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Thread: Relocation Committee is named!

  1. #1
    Charter Member Southpaw's Avatar
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    Relocation Committee is named!

    Jerry Colangelo is on it! This is good news for New Orleans.




    http://www.nola.com/sports/t-p/index...hornets26.html


    NBA appoints relocation committee

    01/26/02

    By John Reid
    Staff writer/The Times-Picayune

    Seven NBA owners were selected Friday to form the league's relocation committee that will evaluate the Charlotte Hornets' application to New Orleans.

    Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss, San Antonio Spurs chairman Peter Holt, Indiana Pacers owner Herb Simon, Phoenix Suns chairman Jerry Colangelo, Cleveland Cavaliers owner Gordon Gund, Philadelphia 76ers chairman Ed Snider and New Jersey Nets co-chairman/owner Lewis Katz were selected by NBA commissioner David Stern.

    None of the owners could be reached for comment Friday. But NBA spokesman Tim Franks said no timetable has been set for when the committee will conduct meetings. Franks said each owner can began evaluating on his own.

    The committee is expected to give its recommendation to the Board of Governors, the 29 league owners, within 120 days.'"We will forward whatever information they need over the next several days," Hornets co-owner Ray Wooldridge said. "I think they will decide what's in the best interest of the NBA."

    Wooldridge remains confident the league will approve the relocation. Fifteen owners must approve.

    "I'm 100-percent optimistic," he said.

    Buss, Herb, Colangelo and Holt were on last year's relocation committee that recommended the Board of Governors' approval for the Grizzlies' move from Vancouver to Memphis, Tenn. The Board of Governors approved.

    In Charlotte, Wooldridge and partner George Shinn said the team continues to suffer substancial financial losses because it can't make enough revenue with 12 luxury suites in Charlotte Coliseum, their current home. The Hornets are averaging less than 12,000 fans a game.

    On Wednesday, Stern acknowledged publicly for the first time the league might not have a choice but to approve a move because of the mounting problems.

    Shinn and Wooldridge filed a relocation application Jan. 17 to move their team from Charlotte to New Orleans, effective for the 2002-2003 season.

    Doug Thornton, general manager of the New Orleans Arena and the Superdome, said earlier this week he expects the relocation committee will likely make their visit to New Orleans after the Mardi Gras holidays next month.

    The committee is expected to evaluate fan support, population base, median income, the television market and quality of the arena in both New Orleans and Charlotte, Frank said.

    The Hornets kicked off their season-ticket and luxury-suites selling drive in New Orleans Wednesday. Both Wooldridge and Thornton said it's time to show the league New Orleans and the surrounding area can support an NBA team by ordering season tickets and by businesses purchasing luxury suites. The New Orleans Arena, where the Hornets would play its home games, seats 18,500 and has 44 suites, and an additional 20 will be built for next season.

    "A lot of people have been waiting for an NBA team to move here," said Elwin Hunter, a New Orleans native who is going to purchase Hornets season tickets. "It's going to be good for the city."

    The team's phone number for season tickets is (800) 266-5669.
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    Welcome back, New Orleans.



  2. #2
    Da Weatherman Speaks! Contributor WeatherNLU's Avatar
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    This is great, not only Coangelo but also the Spurs chairman. I am sure he will be on our side being a small market themselves.


    I survived Katrina, but nothing I owned did.

  3. #3
    Charter Member Southpaw's Avatar
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    Originally posted by WeatherNLU
    This is great, not only Coangelo but also the Spurs chairman. I am sure he will be on our side being a small market themselves.
    Yeah...I like that. Spongey found a quote of his favorable to New Orleans. He's got it on the front page.

    I also like seeing the Pacers' owner on the list. He understands what it takes to operate an NBA team in a relatively small market with an NFL franchise.

    I remember the Picayune comparing N.O. and Indianapolis last year when the Grizz were flirting with us and the Saints were posturing for their deal.

    They are a bit larger...not much though...and face many of the same obstacles. Yet they are successful. He's a good one to evaluate the deal.

  4. #4
    Da Weatherman Speaks! Contributor WeatherNLU's Avatar
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    Let's get these guys down here for Mardi Gras and get some of the chicks from the Girls Gone Wild video to hang with them. That's guaranteed approval!

  5. #5
    In Time Out Harvey Hornet-x's Avatar
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    Even if they did not want to support the move, what NBA owner in his right mind would put another team in a position where they have to turn down a good deal and end up selling their team. None of them would want to be forced out. The way this thing has set up, that is exactly what would happen. It has actually played in our favor pretty well. If our deal were not solid, they could turn them down. If they deny them now, they will in essence force Shinn and Wooldridge to sell. I cannot see an owner doing that to even an owner he does not like.

  6. #6
    Charter Member PELICANSFAN's Avatar
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    Originally posted by Slidell Hornet


    Yeah...I like that. Spongey found a quote of his favorable to New Orleans. He's got it on the front page.

    I also like seeing the Pacers' owner on the list. He understands what it takes to operate an NBA team in a relatively small market with an NFL franchise.

    I remember the Picayune comparing N.O. and Indianapolis last year when the Grizz were flirting with us and the Saints were posturing for their deal.

    They are a bit larger...not much though...and face many of the same obstacles. Yet they are successful. He's a good one to evaluate the deal.
    I do not see that quote as favorable. Basically he says that the economic factors in N.O. make it questionable regarding future success. I may have missed the point, but that is not positive to me.

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