Opinion: The Whalers Effect Part II
The Connecticut Sun belongs in Hartford, 50 years after the Whalers arrived in the city.
The debate about using public funds to subsidize private sports organizations should not be part of the discussion on relocating the team.
While economic studies are divided on the impact of sports teams on local economies, the right team can transform a city through identity, energy, and visibility.
The right sports team can transform a city—not through spreadsheets or the number of beers sold post-game but through identity, energy, and visibility.
Hartford knows this as "The Whalers Effect", which was initiated when Aetna and Howard Baldwin brought the Whalers to the city in 1975 to attract young executives and rebrand it as a forward-thinking city.
Author's summary: Connecticut Sun should be in Hartford.