By Charlie Leffler
So, you want to have an NBA team?
You want your city to have the same sports prestige as such cities as Sacramento, Memphis and East Rutherford, New Jersey?
Well then bring on the Hornets. Build a multimillion dollar downtown arena. Toot your horn and fire up the band and call the press. But first there are some aspects of having a NBA team you should think about.
As much talk as there has been in Louisville about the advantages of bringing a NBA team to town, few people have made mention of the numerous negatives. Of course, this can be expected when the people who look to gain the most from a professional basketball team coming to the city are the ones reporting the news.
With Louisville barely losing out to Memphis in a battle to gain the Grizzlies it seems that more mention would be made of what the Tennessee city has been going through since the team’s arrival. Instead, the newsmakers in Louisville do not appear to want to point out Memphis’ struggles because it may ruin their plans on bringing a NBA team here.
For instance, the original proposal to the city of Memphis from the Grizzlies included a clause that called for no other events in the city on nights when the NBA played. “Basically, bottom line, it was literally everything,” said Bob Winn, the Sports Information Director at the University of Memphis. “You just didn’t have enough information in the clause. You could take that to believe that you can’t have Wednesday night church services, you can’t have choir practices, you can’t have a little league game somewhere. It didn’t really go that far. Basically, I think it said that there could not be another event in The Pyramid or the Mid-South Coliseum, or the concert halls… shows… on the nights that they were playing. But that was stricken from the contract. Once the city attorneys saw that and got into the meat of it, that came out pretty quick.”
University of Louisville head basketball coach Rick Pitino has been very vocal about his objections to a professional basketball team coming to the city, not because their arrival would hurt the university but because it will bring an unnecessary burden upon the city. And while he did not say that the media has been one-sided in their coverage of the issue, the coach did point out that perhaps the media did need to examine themselves to see if they have been reporting the negatives on an equal basis with the positives. “Well if they haven’t been pointed out then you have to question the agenda of all of you.” After all, if the city does gain a NBA franchise, the local media will be assured a guaranteed year-round news source. Newspapers, television and magazines will have to have reporters to constantly follow the players and coaches. A professional basketball team will secure the more media jobs.
The media has been quick to imply that the University of Louisville bailed out on their plans of participating in a downtown arena project. But U of L Athletic Director Tom Jurich is adamant about the fact that the university’s involvement has been misstated from the start. “We were never on board with anybody,” said Jurich, “we just said we would listen. And I think they took that word that we would listen and be courteous and all that, is that we were totally on board.”
One of the major questions is how much a fan will have to pay to see games at the new arena. “Can people afford it?” Pitino questioned. “What’s it going to cost the taxpayer? What’s it going to do to the University of Louisville? There’s a lot of question marks out there and you have to research it. I have. I certainly can afford the ticket but can the average fan.”
Louisville Mayor Dave Armstrong said that in order to pay all of the bonds the new arena will need to have an average nightly attendance of 14,000 to 15,000 fans. At the present time, Charlotte is a middle of the pack team; but when a division leader does not even draw that number on the East Coast it should present questions as to how Louisville can manage such attendance numbers. On this past Saturday, the Atlantic Division-leading New Jersey Nets drew 11,397 fans to their home game against second place Boston.
Another misleading fact is the price of tickets. It has been announced that the average ticket price would be $47.50. While that price in itself is quite steep, one must read the fine print to come up with the true total. Armstrong said that a 5% surcharge will be added to each ticket to help pay the bonds for the arena. On top of that there will be 6% Kentucky sales tax. Going through Ticketmaster? Then add on another surcharge. Pretty soon the ticket price alone is closer to $55.00. Parking? Add $10.00 more. Two beers and a hot dog? Another $15.00. T-shirt? $25.00. A game program to commemorate your trip to see a .500 basketball team? $7.50. Grand total? $107.50. Want to bring a date? $198.50. Bring a family of four? $379.50. How many people in Louisville would be willing to kick out that kind of money for the experience of watching overpaid athletes perform lackadaisical for two hours?
Another misleading fact is the financial impact a NBA team will have upon the city. “I seen an article here where it said an NBA franchise is worth 188 million dollars a year to a city,” Winn said. “Where? No new businesses have lined up to come here. If it’s worth 188 million dollars why is Vancouver allowing the Grizzlies to come here? Why is Charlotte allowing the Hornets to go to Louisville if it’s worth so much money? It’s just mentions on TV. That’s an ad agency saying that during the course of an NBA game the name Memphis or the name Louisville is mentioned 45 times and that turns out to be two and a half minutes worth of mentions and advertising-wise, that’s like 188 million dollars.”
One also has to question the reasons why the Hornets want to leave Charlotte. Barry Fletcher, who works for International Freight Forwarders in Charlotte, is a big fan of the team and believes it is all the owners’ fault. He places most of the blame upon George Chin, who owns the share majority in the Hornets. “I’ve got a lot of friends who are into basketball very heavy and nobody likes him because of the decisions he’s made in the past… He’s more money hungry than looking at Charlotte and what Charlotte wants and I think that’s the reason in general why Charlotte is not willing to sign a referendum to get a new arena is simply because of the ownership. If there was another owner who was willing to commit the time and energy to the team and what the people of Charlotte want then I think they might have more success at getting a new arena. But the whole thing’s just got a bad taste.” And while Fletcher is no expert on the NBA, he does answer many questions about the team. This is mainly due to the fact that his phone number was erroneously listed on the Hornets’ web site.
Yet, a person also has to take into account the Hornets’ effect upon college basketball in the Charlotte area. University of North Carolina Charlotte head basketball coach Bobby Lutz says that he has no problems with the players or the coaches. “I don’t deal with the ownership,” Lutz said. “If there’s any problem in the city of Charlotte with the Hornets it’s with the ownership. It’s not with the team. We’ve had nothing but a great relationship as far as with the Hornets themselves. I just think unfortunately the ownership and the city are at such odds that something’s got to happen.”
By not presenting the negatives of a NBA franchise’s move to Louisville, local leaders may be able to sneak the Hornets into town behind the public’s back. They will then most likely create a great notoriety of Louisville; not as the city with a great sports reputation, but as the city where the NBA produced a financial disaster.
Charlie Leffler is the sports editor of The Louisville Cardinal.
