Oklahoma City NBA?

[Reality]

Representatives in Louisville, Ky.; Nashville, Tenn.; San Diego :wub: and Kansas City, Mo., also offered to temporarily host the team, but no city can offer the state-of-the-art facility with as many open dates as Oklahoma City can.

Oklahoma City high on list of home sites for Hornets By Darren Rovell
ESPN.com


When Oklahoma City opened up its Ford Center three years ago, its residents surely hoped that it would one day host a major professional sports team. After all, it was built to satisfy both NBA and NHL specifications.

The size and the overall lack of events in the arena look to be in the city's favor when the NBA figures to announce the location of the home games for the New Orleans Hornets next week. The New Orleans Arena was not severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina, but it's possible that no games could be played in the facility this year.

A person with knowledge of the league's negotiations told ESPN.com that it is very likely that some of the Hornets games will be played in the state of Louisiana -- in Baton Rouge -- but Oklahoma City is the clear front-runner if the team needs to play somewhere else. Complicating factors in Baton Rouge, where the New Orleans Saints will play four of their home games, is that LSU's Pete Maravich Assembly Center is currently serving as a temporary home to evacuees. NBA officials spent Wednesday and Thursday in Baton Rouge to inspect the facilities and to donate their time and goods to the storm victims.

Representatives in Louisville, Ky.; Nashville, Tenn.; San Diego; and Kansas City, Mo., also offered to temporarily host the team, but no city can offer the state-of-the-art facility with as many open dates as Oklahoma City can.

NBA officials toured the Ford Center ,which has a capacity of 19,675 seats, last Friday and they began to talk about the possible terms of a lease with the team. When matching up the schedule, there were only a few dates that the arena could not host the team. With the only full time tenant of the building during the NBA season being the Central Hockey League's Oklahoma City Blazers, there are only 36 total events scheduled in the 181 days from November through April, according to the arena's Web site. Only one NBA game is currently scheduled -- a preseason game between the Houston Rockets and the Seattle SuperSonics on Oct. 17.

Oklahoma City mayor Mick Cornett said he believes his city is the first option if all the games can't be played in the state of Louisiana. "They made it clear that they liked what they saw and that our arena was appropriate for NBA games," Cornett said. The mayor would not divulge any other details of a proposed lease such as some sort of ticket guarantee.

The Hornets drew a league-low 14,421 fans per game in New Orleans last season. Those who are familiar with the Oklahoma City market say that a move to the city wouldn't mean a huge drop in attendance.

"This is a great sports community, it's a terrific facility and they shouldn't have trouble drawing large crowds," said Joe Castiglione, athletics director at the University of Oklahoma, which is based in nearby Norman, Okla. The Sooners draw more than 80,000 fans to football games on Saturdays and average about 9,500 fans per men's basketball game.

The Hornets are scheduled to hold the first two weeks of training camp at the Air Force Academy in Colorado and play their first preseason game on Oct. 13 at the Pepsi Center in Denver. But it's possible that if Oklahoma City lands the Hornets, the team could train at a closer location.

Cornett said that if the NBA were to come to Oklahoma City, it would give the local economy a huge boost.

"There are more than a thousand businesses that need to relocate from New Orleans for a short time and, out of all of them, the Hornets are one of the most highly visible," Cornett said. "Having the NBA would place our city on a worldwide stage in a positive manner."

 


 

[rickortreat]

Maybe Joe will get a local team after all, since KC is on their list.

[Reality]

This should be game, set and match for Oklahoma City.  I'm sure San Diegos City Council had no such plan. :rolleyes:
It's nice to see OKC get some cash flo.

Hornet would get up to $10M if temporary move fails
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The New Orleans Hornets, displaced by Hurricane Katrina, could receive as much as $10 million from Oklahoma City, the state of Oklahoma and a group of businessmen as a fail-safe in case the team's temporary move to the state is not successful, according to an agreement pending approval by the Oklahoma City Council.

The agreement, which will come to a vote by the council Wednesday morning, calls for Oklahoma City to pay for the Hornets' use of the 19,675-seat Ford Center, a practice facility, downtown office space and housing for the upcoming season. If the team does not earn 5 percent more in local revenue than it made in New Orleans last season, Oklahoma City would be required to pay up to $10 million to the Hornets.

The state and a group of businessmen who have not yet been named have agreed to split those expenses if the Hornets do not meet the revenue benchmark of approximately $40 million, which would be adjusted downward if some games are scheduled outside of Oklahoma City.

However, if the team exceeds last season's revenues by more than 5 percent, Oklahoma City would receive 80 percent of the proceeds to cover its expenses. If all the city's costs are covered, the team and the city would split the remaining profits in half.

"The city will share a little bit of the risk, but the NBA is taking the vast majority of the risk in this deal," Mayor Mick Cornett said. "This is an untapped market, an unproven market for them. We're very appreciative that they're showing the confidence in us that they are."

Cornett said he expected the city council to give the deal unanimous approval.

"The intangibles are huge. To be able to illustrate your city on a worldwide global stage like the NBA is an opportunity not offered to very many mayors in very many cities," Cornett said. "It puts us in a level of equality with a lot of cities that we've never had that level of equality with before."

The mayor said it's difficult to determine exactly how successful the Hornets have to be for the city to break even. The NBA still hasn't determined exactly how many games will be played in Oklahoma City, and ticket prices haven't been set. Also, the city stands to receive revenues from parking, a hotel and motel tax and other tourism benefits that would offset the potential $3.3 million in risk.

"I don't know if in a worst-case scenario it gets us back to a wash, but I'm real comfortable with it," Cornett said. "I would imagine every other NBA city would like to have this deal."

The agreement calls for the city to install a new basketball floor, build a Hornets team shop and make other upgrades to the Ford Center and also attempt to repeal sales tax on Hornets tickets and seek tax credits and benefits for the team. It requires the Hornets and the NBA to implement marketing and business plans for the team and also includes a team option that would allow the Hornets to return to Oklahoma City for the 2006-07 season.

Since announcing that the city-owned arena would be available if the Hornets needed a temporary home, Cornett has insisted that Oklahoma City is not trying to steal the team from New Orleans, although it is looking forward to a chance to prove it can handle a major-league team.

"I think the NBA appreciates the way we conducted ourselves, and hopefully will remember that this was a positive relationship for them down the line when we can talk further about another team," Cornett said.