We already know that St. Louis has a huge basketball market
The basketball fanbase in STL is huge. They support numerous collegiate basketball teams and host a major NCAA tournament every year. They also once were home to the Hawks for over a decade.
The St. Louis Billikens selling more tickets than some other NCAA teams that are much more popular and in bigger conferences while being less than a two-hour drive from a huge team like Mizzou is incredibly impressive. The city of St. Louis helps feed both of these teams’ fanbases.
On top of this, they host the basketball championship tournament for the Missouri Valley Conference every year. They even occasionally host March Madness games as well.
With the ticket sales to basketball events hosted in the city and numerous NBA stars coming from there as well, it is clear that St. Louis has a huge basketball market. With Kansas City, Columbia, and Jefferson City all within two to four hours of STL, they would likely be able to support an NBA team fairly easily.
Without even taking into account any small towns that may have basketball fans in Iowa or southern Illinois who are currently too far from a team to go to an NBA game. Sending an expansion team to St. Louis would be a great way to find a previously untapped fanbase and ensure that any new team has a strong and loyal fanbase.