CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The continuing saga of where the
Charlotte Hornets will play next season is heating up, with three
cities all making active plays for the team.
The mayor of Charlotte said Wednesday the city will continue
trying to find a way to build a new arena despite reports that the
Hornets are close to filing for relocation.
"We firmly believe that the city of Charlotte is still the best
place for the Hornets and the facts prove that," Mayor Pat McCrory
said while attending Wednesday night's game against the Atlanta
Hawks.
"The NBA and Charlotte are a good fit."
But New Orleans and Louisville are also in the hunt and all
co-owner Ray Wooldridge will say is he'll have a decision at the
end of the month.
Wooldridge spent the past two days visiting with New Orleans
officials about moving the team there. He spent Wednesday touring
possible sites for a training facility.
"Things are going very well. We're still in the negotiating
process," Wooldridge said. "We expect to have our relocation
decision by the end of January."
The Charlotte Observer, citing an unnamed source, reported
Wednesday that Wooldridge is expected to file with the NBA to
relocate within two weeks and that New Orleans is the expected
destination.
Further clouding the situation Wednesday was the mayor of
Louisville, who said his city still believes it has a chance to
land the Hornets and would move forward with its proposal to build
the team an arena.
"There is a rumor every day, almost by the hour, as to where
this team will go," Mayor Dave Armstrong said.
So far, New Orleans is the only city with an arena ready for the
Hornets, who currently play in the outdated Charlotte Coliseum.
Wooldridge has contended that the Hornets need luxury suites to
stop estimated losses of $1 million a month. The Coliseum has 12
suites and the New Orleans arena has 44 with room to possibly add
20 more.
Louisville, as well as Norfolk, Va., are trying to formulate
proposals to build the Hornets a new arena.
But Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim said Wednesday that his city can't
match the lucrative offer that New Orleans made. City officials
will continue to talk with the Hornets, however, he said.
New Orleans, the state of Louisiana and private corporations
will guarantee ticket and luxury-suite sales and provide the
18,500-seat New Orleans Arena virtually rent-free, The
Virginian-Pilot reported Thursday, citing an unidentified source
knowledgeable about negotiations between the Hornets and New
Orleans. The Hornets would expect to make a sizable profit next
season even if they did not draw well in New Orleans.
That compares with an expected loss of between $25 million and
$30 million in their first two seasons if they moved to Norfolk,
where they would have to play at the 10,258-seat Scope while
awaiting the construction of a new arena.
In Charlotte, two major banks and a utility said Monday they
were prepared to pay $100 million in a deal to build a new arena in
Charlotte.
The city, which would have to match the money through the
hotel/motel tax and provide the land and infrastructure, has a
deadline of Feb. 11 to accept or reject the offer. The arena would
not be completed until 2004.
NBA Commissioner David Stern has previously said his first
choice is to keep the team in Charlotte with a new arena and the
Hornets need the league's permission to move.
The team would have to apply to the NBA for permission to move
by the first week of March to play in another city next season.
McCrory said the Charlotte city council would address the new
proposal at next Monday's meeting and work diligently to meet the
Feb. 11 deadline set by the business leaders.
He also said he heard "rumors" that Wooldridge was close to
filing the relocation paperwork with the NBA, which is believed to
have sparked the proposal made by Wachovia, Bank of America and
Duke Energy.
"We believe that deal is a very good deal for the Hornets,"
McCrory said. "If we can make it work, it not only gives them
revenue and suites they claim they need, but I think it will renew
their fan base."
The Hornets currently have one of the worst attendance marks in
the league, a product of local disdain for Wooldridge and owner
George Shinn, as well as frustration over the will-they-or-won't
they leave saga.
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