Relocation Fee and Vote Issues Settled

[say-what-x]

O.K.

The relcoation fee issue is settled, by of all places the Observer.

$30 million dollars total, to be paid over 5 years ($6 million per year)

Heisley's condidional approval resulted from his objection to the Hornets paying the same as he did.

Hornets' 14-year run in Charlotte is over

Executives who participated in the NBA's conference call Friday said the vote was unanimous -- and mostly a formality, after the league made its recommendation to the owners 10 days ago. No questions were asked. In alphabetical order, the league asked each team for its relocation vote. All 29 said yes.

Another vote set the terms of the move. That's when the Memphis Grizzlies cast the only "no" vote of the day. Several executives said the team supported the move but objected to making the Hornets pay a $30 million relocation fee over five years -- the same amount the Grizzlies paid last year after moving from Vancouver.

Several NBA owners who had objected to the move in the past or criticized the Hornets owners ended up voting yes.

"From the get-go, our firm, firm impression had been that neither (NBA Commissioner) David Stern nor anyone in the league wanted to move the team," said one executive who participated in the call.

"They were won over."

[St. Rock]

Interesting. $30 million makes the most sense, certainly more than the ESPN article yesterday that had it at $210 million.

What's weird is that the ESPN article today reads as follows:

"Sources have told ESPN that there will be a $210 relocation fee the Hornets will have to pay the NBA."

Seriously, that's what it says. Not $210 million, but $210. Here's the link: http://msn.espn.go.com/nba/news/2002/0510/1380961.html#

[say-what-x]

Yeah, I saw that on ESPN. It's been like that since sometime last night.

Looks like Old 3-Cents and his pals at ESPN did it again!

[Whodat32]

$30 million is very fair, A little less than most of us here thought to, so the official vote was 29-0 right?

Damn I should have bet Mojo that money .

[Harvey Hornet-x]

Yet another conspiracy theory PROVED wrong. Did anything they ever believed in actually materialize? All the lies from their politicians and media PROVEN wrong. Do you think they will ever realize how they were mislead. If they should be mad at anyone, it should be their own.

[West Coast Hornet]

Good post, say-what, thanks for citing to that material which seems to clear the matter up. No looking back now.

[Harvey Hornet-x]

I have to admit, I made one more trip to clt.com to see what was going on. They want the 210M fee to be real so bad, they have convinced themselves it is. Even now that the correct information has been released. Just like everything else. They will believe what they want to believe. Anyone who tells them the truth is bashing or flaming. I did not post. I feel sorry for those people. It is really pathetic. I can't go over there anymore, it is too depressing.

[bobalou]

ESPN most of interpreted it as $30 million for 7 years = $210 million. You would think they would have asked twice about a figure that high though.

[Harvey Hornet-x]

Originally posted by bobalou
ESPN most of interpreted it as $30 million for 7 years = $210 million. You would think they would have asked twice about a figure that high though.

Sounds like they have some guys working there who would have a great career with the Absurder. Spinning and reporting improperly has become an art in CLT. These guys from ESPN seem qualified.

[West Coast Hornet]

Originally posted by Harvey Hornet
I have to admit, I made one more trip to clt.com to see what was going on. They want the 210M fee to be real so bad, they have convinced themselves it is. Even now that the correct information has been released. Just like everything else. They will believe what they want to believe. Anyone who tells them the truth is bashing or flaming. I did not post. I feel sorry for those people. It is really pathetic. I can't go over there anymore, it is too depressing.

I checked it briefly yesterday. My impression is in accord with yours although there seemed to be quite a few who realized that a mistake had likely been made on the $210M figure. If you are telling me that they aren't believing the $30M figure now, well, what can you say? Its over and it is in the bag.

I just want to say that despite my differences with numerous CLT posters, they are always welcome here as long as there is no enmity towards us. I think they can contribute to this board for at least a few years to come with specialized knowledge about the Hornets. Whether they want to or not is another story. The fact of the matter is, NOLA and CLT now have a connection. There will be people in CLT for many, many years to come who will think of "their" Hornets when the Hornets do things here in NOLA. (I am assuming that the name doesn't get changed, but the T-P suggests the possibility that there could still be a name change in a couple of years, e.g., Bucs.) As long as this season is still alive for the Hornets, they are the Charlotte Hornets. I am much more interested in following them now. I'll check out the Charlotte board occasionally, and read the sports stories from the Absurder. But once the season ends, then there won't be any reason for me to check out clt.com anymore. Sorry, that's just the way it is. So to CLT, I say either join us at the end of the season or not, we won't be looking back, however. Peace...

