NEW ORLEANS -- The Hornets have 10 days to sell almost 1,200 club seats and meet other requirements for their proposed move from Charlotte to New Orleans.

The deadline was a surprise to city leaders, who thought they would have until the NBA owners meet April 8.

"We need a call to action," Mayor-elect Ray Nagin said Friday. "Somehow we've got to get everyone's attention and get a rallying cry, because we have one week."

The team and local leaders immediately launched a plan to meet the requirements set out in a letter from NBA Commissioner David Stern, said Alex Martins, the Hornets' director of business operations.

The club seats -- those nearest the court -- require a three-year commitment and cost $3,870 to $10,750. The Hornets must sell 1,168 more to meet the league's target of 2,400.

The NBA also told the team Friday that it must complete paperwork on all 55 luxury suite commitments, increase the number of multiyear sponsorships, and complete agreements on radio and television rights by April 3.

But it was clear that club-seat sales are the NBA's main concern.

Most local businesses haven't bought tickets, said Bill Hines, chairman of the regional Chamber of Commerce's economic development arm, Metrovision.

"If 600 businesses buy two club seats, we've won," Hines said. "Some are going to buy more than two, and some are going to buy none. We're just trying to piece it together."

Martins said the deadline was set because the league's relocation committee must submit its report to the NBA Board of Governors, which needs time to review it before April 8.

NBA executives and owners are expected to get the relocation committee's recommendation April 8 and vote the next day. Fifteen of the 29 NBA team owners must vote to approve the move.

"We're still very confident, and we believe we are going to be able to reach them," Martins said of the league requirements. "They're all significant challenges."