Corral, Harrington, Hinde, Mayer

Dr. Brian Turner

EDUPAES 509

2 Dec 2008

Memphis Grizzlies

      The 2008-2009 Memphis Grizzlies are a team that is loaded with potential. With rising young stars such as Mike Conley, Rudy Gay, and O.J. Mayo, a suiting theme for them would be “Young Team. Big Dream.” With Memphis being traditionally known as a college basketball town, there lies great opportunity to increase attendance for a professional team as well. Although recent struggles have hindered the Grizzlies from making much noise around the league, they are a team on the brink of becoming one of the NBA’s next elite squads.

      Memphis as a whole has a population of 674,028, which increased from the 2000 census by nearly 25,000 residents. This shows that although it is not a densely populated city, there is still potential to successfully market an NBA franchise like the Grizzlies. We found that 47.9% of the population in Memphis is male, with the remaining 52.1% being female. Also, Memphis has over 63% African American population while Whites are at a mere 30%, leaving Asians at only 1.5% of the population and a Hispanic population of only 4.7%. We also see that Memphis is over $15,000 below the national average of household income with the average being only $32,594. The per capita income in Memphis is only $19,252, showing that economic status isn’t exactly favorable in this city.

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