[St. Rock]

By the way, the Gaston newspaper, source of the original "$100 million relocation fee" rumor, apparently has it straight now:

"Some fans had held out hope the team would have to stay even with approval because it wouldn’t be able to pay the league’s relocation fee. The Gazette reported last fall that NBA sources felt the fee would be $100 million in hopes of discouraging a relocation bid by the Hornets.

"But an NBA owner, speaking under the condition of anonymity, said Friday evening the Hornets will pay the same amount as Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley paid to move from Vancouver to Memphis last season. That figure was $30 million."

[WeatherNLU]

Originally posted by St. Rock
By the way, the Gaston newspaper, source of the original "$100 million relocation fee" rumor, apparently has it straight now:

"Some fans had held out hope the team would have to stay even with approval because it wouldn’t be able to pay the league’s relocation fee. The Gazette reported last fall that NBA sources felt the fee would be $100 million in hopes of discouraging a relocation bid by the Hornets.

"But an NBA owner, speaking under the condition of anonymity, said Friday evening the Hornets will pay the same amount as Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley paid to move from Vancouver to Memphis last season. That figure was $30 million."

Is it nice when people realize it's over and they just need to let things go? You actually can start believing some of the things they say.

[West Coast Hornet]

Originally posted by St. Rock
By the way, the Gaston newspaper, source of the original "$100 million relocation fee" rumor, apparently has it straight now:

"Some fans had held out hope the team would have to stay even with approval because it wouldn’t be able to pay the league’s relocation fee. The Gazette reported last fall that NBA sources felt the fee would be $100 million in hopes of discouraging a relocation bid by the Hornets.

"But an NBA owner, speaking under the condition of anonymity, said Friday evening the Hornets will pay the same amount as Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley paid to move from Vancouver to Memphis last season. That figure was $30 million."

Good post. The dominos are falling into place. It doesn't take long for all concerned to come around to the truth once the case is closed.

By the way, I think New Orleans was extremely lucky to get back in the game for as cheap as we have. Did you know that the Jazz paid us $1 million dollars to break their superdome lease in 1979. It would have been so much cheaper to keep that team. To get an expansion team, the fee would have been well over $200M and we would have needed local ownership. Had we not built an arena, add about $300M to the cost and we are up to $500M (not all public monies of course). So, we build an arena for $115, put in about $10M of upgrades, a $7M practice facility, $2M relocation expenses, and a $30M relocation fee (private pay), and we come out smelling like a rose all things considered. This may have been our last chance to get a team, and man did we make the most of that chance or what? Congrats, again, New Orleans!

[GrandAdmiral-x]

What ticks me off is the fact that it was Michael Heisley who was the one to gripe. All along, he kept saying he was going to support the move and he pulls this.

So what if the relocation fee is the same. IMHO, $30 million today is different from $30 million of a year ago. Maybe not much,but still a difference.

[West Coast Hornet]

Originally posted by Grandadmiral
What ticks me off is the fact that it was Michael Heisley who was the one to gripe. All along, he kept saying he was going to support the move and he pulls this.

So what if the relocation fee is the same. IMHO, $30 million today is different from $30 million of a year ago. Maybe not much,but still a difference.

That is the thing that I am unclear about. I have heard that Heisley thought that maybe the fee should be LESS. Of course, it would seem more likely that he thought the fee should be more. I don't know if we have a clear answer on this. Personally, I'd like to know. Then I can truly decide how much to hate the Grizzlies.

[PELICANSFAN]

Originally posted by West Coast Hornet


That is the thing that I am unclear about. I have heard that Heisley thought that maybe the fee should be LESS. Of course, it would seem more likely that he thought the fee should be more. I don't know if we have a clear answer on this. Personally, I'd like to know. Then I can truly decide how much to hate the Grizzlies.

It sounds as if he thought the $30 million was too high. I heard comments from him today whereby he stated that the Hornets are well ahead of where the Grizzlies were last year mainly because of the arena. Maybe that is his rationale.

