games both air in Hartford, are in a dead heat at about 75,000 likes each.
The demos and corporate base made Hartford appealing to a hockey team when the NHL’s Whalers moved into a new civic center four decades ago. But that building has deteriorated and the TV rules of engagement have changed. Hartford might be a great market, but it’s spoken for.
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