[Harvey Hornet-x]

Originally posted by HORNETSFAN


It sounds as if he thought the $30 million was too high. I heard comments from him today whereby he stated that the Hornets are well ahead of where the Grizzlies were last year mainly because of the arena. Maybe that is his rationale.

That is also his fault. He could have come here (thank God he didn't). Maybe he is jealous over the deal we offered to the Hornets. I am sure the deal we offered him was not nearly as sweet.

I don't hear the CLT's talking about their hero Cuban. He said he would make a decision after reading the recomendation. I guess it got pretty clear for him too.

[PELICANSFAN]

Originally posted by Harvey Hornet


That is also his fault. He could have come here (thank God he didn't). Maybe he is jealous over the deal we offered to the Hornets. I am sure the deal we offered him was not nearly as sweet.

I don't hear the CLT's talking about their hero Cuban. He said he would make a decision after reading the recomendation. I guess it got pretty clear for him too.

I am glad he goofed too. He likely is kicking himself now!

[say-what-x]

Originally posted by HORNETSFAN


It sounds as if he thought the $30 million was too high. I heard comments from him today whereby he stated that the Hornets are well ahead of where the Grizzlies were last year mainly because of the arena. Maybe that is his rationale.

Maybe this piece from the Memphis paper helps on Heisley's position:

Ron Tillery: On the NBA

NBA owners approved the Charlotte Hornets for a move to New Orleans and the vote reportedly was 28-1. Oddly enough, the one dissident turned out to be the Grizzlies, who relocated from Vancouver to Memphis before the start of last season.

However, the final tally is misleading.

The Grizzlies attached conditions to their "yes" vote that kept the tally from being unanimous.

Contrary to what the league interpreted as a "no" vote, the Griz support the Hornets' move. What majority owner Michael Heisley opposes is the relocation fee the NBA sucks from teams that want to improve finances by operating in a new city.

Looks like he thinks the NBA practice of charging teams to move sucks.

[PELICANSFAN]

Originally posted by say-what

Maybe this piece from the Memphis paper helps on Heisley's position:


Looks like he thinks the NBA practice of charging teams to move sucks.

So, it was 29-0! Why would the NBA not consider that a "YES" vote?

[Harvey Hornet-x]

Originally posted by say-what
Looks like he thinks the NBA practice of charging teams to move sucks.

As I have said all along, he sounds like a very intelligent man.

[Harvey Hornet-x]

The latest theory on CLT.com=Heisley voted no becuase the NBA did not want a relocation fee at all. Heisley was mad because he had to pay one and the Hornets would not. This is why he voted no. Supposedly this comes from one of Fudge's inside sources. Therefore we know it is wrong. We knew that anyway. What is so hard to understand about it. Heisley voted yes to relocation, but no to acessing a fee. He thought the Hornets should not have to pay anything. His stance was processed as a no vote by the league. Why can't they just accept the truth without spinning it every which way possible. Is it more fun to dilude yourself? I know why. Because we are saying it. Anything we say is wrong. They will not accept what we say even at the risk of being wrong again.

[say-what-x]

Harvey,

They are so schitzo over there. If we post something from ESPN it's a lie because ESPN doesn't know what they are talking about, they want to hear it from the Observer or Gazette. So we post something from the Observer or Gazette and they don't believe it because obviously those sources are unreliable (as NOLA has pointed out on many occasions) and the only ones in the know are at ESPN.

I wish they would just make up their friggin little minds. It's only the insane that are left on CLT.com. Most people with any common sense abandoned the board after the relocation committee announced their results.

[Harvey Hornet-x]

If those folks are really that deep in denial, I feel sorry for them. As hard as they try, they cannot change the relocation, fee to do so, or anything about New Orleans. If being sour and dilusional is the answer, I really feel bad. I hear they are going to keep that board open and it will simply be NBA talk. That is going to keep those people sick for a long time. They will never give up on the BS as long as they have somewhere to spew it and have someone agree with them. I am deleting that link from my favorite places and am not going back. Ever.

[say-what-x]

And you know what is worse, tyl is now one of the more sane people over there, he at least has found the Memphis article explaining Heisley's vote and has seemed to accept the Observer reports.

Also, I just checked one of the relocation fee threads and apparently one of the posters got an email from Packer that said the NBA voided the relocation fee. Talk about creating a mind-blowing state of confusion. They don't know what to believe - $210M, $30M or nothing.